The Glass Castle

This is one of the few books I have read twice. I read it about 3 years ago, then after reading Half-Broke Horses, I had to read it again. I was hoping the second time it would be less disturbing after knowing a little more background. I was wrong. It was still just as disturbing. This is a true story written about the author's childhood in extreme poverty. She spent her childhood with a crazy mother, and a drunk father. They moved from place to place until she was 12 and they settled in a small town in West Virginia. Food was rare, as was clothing or heat. The most disturbing part of this book for me was the choices made by her parents. It was self imposed poverty. The mother owned a 2 carat diamond, and a house. She also inherited property worth a million dollars, with oil rights. She had a college education, and inherited a large sum of money when her parents died. She had more given to her than most people accumulate in a life time, and yet she still choose to let her children starve and freeze. After reading how hard it was for the mothers family, and how she was raised (in Half -Broke Horses) it has really made me ponder the whole nature vs. nurture. It is a hard to read story but it is one of the most well written and thought provoking stories I have ever read.