Monday, November 9, 2009 9:17 PM CST
Book Review: 'Half Broke Horses,' By Jeannette Walls
Review by Juanita Sherwood
“Half Broke Horses” is listed as a true-life novel. That designation is used because the book is based on experiences of the author’s grandmother, which are true, but to tie them altogether, the author has added dialogue and information that she cannot substantiate. Thus, she has designated it as a novel.
Lily Casey Smith is the main character. She was raised in two locations: west Texas and New Mexico. Her father was a rancher; the ranch she first lived on was very isolated.
Today, we would say that she was “home schooled.” She had the opportunity to attend a boarding school in Santa Fe when she was a young teen, but only for one semester.
Her father was a dreamer-type individual who would concoct one scheme or another to make a fortune. When Lily’s tuition was due for her second semester, he had spent it on four purebred dogs that he hoped to parlay into a huge business. She had to go home when no money for the tuition was forthcoming.
As a 3-year-old, Lily’s father had been kicked in the head by a horse, which left him with a speech impediment and a limp. Most people who were not immediate family had difficulty in their relationships with him, and he was often the target of teasing and ridicule when in their company. However, he was a bright man who taught Lily much.
Lily worked alongside her father on the ranch, and he came to depend on her assistance with ranch operations and advice about financial decisions.
When Lily was a young teen, the family moved to New Mexico to live on a farm owned by her father’s family. Her younger brother returned to the farm after receiving his education (it was deemed important for him to receive his), and Lily decided to venture out on her own.
She decided to take a test to qualify for teaching school. She passed the test “with flying colors,” but because she could not show a degree from a school, she was only hired to teach in one-room schools on a temporary basis. She was moved from school to school.
Supervisors and parents rated her teaching as superior, but they were bothered by the fact that she lacked a degree.
To get to her first job, she rode her horse 500 miles from New Mexico to Arizona. She traveled alone, camping along the roadside as she traveled.
She learned to be self-reliant in a time period when women were supposed to be “looked after” by males. She became an excellent poker player, and could ride and shoot as well or better than many men and let them know that by besting them in contests.
She married a man named Jim Smith, who had taught her to drive a car. He made his living by running a garage during the time period when cars were new possessions of the general population.
During the Great Depression, when money was short, Lily helped pay toward the family bank loan by running an illegal liquor store from her kitchen.
She and her family eventually lost the business and their home, but her husband luckily was hired to run a large ranch in the vicinity. They had to provide for their children much as her parents had provided for Lily and her siblings: educate the young ones at home.
Lily was opinionated, did not stand for discrimination, and was not afraid to tackle challenges, i.e., she was a woman ahead of her times. You will appreciate this story even if the title is grammatically incorrect….
Sherwood of Charleston is a retired reading teacher.
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