What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Glass Castle
Destin Daniel Cretton · Film · 2017
If you loved The Glass Castle, start with The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls, 2006) — a book from the same story. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Glass Castle across media.
If you were moved by The Glass Castle, you will appreciate these stories that navigate the complex, often painful bonds of dysfunctional families.
Start with the source
Books on the same thread
Educated: A Memoir
Tara Westover · Book · 2018
Explores: Family dysfunction, Self-discovery, Overcoming adversity.
Like The Glass Castle, this memoir explores the struggle for a better future while grappling with the deep-seated family dysfunction and lack of traditional structure during one's formative years.
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams · Book · 1999
Shares 2 threads with The Glass Castle: dysfunctional family, Family Drama.
Much like the parents in The Glass Castle, the characters here rely on escapism and illusion to cope with their reality, reflecting a similar fragility within a strained family unit.
Fun Home
Alison Bechdel · Book · 2007
Shares a thread with The Glass Castle: Dysfunctional Family.
Readers of The Glass Castle will recognize the difficult father-daughter dynamic and the burden of family secrets that define the complex coming-of-age experience presented in this graphic memoir.
The Castle
Franz Kafka · Book · 1954
Explores: Bureaucracy, Alienation, The Absurd.
The sense of powerlessness and alienation found in this classic mirrors the existential dread experienced by the children in The Glass Castle as they navigate an unpredictable, often absurd environment.
Series on the same thread
Shameless
Paul Abbott · Series · 2011
Shares 3 threads with The Glass Castle: Dysfunctional Family, Poverty, Resilience.
This series captures the same chaotic, poverty-stricken survival mode seen in The Glass Castle, focusing on how children must become independent when their parents fail to provide necessary stability.
The Haunting of Hill House
Mike Flanagan · Series · 2018
Shares 2 threads with The Glass Castle: Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama.
The trauma and fractured memories that haunt the siblings in this series echo the long-term emotional impact of the unstable childhood depicted throughout the narrative of The Glass Castle.
Maid
Molly Smith Metzler · Series · 2021
Shares a thread with The Glass Castle: Resilience.
This story mirrors the resilience required in The Glass Castle as a mother fights through poverty and past abuse to secure a stable life for her own child.
Mom
Eddie Gorodetsky · Series · 2013
Shares a thread with The Glass Castle: Dysfunctional Family.
This show explores the messy, often humorous reality of addiction recovery and mother-daughter conflict, resonating with the complicated parental relationships that drive the central tension in The Glass Castle.
Podcasts on the same thread
A New Untold Story
Podcast
Explores: Small-town life, Overcoming adversity, Single motherhood.
This podcast aligns with the themes of The Glass Castle by highlighting the triumph of the human spirit when overcoming adversity and complex family beginnings in small-town settings.
Chasing The Sun - Season 1 [Audioserye]
Podcast
Shares 2 threads with The Glass Castle: poverty, Coming-of-Age Story.
The raw depiction of poverty and the struggle to overcome a broken family background will feel familiar to anyone who connected with the hardships portrayed in The Glass Castle.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Glass Castle based on a book?
Yes, the 2017 movie The Glass Castle is an adaptation of the 2006 memoir titled The Glass Castle. The source material provides a detailed look at the author's upbringing in a dysfunctional family that lived in poverty while constantly moving to avoid the FBI.
How many siblings are depicted in The Glass Castle?
The Glass Castle follows the narrator and her three siblings. The family consists of the protagonist, her younger brother and sister, and her older sister. They are raised by parents who struggle with alcoholism and a nonconformist lifestyle while living in extreme poverty.
What is the primary conflict in The Glass Castle?
The primary conflict in The Glass Castle involves children growing up in a dysfunctional, impoverished family. While the father uses magical stories to distract the children from their dire circumstances, the mother remains a selfish, nonconformist figure who lacks interest in traditional parenting duties.
Does the father in The Glass Castle have a specific role?
In The Glass Castle, the father is portrayed as an ingenious but alcoholic figure. He keeps the family constantly on the run from the FBI and uses his storytelling ability to provide his children with magical distractions from their reality of living in poverty.