Paint Ponies near Hickory, NC
When the first line of a book grabs my attention, I can be pretty sure it's going to be a good one. Such was the case with Jeannette Walls' story of her grandmother in the book Half Broke Horses. To begin with my love for horses made me gravitate to the book because of it's title, but the first line cinched it.
The story begins in west Texas on the KC Ranch on the Rio Hondo in the early 1900s and ends in Arizona. The main character of the book is female and begins with her saving herself & her brother and sister when a flash flood rumbles through the draw on their ranch."Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did."
The author draws on her mother's recollection of stories told her by her mother, Lily Casey Smith. Lily is s spunky little kid who at the age of 8 decides that in a difficult situation it is better to put forth effort to save the day rather than to lean on the power of prayer as her mother was prone to do. Lily's attitude was, "God helps those who help themselves."
Ranch life was hard work and it was Lily's job to break horses. Her dad's advice was: "The most important thing in life is learning how to fall." Lily took that advice literally when it came to unexpected events with horses, but she carried it through to unpleasant situations that arose for her whole life.
Lily's father was sure that everything had a "Purpose" and Lily was determined to find her "Purpose" in life. She did arrive at that through a circuitous route. In the town of Red Lake when Lily was in her late 20s, she was known as "Lily Casey, the mustang-breaking, poker-playing, horse-race-winning schoolmarm of Coconino County". That woman had spunk!
Stories of the west and the fact that this is a real-life story of a western woman made it even more delicious. Walls wrote the story in first person because she wanted to "capture Lily's distinctive voice" which she clearly remembered. Lily died when Jeannette was 8 years old. As I read this story I could "hear" and visualize Lily. Walls has done an excellent job. Kudos.
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