The story opened with Jeannette on the way to an event in NYC, and saw her mother, scavenging for things in the bin. She lived in Park Avenue while her mother was homeless, and so was her father. You would think at the beginning, how cruel a daughter could be, to let her parents live like that, while she lived in a lavish upscale apartment.
And then the story unfolds...
The Walls family was made up of Rex and Rose Mary Walls and their four children, Lori, Brian, Jeannette, and Maureen. This family of four led extremely impoverished lives and never really had a home, and was always uprooting from one place to another, from Nevada to Phoenix to West Virgina, and finally to NYC.
This was a dysfunctional family with parents who were just a tad too eccentric to raise any family. The children often went without food, proper clothes, and even electricity. But all these didnt bother Rose Mary, who thought this was an adventure. And that such conditions would make all of them tougher, and less like those city kids who were too comfortable for their own good.
I did like Rex Walls even though he was an impossible drunk. You could tell he was an extremely smart man, who could really do anything he wanted if he had put his heart to it. He made blueprints for a Glass Castle that he had promised to build Jeannette, he talked about quantum physics, he invented equipment that could sieve for gold, etc. But he was always drinking and getting into trouble at work, and could never hold down a proper job. I also think he was perhaps a little schizo, often thinking that the government was against him and going on "spying" missions against the government. But you knew he loved Jeannette, his mountain goat, and Jeannette often looked up to him as a kid.
But as Jeannette grew up, she began to realise that this was not the way to be living. She forced her mother to get a proper job so that they could lead normal lives. Her mother eventually relented and worked as a teacher in an elementary school. What was memorable was that there was once when her mother had to be away for a course, and Jeannette became the replacement mother. She had often wondered why it was that her mother could never manage the household expenses properly, and during this period, she realised it was her father. Like her mother, she could not say no to her father's request for money for alcohol and cigarettes. And that was why there was never ever enough money to go around in the home.
In her adolescence, she began to see her parents for who they were and knew she had to do something if she wanted to have a chance to lead a normal life. She and Lori began plotting to leave the home for New York City. They found work and managed to save up a sum of money and told their parents of their plans. Alas, their plans were sabotaged by their father when he took away all their hard earned money. It was his ploy of preventing them from leaving because he did not want the family to break up. Eventually Jeannette through her babysitting job, found a ticket to NYC but she gave it to Lori. Lori up and left. She started planning and saving for her escape route. Came the day she was able to leave, and her father, once again took out his blueprint for the Glass Castle and persuaded Jeannette not to leave. That life could be great in their little mining town and that he would work to make the Glass Castle a reality. It was very touching and heartbreaking. Jeannette refused to believe in her father anymore, and she had every single right to do so.
She left and lived with Lori in NYC. She managed to enroll in an Ivy League school with a scholarship and loan and was well on her way to a good lot in life. Then her parents came and even though by then, they all had their own apartments, they wanted their parents to stop being leeches and fend for themselves. Their parents became homeless. Her mother again thought this was an adventure and liked living like that. After a few years, when Rose Mary's brother died, did Jeannette realise that all along, her mother had a piece of land, that was possibly worth a million dollars. It was like a slap in the face. There they were rummaging through garbage for food, living without electricity and sanitation, while her mother was sitting on a million dollars all the while.
Jeannette's father eventually died and I couldnt help sobbing. He was proud of Jeannette and somehow, always managed to work into his conversation with people how he had a daughter in an Ivy League college. When he heard that Jeannette might have to drop out of college because she could not afford the fees, he told her not to worry and that he would keep her in college somehow. One night he brought a bag full of cash that he won from poker and gave to Jeannette. That was how Jeannette paid her fees. During her convocation, she told her father not to come because he would embarrass her with his drinking problem and bad behaviour. He agreed. That was how much he loved his daughter but I guess he couldnt save himself to be able to give her and his children what they needed.
This book was full of emotions. You cant help feeling excited, intrigued, sad, happy, going through the pages, and be in awe and admiration of the person that Jeannette is. Such a fantastic read. I would highly recommend to everyone.
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