Bastard Out of Carolina Review

Bastard Out of Carolina
Dorothy Allison
Penguin
$10.80 (Barnes and Noble)
Years Ago, but new editions recently
FTC: This is a library book. I am not being compensated in any manner for my review.

Characters 20/20
Plot 20/20
Setting 15/20
Cover 10/20
Ending 20/20
Total grade: 85% B

Sexual content: heavy (rape)
Violence: heavy (abuse)
Drugs: n/a
Underage drinking: mild
Swearing: heavy
Total rating: 16+

Summary:
Greenville County, South Carolina, is home to the Boatwright family - rough-hewn men who drink hard and shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who marry young and age all too quickly. At the heart of this astonishing novel is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a South Carolina bastard with an annotated birth certificate to tell the tale.

Observing everything with the mercilessly keen eye of a child, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that will test the loyalty of her mother, Anney. Her stepfather, Daddy Glen, calls Bone "cold as death, mean as a snake, and twice as twisty", yet Anney needs Glen "like a strong woman needs meat between her teeth". At first gentle with Bone, Daddy Glen becomes steadily colder and more furious - until their final, harrowing encounter, from which there can be no turning back.

My Thoughts:
I have seen this movie a few times and finally decided to read the book. It is very upsetting and rather haunting. You just want to pick Bone up and love her so she can’t be hurt anymore. The mom is a total whack job for most of the story but I realize it was necessary. As for Daddy Glen, what an asshole. If he were real I would want someone to beat the cred out of him. Think I have strong opinions on child abuse?

The plot was devastatingly honest. It broke my heart over and over again to think that real children are put in that place on a daily basis. The setting had one problem for me. It was way to descriptive. I don’t need someone going, “the green grass was shaded by the lush green tree’s.” Duh, grass is usually green and if tree’s are lush they are green too.

The cover was kind of dull. I think someone could do a much better job. The ending was pretty predictable but a great way to end the story. I recommend this to all my older readers, and the movie as well.