I was amazed and unnerved by this book. Having grown up in an abusive family it was difficult to read Jeannette's story. But she tells it with such open honesty and yet in such a matter of fact way that it makes for a must read. Must read because her strength and survival is amazing and inspiring. I am not sure how she had the strength to keep her parents in her life even in the limited way she did once she moved away from living with them but she does and it is nothing short of amazing on her part. I think what makes this story beautiful is the way she writes about it and how much you can feel how torn she is by her love for the parents who did not really take care of her the way a child needs to be cared for. Even with all the different parenting styles out there, I think we can all agree that children being fed and safe should be a parental priority. Reading about how Walls and her siblings often went hungry and at times she resorted to foraging in the garbage for food is heartbreaking.
But in the end I would say there is something uplifting about The Glass Castle because it is an example of the resilience of the human spirit and coming out whole on the others side of an extremely adverse situation and a broken place.
The stark and matter of fact writing is at once jarring and beautiful. It isn't that she isn't emotional, she just seems to write in an it is what is voice and her anger and hurt is there but it isn't drippy and overwrought, though no one would have been able to blame her if it had been.
The abused child in me wanted to scream and yell and beg her to run or fight back or at least not be so calm. The adult mother in the much better place that I am today felt appreciation for the strength and courage of the Jeannette and the other Walls children.
(Finished July 27, 2017)
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