Skip to main content

Granny Reads: Review of "Half-Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walsh


Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I motored through this well-written, tell-it-like-it-was memoirs ("true novel") of Jeannette Walls' maternal grandmother. I am not quite sure why I picked it up, except that I was in a compulsive reading state (allergies, fed up with FB), since my experience reading the memoir of Walls' own childhood, "Glass Castle" was the sort where I felt triggered and zoned-out after reading it.

Then I remembered how Walls had held her maternal grandmother up as the one safe and nurturing adult in her childhood. This was that story.

When you purchase this book and 3+ other books from Thrift Books, you can get credit for another book FREE-- It's part of the  #ShareBookLove program! Click here to check this out-- the book deals are real! 

Lily Casey grew up on a Texas ranch in the early 1900s-- she was her father's 'right hand' in many ways, and helped him with breaking horses for his carriage horse business. She was an all-round hard-working rancher as a child, and also had an active brilliant intelligence that helped her get ahead in the "3 Rs" and have a recognition early-on that she didn't have to be reliant upon an early marriage (as her mother said) to have a good life. She went about having an adventuresome, passionate, active, fun-loving time from the time she left home to be a school teacher in some far-off, remote place at age 15 through her eventual marriage to a man 20 years her senior until her years as the grandmother that Jeannette Walls looked up to.

One of the book cover reviewers suggested that this book was a Laura Ingall Wilders type of story, but for adults. I would agree with that, and how I loved that author's family adventure stories when I was a child.

I think you will enjoy this book as well if you were moved by The Glass Castle.

Jeanette Walls on Oprah:

View all my reviews

HOW BEING READ ALOUD TO SHAPED MY LIFE


Comments

-Popular This Month-

The Lemon-Garlic Mixture Recipe that Chris Wark (Chris Beat Cancer) Recommends

My husband and I are both over 70, and while we have the odd age-expected ache or pain or fallen hair or swollen ankles or whatever, we have avoided many of the BIG Diseases: Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, Cancer-- but we have had family with these diseases and there is a good chance that we will have something like this hit at some time.  That is the way of the world these days, is it not? So, to be proactive and preventative, we believe that "Food is Our Medicine" and we adhere to a Whole Food/Plant-Based way of eating. We also watch a lot of those health seminars that mesh with our way of thinking that plants/herbs are the answer-- or at least our first rule of order when we feel ill.  We loved the Chris Beat Cancer series because, well, who wouldn't?  Chris is a charming young man with a friendly, compassionate mission to help others learn about how they too can beat cancer without (or only as a sideline) chemo or radiation.  In his Square

Vegan Sourdough Waffles

Great vegan sourdough waffles These waffles are super Thank you for your kind words and compassion my friends-- except for Ed's pain in his finger, all is well. And today is sunny and hopeful! May you each have a grand day today-- be blessed! Think healing. Think success. Think peace. Think happiness. *As a person thinks, so are they. Psalm 23:7* Today we had an accidental contact with the new stove that shattered the outer glass surface (exterior to the door glass), and a few minutes after attending to that-- with sweeping and phoning re the warranty, etc. (a runaround with AI and some call centre folks with some mutual not-understanding}-- I accidentally slammed Ed's finger while pushing in a drawer. Poor guy, his nail has already turned black. and yummy. Sourdough has probiotics in it, and a lovely flavor, although the pancakes will not have quite the healthy sour taste that bread has. 1. START WITH THE SOURDOUGH STARTER You need to have a cup of sourdough starter, whole whe

Unveiling the Truth: A Critical Review of The Way - 2X2s and Church With No Name

  Recently I was struck by a newspaper article about a woman in her 40s, Lyndell Montgomery, who had been part of the religious sect called 2 X 2 s or "The Way" or even "The Church with No Name".  Montgomery had recently charged a leader/ministering member of the 2x2s with child sexual abuse that happened when she was 14. She lives on the Island that we live on (maybe even in our community). I am interested in the diversity of memoirs by people who were spiritually abused. And I have some scattered recollections of knowing people who were part of this particular sect.  I have a blog page listing more than 25 books that I have read about spiritual abuse .  In the eye-opening little book, shown above, we delve into the dark reality of spiritual abuse within "The Way," an enigmatic organization also known as 2X2s or Church Without A Name. Through research and firsthand accounts, the book exposes the damaging effects of spiritual manipulation within The Way. R