The Walls family lives in a constant state of spatial chaos. In Welch, West Virginia, their house is a falling-apart shack with a broken staircase and no running water. Jeannette describes the coal dust coating everything—you can almost taste it, right?
But here’s the kicker: her dad Rex calls it a “glass castle.” He dreams of building a shimmering mansion for his kids, but the real setting is a rotting floor and a hole in the roof. That irony stings, doesn’t it? It’s like the place itself becomes a lie they all believe.
The Desert as a Playground and a Prison
Earlier, in the Mojave Desert, the family lives in a beat-up car and later a ramshackle house. The desert is beautiful and brutal—open skies, scorching heat, and zero privacy. Jeannette and her siblings roam free, exploring cacti and mines, but the freedom comes at a cost.
That cost? Hunger and neglect. The setting here is a paradox: it’s where Mom paints under the stars (artsy, right?), but also where they dig through trash for food. I mean, talk about mixed messages. The environment mirrors their parents: wild, unreliable, and somehow magical.
