Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls. Short summary

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The author recounts the life of her grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. She was very practical and brave. She worked from the age of 4, saved her brother and sister from a flood, rode horseback through the desert, etc.

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Jeannette Walls tells the story of her grandmother. Lily Keysmee Smith was born into a family of pauper and totally impractical parents. They lived in a dugout with scorpions falling from the roof and rain pouring through holes. But Lily was a very practical child.

She learned to ride wild horses at age 3, rescued her brother and sister from a flood (in a tree, telling them stories so they wouldn’t fall asleep and fall into the water). At 13, Lily went on horseback across the desert to be hired as a teacher. She slept on the floor and was also a school janitor.

The Great Depression hit. Lily hid illegal liquor and sold it. She married, had two children. Worked on a farm and didn’t wash her laundry until it was dirty on both sides. The strong girl grew into an equally strong woman. She had problems with her willful daughter, which she resolved at times through hand-to-hand abuse.

Rather, the novel describes an era—the emancipation of women in the United States, the Great Depression, the war.