Bastard Out of Carolina (Plume Essential Edition)

by Dorothy Allison

book data

6,123 ratings, 4.07 average rating, 598 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		36%
4		39%
3		18%
2		3%
1		1%

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published

August 30th 2005 (first published 1992) by Plume

binding

Paperback, 320 pages

isbn

0452287057 (isbn13: 9780452287051)

description

Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright, an illegitimate young girl, dreams of escaping her Greenville County, South Carolina, home, her notorious, ...more

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11/26/07

Richard Rain rated it:

Read in June, 2000

Greenville, South Carolina. 1950’s.
“Bone” wasn't just an accident, she was born by one, delivered after her 15-year-old unmarried Mama-to-be Anney was thrown through the windshield of Bone’s drunk Uncle Travis’s Chevy while sleeping in the back seat. “Mama” survived with hardly a scratch, but was unconscious just long enough for her sister Ruth to decide her own name would fit the newborn child, with her mother’s coming in a close second. Ruth Anne Boatwright. And...more Greenville, South Carolina. 1950’s.
“Bone” wasn't just an accident, she was born by one, delivered after her 15-year-old unmarried Mama-to-be Anney was thrown through the windshield of Bone’s drunk Uncle Travis’s Chevy while sleeping in the back seat. “Mama” survived with hardly a scratch, but was unconscious just long enough for her sister Ruth to decide her own name would fit the newborn child, with her mother’s coming in a close second. Ruth Anne Boatwright. And just long enough for Aunt Ruth and Granny to fill in two different names on Bone’s birth certificate for the father, and get the word ILLEGITIMATE stamped in big red ink letters on it. And it’s the shame of this word, and its ultimate erasure, that drives Mama in Dorothy Allison’s home-grown Bastard Out of Carolina, a shame that is only superficially lifted after the courthouse with the records burns down.
Of course, it wasn’t Ruth or Granny or Mama who messed up. It was what they inherited from the Boatwright men, whose wallets held "little faded pictures of pretty women who were not their wives.” Men who weren’t men unless they’d spent some time in jail. Men who “looked young,” while the women “seemed old, worn down, and slow, born to mother, nurse, and clean up” after them. Men rewarded, Annie learned quickly, while the good ones were punished. Like Lyle Parsons, Anney’s first husband. Another body ripped from her own by a car accident. “Now you look like a Boatwright,” Aunt Ruth says at his funeral. “You’re as old as you’re ever gonna get, girl. This is the way you’ll look till you die.”
Like Mama, Bone was born a Boatwright. Born to be abused by men. She'd wish she'd been “born a boy” and do things Boatwright men would do: breaking and taking things that weren’t theirs to break and take. More than from anyone, she learned this from Glen Waddell, the next man her Mama met and married. Glen Waddell aspired to be a Boatwright man. Breaking and taking. Like at the hospital, while his wife is delivering their dead baby upstairs and Bone’s Baby sister slept in the back seat. Vandalizing little Bone’s virginity. “He pushed my skirt to the side and slid his left hand down between my legs, up against my cotton panties. He began to rock me…”
Allison details the torture Bone suffers from Glen, foreshadowing her future with menacing metaphors and sinister similes she sees. “The spring Mama married Glen Waddell, there were thunderstorms every afternoon and rolling clouds that hung around the foothills...The moon came up with a ghostly halo almost every night…” And when Bone finds a photo album, she tells us, “Beside Mama…was [Glen] half in shadow…not one clear line of who he really was behind those eyes.” Conveniently, Glen moves his family to a secluded house "near the railroad tracks…” where Bone’s journey takes its most terrible turn.
“You let your mama know you are happy so she can heal her heart,” her Aunt Raylene tells Bone after the baby’s death, not knowing she is sealing the little girl into a world of silence. But even after her aunt and mother uncover the truth of the terrible abuse, only more violence and denial are born, and Bone—true to her name—goes further into herself, repressing a rage that is as hidden as Daddy Glen’s is not, and developing an ironic independence from the Boatwright family, which seems to be finally sinking under the weight of its years of dysfunction. But the reader is left wondering just how high on the mast Bone has managed to climb as the waters swirl below her, and if having to look down at her own mother’s abandonment of her with Glen will not predict her own ultimate demise, or whether Aunt Raylene, Mama’s spinster (read lesbian) sister, will arrive in enough time and with enough room in the lifeboat to save her niece.

