Preview
  • Half Broke Horses

  • A True-Life Novel
  • By: Jeannette Walls
  • Narrated by: Jeannette Walls
  • Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (3,184 ratings)

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Half Broke Horses

By: Jeannette Walls
Narrated by: Jeannette Walls
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Publisher's summary

2010 Audie Award Finalist for Narration by the Author

Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" ( Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.

"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls's no nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At 15, she left home to teach in a frontier town - riding 500 miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane. And, with her husband Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.

Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit.

Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix audiences everywhere.

©2009 Jeanette Walls (P)2009 Simon & Schuster
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Editorial reviews

Based on the true story of the life of Jeanette Walls’ grandmother, Half-broke Horses is the endearing tale of Lily Casey Smith, a woman born into poverty in the early 1900s frontier of west Texas. Intelligent, despite her spotted 8th grade education, Smith knows her purpose on earth is more than just breaking-in horses on her daddy’s farm and she sets off across the desert at age 15 to teach children in Arizona. Smith is scrappy and independent, clearly a woman before her time. In her early 20s when she learns that the traveling salesman she married actually already has a wife and kids, she puts her six-shooter revolver with the pearl handle in her purse and hits him with it, giving him a good “pistol-whippin’”.

Walls, the best-selling author of her own memoir The Glass Castle, tells her grandmother’s story in a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense way probably much in same way as her grandmother shared these stories with her. It can be shocking that Smith speaks of her best friend’s death in the same tone as she does of, say, playing a hand of poker, but it’s realistic a snapshot of the era. In her narration, Walls’ accent is a bit mottled a little southern, with hints of other dialects thrown in which can be distracting at times, but it also suits Smith, a girl from west Texas who had an Irish father with a speech impediment.

Smith does find true happiness with her second husband and eventually settles down (if you can call selling whiskey during Prohibition by hiding it under her baby’s crib “settling down”). But this heroine’s adventures racing horses, surviving flash floods and tornadoes, and playing poker will stick with you long after Walls has finished describing them. Colleen Oakley

Critic reviews

"Lily Casey Smith is one astonishing woman...a half-broke horse herself who's clearly passed on her best traits to her granddaughter. Told in a natural, offhand voice that is utterly enthralling, this is essential reading for anyone who loves good fiction." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about Half Broke Horses

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Inspired Work of Art

Jeannette Walls has captured the voice of her grandmother through this excellent novelization of her family history. An inspiring story for men and women alike. Less horrific than her first book (Glass Castle) but equally as engaging. In fact, if you have not read The Glass Castle-- read this first.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A more realistic little house on the prairie

Jeannette Walls writes the story of her grandmother, but since most of the material came from talking to her mother, and because she had to fill in some of the gaps with her own thoughts of what may have happened, she calls this a novel. Lily Casey Smith was born in a one-room dugout in west Texas in 1901 and later her family moved to a ranch in New Mexico. At 11, she was handling the workers, doing the hiring and firing. Her father had been kicked in the head by a horse when he was young and developed a slurred speech that was difficult to understand, but he was smart and read a lot and taught her much about the world. She learned to break horses, was a very good poker player, and became a school teacher. She rode her horse alone for two weeks across the desert to her first teaching job in Arizona and later as a mother of two, learned to be a bush pilot. It’s filled with stories of hardship and rough times, as well as the time when her father was carving a ham for Easter dinner in the dugout, a rattlesnake dropped from the ceiling onto the table, which her father quickly beheaded with the carving knife. She went to Chicago to get away from the rural life and worked as a maid. She met a man and eventually married him. He was a salesman who spent a lot of time on the road, but when Lily was hit by a car and was in the hospital, she found that he actually did not travel, but was married and had another family across town. When that marriage was annulled, she went back west to teach and met and married Jim Smith. She and Jim eventually managed a large cattle ranch for its British owners, but this was during the depression. She scrounged for everything they needed, making chairs and tables out of crates and they managed it well. Then the investors decided to sell the ranch to someone who would end up making it a sort of early dude ranch, and they didn’t fit the right “cowboy” image, so that had to leave. Jim went into business with a garage and gas station and they finally were able to have a real house with running water and a flush toilet. Her father, when he heard, said, “Why would anyone want to crap in their own home.” It just seemed so uncivilized. When they lost the business, they had to move out to manage another ranch with only a broken down house, without running water and she says that she discovered that many of the things that you think you need, are just wants, and when you don’t have them, you find that you don’t need them and get by just fine. Now, that’s a lesson for today. Very interesting book, in some ways reminiscent of “Little House on the Prairie,” but rougher, more realistic, and less idealistic; making it much better to me.  

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorite books EVER

the storytelling is spectacular, the beautiful story is so touching and riveting. This was one of the best books I've ever read. Jeannette storytelling is full of reality and love, I felt like I was right alongside Lily in all of her fascinating life's travels, triumphs, and heartbreaks. I read The Glass Castle first, and like this book as much or more! It says novel, but it's so easy to see that this is what the story really was. Heartfelt thanks and congratulations for writing amd narrating this beautiful masterpiece, Jeannette Walls!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Half Broke Horses great

I liked My Antonia because of the historical information. This is similar and better because of the modern references. I recommend this to anyone who likes U.S. history in the 20th century. The author narrating is fine. Some didn't like it, but I did.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heartwarming and endearing

I really appreciate the book being narrated by the author. I had read the glass castle and gave it my own voice in my head so hearing about Lily's life in 19th century America directly from the author really fit well. I think the story is fun and heartwarming written in a clear and fluid manner and I would recommend it to any listener who is in historical fiction or interesting novels with strong female leads.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Couldn't stop listening

Jeanette Walls is an amazing writer and narrator and this book doesn't disappoint. I loved listening to the story of her grandmother and living in Arizona myself, I loved listening to the history of Arizona.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Half Broke Horses

Great story. Told as is. Was not buttered up. Only negative thing I have to say is, there were some missing pieces in the audiobook that are in the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I love family stories

I loved listening to this inspiring and interesting book. Lily is a great example of a strong authentic woman.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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i am now a total Jeanette Walls fan!

If you could sum up Half Broke Horses in three words, what would they be?

what a story!

What did you like best about this story?

i liked that Lilly's second husband, Jim Smith, was such a decent hard-working guy.

What about Jeannette Walls’s performance did you like?

there is an honesty in her voice. she is extremely pleasing to listen to.

Who was the most memorable character of Half Broke Horses and why?

Lilly - Grandma Smith. what a character!

Any additional comments?

read both of Jeanette books

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting book!

Interesting story of a woman from childhood to being a grandmother. I recommend it for anyone who would enjoy looking into an earlier generation in America.

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