Jannette Walls, American writer: biography, creativity

Currently, the trend of literary preferences of readers is increasingly rushing towards the direction of young adults, where young ladies are in the center of the storyline, who are forced to experience serious life difficulties and turmoil on the path to happiness. And it was thanks to such works that the now famous American writer Jannette Walls became famous. Fate prepared for her difficult trials, but she managed to overcome them and become a successful person. Her books have become real bestsellers, and in the ranking of the best works compiled by the New York Times, the books of Jannett Walls have been at the forefront for 100 weeks. So what is known about this American writer and what was her career? Let's consider this question in more detail.

Difficult childhood

Jannett Walls - a native of the capital of Arizona (the city of Phoenix). She was born on April 21, 1960. The girl was not the only child in the family who constantly migrated from one settlement to another. There were even times when Jannet Walls and her family found themselves completely without a roof over their heads.

But once the family finally settled in a place near the Appalachians. However, the living conditions were simply disastrous. In the small shack where the Walls family settled, there was neither heating nor running water, and their neighbors in the house were snakes and rats.

Years of youth

Unable to withstand all this, a seventeen-year-old girl goes in search of a better share in New York, where she lives with her sister. In this huge city, Jannett Walls, whose biography today is of great interest to a wide readership, graduates from high school and, thanks to grants and loans, gets a job as a simple telephone operator in a Wall Street law firm.

Work in periodicals

In 1984, the girl became a graduate of the Barnard educational institution and began journalistic activities, having fallen into the staff of one of the Brooklyn newspapers.

But already in the period from 1987 to 1993, Jannett Walls collaborated with the New York Times, filling the column "Secret Agent". After some time, she begins to work with various print publications, honing and improving her skills in the “shark pen”.

Writer Talent Revealed

In the zero years, an experienced journalist feels a gift in herself and takes up a pen. Subsequently, Jannett Walls, whose books are known all over the world, will write as many as three best-selling books. We are talking about such works as “The Castle of Glass”, “Wild Horses. Every story has a beginning ”and“ Silver Star ”. What are they talking about? About the fate that went to the writer herself, her mother and grandmother.

“Glass lock”

This autobiographical work was published in 2000. It has been awarded several prestigious awards.

So, “Glass Castle” (Jannette Walls) is a reflection of the writer’s life, in which she emphasized by no means a simple childhood.

Jannet's father was a true leadership enthusiast. Soaring in the clouds, he nurtured the idea of ​​finding gold in the desert and erecting a magnificent palace of crystal. But in everyday life, the dreamer, who was not averse to drinking and playing cards, worked as a simple handyman.

But the mother in the work “Castle of Glass” (Jannette Walls) is a creative person who loves painting. She herself was engaged in fine art, but for some reason her works were not in demand. Also, mother spent time writing books, but, again, her works did not want to be published. Such lack of demand plunged her into the abyss of a creative crisis, after which she began to teach children about the fact that life difficulties and troubles should be treated philosophically.

The Walls family constantly moved, and parents tirelessly repeated to their young offspring that life is based on adventure, and if today there is no money in the budget, then it is possible that they will appear tomorrow. However, the older the children became, the more distinctly they understood that being hungry was not a plus, but a minus. In search of food, they even had to delve into trash cans - a pleasure that does not bring joy.

The paradox of this work is that father and mother Jannett did not see anything shameful in the distress of the family, and such troubles did not really concern them.

Particularly puzzling is the line of behavior of the mother, who has the opportunity to go to work, but does not do this because of her principles. In general, this is a novel about sore, whose young heroes are forced to confront feelings of injustice, shame and resentment.

For several years now, rumors have been circulating that a film will be made based on the novel “A Castle of Glass”. It is expected that the picture, where the main role will be played by either Jennifer Lawrence or Bree Larson, will be released in 2017.

“Wild horses. Every story has a beginning. ”

This work, written in the first person, appeared in 2009. “Wild Horses” by Jannette Walls is a tribute to the oral tradition. The main character here is the grandmother of the writer, who is known as Lily Casey Smith. She was a strong-willed person, a born teacher, an interesting storyteller and a skilled orator. Her character was also tempered in a series of trials and difficulties. The years of Lily's early youth passed on the ranch. The girl already felt on herself what peasant labor was. When the flood occurred, she was the first to save children. And this was far from the only cataclysm in her life. At the age of five, the writer's grandmother helped train horses. Ten years later, she could confidently stay in the saddle and knew all the subtleties of how to fix the savraska. Lily dreamed about a teacher’s career, but her plans were interrupted by her father, who bought thoroughbred puppies with money set aside for training.

And yet, having shown firmness of character and fortitude, she received the coveted education, and only by her efforts. Lily was able to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes and even the Great Depression. She survived the death of her sister. A woman was betrayed by a loved one. But she did not break under the blows of fate. Lily gave birth to a daughter, Rose-Marie, began to manage affairs at the ranch, and during the financial crisis, in order to survive, she even sold alcohol, which she made at home.

She was a good mentor for children, but she could not understand the character and inner world of her daughter. She grew up an uncontrollable child. The woman painfully thought over the question of where and when she made a mistake in raising Rose-Marie.

Here's a story about her grandmother wrote Jannette Walls ("Wild Horses"). Reviews about this novel are generally positive.

The reader admires the iron will and steel character of the main character.

Silver Star

This book appeared on the shelves of bookstores in 2013. The plot focuses again on the difficult ups and downs of childhood. “Silver Star” is the story of two girls, Bean and Liz, whose mother is engaged in their upbringing only in fits and starts, because she spends a lot of time making a musical career. Her offspring, left to their own devices, early on begin to live an independent life, which is not always favorable to them.

Once mother Bean and Liz leave them and the girls decide to go to visit their uncle (mother’s brother), whom they have never seen. The village where their relative lived was small and everyone here knew about each other. Girls come to the old manor and get acquainted with an uncle who is distinguished by eccentric manners. Here, the reader learns how young the mother of young heroines was in her youth. Living in a small town, Liz and Bean begin to grow up.

Simply put, the book “Silver Star” raises the problem of the relationship between parents and children.

Personal life

Famous writer Jannette Walls got married twice. In 1988, her chosen one was a man known as Eric Goldberg. In 1996, their marriage broke up. The second choice of Jannett was her colleague - writer and journalist John Taylor.