Jeannette Walls

It is 1970 in a small town in California. "Bean" Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that's been in Charlotte's family for generations ... An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart--an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it's Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.

"Out in the East they say that the mind of a woman is a jungle, and it is the one jungle in which a man should never get lost." That was the code by which Edwin Trequair professed to live. Why then had he asked Heron to marry him? More to the point, why had she accepted? True, he had much to offer her - money and his fascinating house, the house that had meant so much to Heron all her life, the Glass Castle - but Heron was not the type to marry for mercenary reasons. Yet her feeling for him was of fear and curiosity more than any other emotion. Could she ever understand such a strange, arrogant man? Or still less, make him a successful wife?

Esas viejas vacas sabían que iba a surgir un problema antes que nosotros». Así comienza la historia de Lily Casey Smith, la abuela de Jeannette Walls, una persona sensata, de recursos y espectacularmente irresistible. Lily sobrevivió a tornados, sequías, inundaciones, a la Gran Depresión y a la tragedia personal más desgarradora. Se levantó ante prejuicios de cualquier tipo: contra las mujeres, los nativos americanos, y contra cualquiera que no encajara en el mundo

Walls examines the history of gossip, including the 1950s show, Night Beat with Mike Wallace, the National Enquirer, Confidential magazine, People magazine, the power of publicists, the power of rumors, presidential foibles, and such writers as Matt Drudge.

It is 1970 in a small town in California. "Bean" Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that's been in Charlotte's family for generations ... An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart--an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it's Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox.

Two motherless sisters--Bean and Liz--are shuttled to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that's been in their family for generations. When school starts in the fall, Bean easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz becomes increasingly withdrawn. Then something happens to Liz and Bean is left to challenge the injustice of the adult world.