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Half-Broke Horses

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description Half-Broke Horses Overview

"Half-Broke Horses" is a 2009 biographical novel by Jeannette Walls. Subtitled "A True-Life Novel," the work chronicles the life of Walls's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, who grew up in the early 1900s in the American Southwest. The narrative details Smith's career as a rancher, schoolteacher, and pilot, reflecting the challenges of frontier life in Texas and New Mexico. Walls reconstructs these events using family oral history, creating a factual account presented with the pacing and dialogue of a novel.

help Half-Broke Horses FAQ

Is Lily Casey Smith a real person in Half Broke Horses?

Yes, Lily Casey Smith was Jeannette Walls's maternal grandmother. Walls calls the book a "true-life novel" because she reconstructed scenes and dialogue that could not be documented like a conventional biography.

How is Half Broke Horses connected to The Glass Castle?

Half Broke Horses tells the story of the grandmother of The Glass Castle narrator Jeannette Walls. It also depicts the childhood of Rose Mary Walls, whose unconventional parenting becomes central in The Glass Castle.

Why does Lily travel hundreds of miles alone as a teenager?

At about 15, Lily leaves home to teach in a remote Arizona community and makes the journey on horseback. The episode establishes the independence and practical toughness that shape the rest of her life.

What does the title Half Broke Horses mean?

The phrase refers to horses that have been partly trained but retain their wildness. It also describes Lily's refusal to become fully domesticated by the expectations placed on women in the early 20th-century American West.

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