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06/17/07

Robert rated it:

(review of isbn 0613180666)

Bastard Out of Carolina is one of those books about which all of the hooplah surrounding it really baffles me. Allison basically plagiarizes herself by, instead of expanding what was a quite good short story she wrote and published in High Risk: An Anthology of Forbidden Writings, simply cutting and pasting sections of it throughout the book (I actually went through it and identified the sections because I could scarcely believe a serious author would do something so incredibly lazy). The final ...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

3 comments

06/23/08

Demisty rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in August, 2008

recommended to Demisty by: Dr. Nick Spencer, a really neat peson.
recommends it for: People who liked _Fried Green Tomatoes_ and working class fiction

Let’s see. It, at first, seemed like a log of a child’s life, growing up in 1950s (60s? hard to tell; try to figure it out via the music) South Carolina. All the trials and tribulations of growing up in a single family household, crazy extended family, young mother, et cetera. Her mother marries then is widowed (I think this is all before the mother is 21), marries again to a man that beats and molests Ruth Anne, nicknamed Bone -- narr and our hero -- repeatedly. The molestation is silen...more

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09/30/07

Ginny rated it:

(review of isbn 0613180666)

Read in December, 2007

On her web site Dorothy Allison says "What I am here for is to tell you stories you may not want to hear." Bastard Out of Carolina is definitely a hard story to hear.

It is a beautifully-written semi-autobiographical account of a childhood in 1950s-60s South Carolina. The protagonist, nicknamed Bone, is a victim of poverty and physical abuse, including sexual abuse. But she is also part of a big extended family, all of whom are poor, uneducated, loving, and protective. Alli...more

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10/17/07

jo rated it:

(review of isbn 0525934251)

bookshelves: trauma

Read in October, 2007

i have no idea why this book gets so much love. the writing is mediocre, the story construction weak-linked, the point fudged by so much nonsense, it's blurry and romanticized and wrapped in cheap tin foil and smelling of county fair cotton candy. and the mistique of class: i like it just as much as i like the mistique of ethnicity, i.e. not at all.

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10/27/08

Dusty rated it:

(review of isbn 0525934251)

Read in November, 2008

One thing I know for sure is that Bastard out of Carolina is, in the end, a very conservative book. Its focus is on the family. Ruth Anne Boatwright is a girl born the titular bastard to a teenage mother, Annie, and an absent father. The mother remarries after she has another kid with a man who dies, and this man she marries—Daddy Glen—turns out in what has now become a cliche in the memoir/autobionovel genre to be abusive. First it's verbal/emotional, then it becomes physical/sexual. All th...more

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07/11/08

Lewis rated it:

A contemporary classic, this powerful novel is a disturbing tale of child abuse, told with wisdom and restraint. Allison brilliantly tells the story through the first-person narrative of Bone, a young girl who doesn’t want to believe what’s happening to her, so for the most part she reveals the truth sparingly—which makes the more dramatic moments that much more terrifying. Allison deftly captures the psychological nuances of the situation at the same time, making clear to the reader som...more

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07/03/07

Elaine rated it:

(review of isbn 0452269571)

bookshelves: mainstreamlitfic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Set in Greenville, Carolina, sometime in the late '50s, this colorful, vibrant, heart-crushing narrative is a must-read.

It's so passe nowadays to handle themes like "sexual abuse", family violence, mother-daughter betrayal unless you can shine new light on the subjects -- overdone and overfamiliar, it has now become a big insensitive cliche or a melodramatic spin-sob story. But in Ms. Allison's hands, even reading it today in the background of all that's overdone and overf...more Set in Greenville, Carolina, sometime in the late '50s, this colorful, vibrant, heart-crushing narrative is a must-read.

It's so passe nowadays to handle themes like "sexual abuse", family violence, mother-daughter betrayal unless you can shine new light on the subjects -- overdone and overfamiliar, it has now become a big insensitive cliche or a melodramatic spin-sob story. But in Ms. Allison's hands, even reading it today in the background of all that's overdone and overfamiliar, this story engages, propels, carries with it a certain 'magic'. It's filled with colorful relatives, violent relatives, but it's also filled with gospel music, country music, capers and candy-adventures!

Part of the secret of that magic, I believe, is Ruth Anne ("Bone") herself, our spirited protagonist. In the deep grip of sexual abuse, she bears all the scars of the victimized -- fear, inability to get herself out of danger, an enervated passivity towards her assaulter, confusion, anger, shame, collusion with his acts by her silence. And yet, Ms. Allison renders this portrait of the "victim" in superb contrast to the raging energy and creativity of Ruth Anne. She's simply remarkable -- this twelve year Southern girl. She's feisty, scary, cold, loving, funny, loves gospel music; she's polite, helpful, good with her hands, and you just love her. To read what happens to her page after page literally cracks your heart open and I find myself begging in my mind with the author (even though it's far too late!) "Please don't let her get raped". She does get raped and just when you think you can't handle any more sadness, her mother's betrayal at the very end is harrowing, poignant, and paints such a sad realization for us of what certain women would do for love. Ms. Allison paints this with such a humane hand that you simply cannot hate the mother, just like Bone doesn't.

