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The Glass Castle: A Memoir (book)

THE BELOVED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER—FROM THE AUTHOR OF HANG THE MOON

The extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, “nothing short of spectacular” (Entertainment Weekly) memoir from one of the world’s most gifted storytellers.


The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing—a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

The memoir was also made into a major motion picture from Lionsgate in 2017 starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

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288 pages

Average rating: 8.2

803 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

ClaireN
May 06, 2025
7/10 stars
Not 100% sure what i think of this book. The life she had as a child seems unbelievable - not in a good way compared to our standard now days - but the way it is written, she makes it sounds like it's nothing, like she enjoyed it. Do I think she did - maybe, to some extent , went she was young, when it all sounded like an adventure, when it was all she knew... until it wasn't anymore. Did she love her parents? Surprisingly enough I believe so, did they deserve it, maybe not... Definitely lot of unanswered questions from my perspective any way. And I wish the writing would have been a bit more 'black and white' (even if it would have been harder to read) in a way, but maybe it was done this way to let us make our own opinion of the story... who knows.
vhbryarly
Mar 10, 2025
8/10 stars
It evoked a lot of emotions. A powerful book in its own rite but it was also an emotional rollercoaster.
TBRdiary_
Mar 09, 2025
5/10 stars
This was a slow read for me. While the messaging is powerful about perspectives and a tough upbringing, I didn’t fully understand where it was going. Wish we had more insight into the adult years.
KateBonifacio
Feb 14, 2025
8/10 stars
I cried reading this book, what a story about strength and perseverance ! The movie was great also!
empressrashida
Jan 23, 2025
4/10 stars
I don't like reviewing/rating memoirs because they are stories of someone's real life. So I'm judging the publishers description of "unconditional love" for this memoir. Um...this was child abuse. It's a childhood of different types of abuse. This was not in any kind of way unconditional love but what happens when children can't leave their parents. Maybe there is more but I couldn't finish it.

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