Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, S&H Green Stamps and our BookBrowse Review of Half Broke Horses.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Introduction
Jeannette Wallss grandmother Lily Casey Smith is the kind of woman who built this country: resourceful, hardworking, and smart. Full of spunk and with a strong will to do whatever she puts her mind to, she can break a wild horse by the time she is six years old. At age fifteen, she leaves home to teach in a frontier town, riding five hundred miles across New Mexico with nothing but her pony for company and her pearl-handled revolver for protection. She tries living and working in Chicago, where she meets her first husband, but betrayal and loss soon drive her back to ranch lifecaring for livestock and respecting the land are what she does best. Together, she and her second husband manage a 180,000-acre ranch and Lily uses her incredible pluck and ingenuity to supplement their meager income. They raise two children, one of whom is Jeannette Wallss mother, Rosemary Smith Walls. With little more than Lilys resourcefulness to guide the way, the family will weather tornadoes, droughts, floods, personal tragedy, and the Great Depression. In this tale of extreme hardship emerges a story of one woman whose spirit cant be broken.
Questions for Discussion- Jeannette Walls has said that she tried writing this book in the third person but that it didnt work for her. Do you think you are closer to Lily because you get her story in her own voice? Did you see Lily Casey Smith as real? What is your response to the first person voice of the book?
- When Lilys father dies, she and Rosemary drive his body from Tucson back to the ranch in West Texas. Rosemary is embarrassed to be seen driving with a corpse and ducks down in the car when they stop at a red light (pg. 198). Lifes too short, honey, Lily tells Rosemary, to worry what other people think of you. What does Lilys reaction to this behavior show about her character? Does she give much credence to what other people think of her? What effect do you think her mothers attitude had on Rosemary?
- Following Helens suicide, Lily says, When people kill themselves, they think theyre ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind (pg. 113). Do you agree with this statement?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Scribner.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.