This is not a story for the weak-hearted; but even though what you fear most comes to pass, Ms. Allison does not leave us without any hope of redemption. We see Ruth Anne stand up tall even after her mother's desertion; we see her mother's parting gift, and my heart cracks wide open all over again. (less)

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01/23/09

Mommalibrarian rated it:

bookshelves: southern-literature, womens-issues

Read in January, 2009

A young girl tries to make sense of her life with a mom, without her dad, with a step-sister by a dead husband, with lots of very crazy relatives, with extreme poverty, and then with an new abusive stepfather. No conclusions = just that life is complicated. I enjoyed it which seems like a strange thing to say about such a mess as the characters make. I would like to read the sequel to find out what sort of person the girl, Ruth Anne Boatwright, becomes.

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02/05/08

Heather rated it:

(review of isbn 0525934251)

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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07/31/07

Bethany rated it:

Read in July, 2007

I tend to be skeptical when someone tells me that a book changed their life. I found a curriculum materials that talked about this book and how life-changing it was for the teacher who prepared the lesson. Although I didn't find it to be quite the experience she described, it was still an incredible book with complex characters, an engaging plot, and excellent writing.

The book is disturbing, at times, being an account of poverty, prejudice, violence, love and hatred, and family dyn...more

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05/18/08

Blakely rated it:

recommended to Blakely by: Karina Lundahl

awesome book, makes your heart ache. This was a Karina recommendation from years ago, and I loved it. There is an antique store in Darby, MT with the name Boatwright over the door and every time I'd drive by it on the way to the ranch I'd think of this book, my good pal Karina and her staggeringly good taste in literature. This is one of those books you don't remember reading specifically but the events and characters in the book appear in your mind like you remember a dream. Don't know if it'...more

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03/23/08

Darla R rated it:

(review of isbn 0452269571)

I heard about this book for years so felt as though I had no choice but to read it. It is everything it's cracked up to be: tough, unflinching, and raw. I liked it almost as well as I liked "Going Down Swinging," by Billie Livingston which also deals with class and mother child relationships. "Going Down Swinging" has a lot of dark humour though and the reader never doubts the mother character's love, though she IS self absorbed and addicted to men and booze. GDS is a bit mo...more

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12/29/08

Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 0452269571)

How do you live in a house with a man who despises you and angrily lusts for you at this same time? Bone, a young scrawny girl, tip toes through this fate as she tries to sidestep her step father while pleasing her mother. We suffer through her agonies through her eyes, trying to understand the actions of the young adults who populate her world. A South Carolina landscape brings forth a harsh reality for the poor and struggling family, with their lowly socioeconomic status compounding the feelin...more

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12/14/08

Joe Chappell rated it:

(review of isbn 0613180666)

Read in December, 2008

dorothy allison has said that she tries to write about the working class much like how flannery o'connor wrote about the middle class, and that makes a lot of sense.

i only just read this even though it takes place in the region where i grew up, reading it mostly for setting as i am currently writing about the same place, although years later and in light of different circumstances and social spheres. even though this genre of thinly veiled autobiography has become somewhat cliche, an...more

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12/15/08

Noel M. rated it:

recommended to Noel by: Collette S.

A favorite quote of mine from the book discussing religion:

"They want you, oh yes, they want you. Till they get you. Ain't nothing in this world more useless that a hardworking religious fool. It ain't that you get religion. Religion gets you and then milks you dry. Won't let you drink a little whiskey. Won't let you do a damned thing except work for what you'll get in the hereafter. I live in the here and now, and I need my sleep on Sunday morning. But I'll tell you Bon...more

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11/15/07

Laurel rated it:

bookshelves: collection

Has a copy to sell/swap

recommends it for: anyone

I read this book many years ago but have kept it on my bookshelves through many moves (always a good time to edit one's collection)because I think it is such a well written, powerful story...although the subject matter is sometimes horrifying, it is a book I hope my daughter one day will want to read...the resiliency of children being one of my favorite themes. It is a book one learns from.

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07/29/08

Kate rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Brilliant. A classic. To me, it's all in the voice. If a novel has a great voice, a memorable voice--which this one does--I'll follow the writer anywhere, even into the dark dark depths of life, which is where this book takes you. And yet it doesn't take you there without a sense of that endurance and strength are core elements of most humans, even children.

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11/19/08

Ill Literati Crazy People In Books rated it:

A tough, heartbreaking story told by young "Bone" as she grows up in the rural south.

Allison doesn't hold back in this autobiographical novel, hitting the reader hard with her powerful language and mean, tragic characters.

She deals with sexuality, abuse, and abandonment with a directness that doesn't let go.

Brace yourself.

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04/07/08

Susan rated it:

Read in May, 2008

I have to give this book five stars because it is amazingly well done. However, it is painful to read. I am extremely uncomfortable when I pick up the book and remain so throughout the reading process. Still, the book is valuable and, for lack of a better word, the author is amazingly perceptive about the issues at work within the novel.

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"Everything that comes to us is a blessing or a test. That’s all you need to know in this life…just the certainty that God’s got His eye on you, that He knows what you are made of, what you need to grow on. Why,questioning’s a sin, it’s pointless. He will show you your path in His own good time. And long as I remember that, I’m fine." More quotes...