-
First memory
Jeannette lives in a trailer park with Mom, Dad, her older sister Lori, and her little brother Brian. While cooking hotdogs over the stove, Jeannette’s tutu catches fire and her mother rushes her to the hospital for an emergency skin graft. After six weeks in the hospital, Dad smuggles her out without paying the bill. At home, she decidedly plays with fire (matches) once again. -
Doing the Skedaddle
One night, Dad makes the family pack all their belongings into the family car and move towns in the middle of the night, he calls this “doing the skedaddle.” Over the next several years, the Wallses do continue to do this, moving all over (including Las Vegas and San Francisco to make quick cash) in order to stay ahead of debt collectors and law enforcement. Usually, the Wallses live in isolated desert mining towns, teaching their children reading and math and survival skills. -
Mention of the Glass Castle
Dad drinks often and struggles to keep a job for long, but he promises his family that their horrid lifestyle is temporary. He then continues promises to find gold and build his family the Glass Castle, a large, self-sustaining home made out of glass. -
Maureen
When Jeannette is in first grade, Mom gives birth to another baby, Maureen. Dad moves the family to Battle Mountain, Nevada, where he works as an electrician. The family enjoys six months of relative stability until Dad loses his job. After an explosive argument, Mom gets a teaching job. Dad steals her paycheck, and the family continues to go hungry. -
Phoenix
After Jeannette has an altercation with a delinquent named Billy and the police get involved, the family flees to phoenix. On the way to Phoenix, Jeannette learns that Grandma Smith has passed, leaving Mom a large sum of money and a house. They move into the massive house, and Dad gets a job as an electrician. For about a year, the kids enjoy regular meals, their own bicycles, and public schooling. Unfortunately, Dad loses his job, and his alcoholism reaches crushing lows. -
Jeannette's 10th
On Jeanette's tenth birthday, she asked her father to go sober. For quite a bit, he granted her wishes but quickly showed that he went back to drinking on Christmas Eve by setting the Christmas tree and all the presents underneath is on fire. After this happened, Rose Mary decides it was time to go where he husbands family lives to go get help for Rex, in West Virginia. -
Welch
When the Wallses arrive in Welch, they stay with Jeannette’s paternal grandmother, Erma. Erma is a rude, unwelcoming host and when the parents leave for an extended road trip to Phoenix, Erma molests Brian. Jeannette and Lori confront her, but Erma retaliates violently. Dad takes Erma’s side when he returns, but Erma evicts the family and they are forced to live in a house full with malfunctions. -
New York??
Upon Rose quitting her job to commit to doing art full time, Jeannette demands change from her parents and their selfish habits. Instead of comfort, she is met with rage and disbelief. Jeannette begins to greatly see the errors in her parents and when Lori graduates in New York, Jeannette works hard to spend her senior year of high school there as well. -
Moving to New York!
Jeanette makes it through high school and moves to New York with Lori. From there she begins to work at a Newspaper company and then attended college through grants, loans and being a secretary on Wall Street. Maureen moves in with Lori at age twelve. Dad accuses Lori of stealing his children, and he and Mom move to New York City three years later. -
Parents v. Children
Mom and Dad first live on the streets, eventually become squatters. At this point, Jeannette has married and works at a prestigious magazine. Lori is an artist, and Brian is a police officer. Maureen drops out of college and moves in with Mom and Dad once again. Maureen tries to stab Mom, and must spend a year in a psychiatric hospital.The family evidently drifts apart, and a year later Dad dies of a heart attack. -
Thanksgiving
Five years after Dad’s death, Jeannette and her second husband, John, host the family for Thanksgiving, though without Maureen. They toast to Dad’s life. -
Present Day
The beginning of the novel begins at present day. Jeannette Walls sees her mother in the streets and then ducks down as to avoid her. She feels guilty and then invited her mother to lunch later. Her mother insists on her and her husbands happiness while living homeless.
