Bastard Out of Carolina

Last updated
Bastard Out of Carolina
Bastard Out of Carolina novel.jpg
Author Dorothy Allison
LanguageEnglish
Genre Drama
Coming-of-age novel
Publisher Dutton
Publication date
March 1992
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover & paperback)
Pages309 pp
ISBN 978-0-525-93425-7 (1st ed. hardcover)
OCLC 24502970

Bastard Out of Carolina is a 1992 novel by Dorothy Allison. Semi-autobiographical in nature, the book is set in Allison's hometown of Greenville, South Carolina in the 1950s. Narrated by Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright, the primary conflict occurs between Bone and her mother's husband, Glen Waddell.

Contents

The novel examines the complexities of mother–child relationships, as well as conditions of class, race, and sexuality in the American South, all of which play out in Bone's life and her relationships with others.

The book was adapted into a film in 1996.

Named as one of the 136 Great American Novels by The Atlantic in March 2024.

Plot

The book opens with Bone relating the details of her birth. Bone's 15-year-old mother, Anney, gives birth after being seriously injured in a car accident. Anney is not married, and is comatose during delivery. Anney's older sister, Ruth, and their mother try to give a false name for Bone's father, and are caught in their deception. Bone is declared a bastard, a child born out of wedlock, and "illegitimate” is stamped in big red letters on her birth certificate. Anney, who "hated to be called trash", spends the next two years unsuccessfully petitioning to get a new birth certificate issued. This opens her up to the ridicule of customers at the diner where she works.

At 17, Anney marries Lyle Parsons and gives birth to another daughter, Reese, soon after. Lyle is killed in a car accident, leaving Anney "all bitter grief and hunger". After remaining single for a few years, she dates Glen Waddell, the son of a socially prominent dairy owner. They marry two years later, when Anney is pregnant once again.

Anney gives birth to a stillborn boy, and is unable to have more children. While Anney is in labor, Glen rapes Bone in the car. The family's fortunes plummet, with Glen losing job after job due to his anger management problems. He begins abusing Bone physically; beatings and whippings leave her with bruises and broken bones.

When Anney discovers the abuse, she leaves Glen, who promises never to do it again. Anney takes him back, and the abuse resumes. Anney leaves Glen again after her tough, hard-drinking brothers beat Glen to a bloody pulp when they discover the abuse (bruises are visible on her buttocks in the movie). Bone then tells Anney that she will never live in the same house with Glen again. Bone says that she loves Anney and will forgive her if she decides to go back to Glen, but she remains firm that she will never live with him again. Anney vows not to go back to Glen unless Bone comes with her.

When Glen discovers this, he attacks Bone at her Aunt Alma's house, breaking her arm and raping her on the bedroom floor. Anney walks in on the assault and fights him off. Glen follows the two out to the car, with his pants around his knees, begging Anney to kill him rather than abandon him. To Bone's disgust and amazement, Anney ends up crying and throwing her arms around Glen. Anney then leaves with Glen.

Bone's Aunt Raylene takes her to the hospital and takes custody of her. While Bone is recuperating at Raylene's house, Anney shows up with a new birth certificate for Bone, one without "illegitimate" stamped at the bottom. She begs Bone's forgiveness, and leaves without saying where she is going.

Reviews

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Peyton Place</i> (TV series) American prime-time soap opera

Peyton Place is an American prime-time soap opera that aired on ABC in half-hour episodes from September 15, 1964, to June 2, 1969.

<i>Ellen Foster</i> 1987 novel by Kaye Gibbons

Ellen Foster is a 1987 novel by American novelist Kaye Gibbons. It was a selection of Oprah's Book Club in October 1997.

<i>Bastard Out of Carolina</i> (film) 1996 film by Anjelica Huston

Bastard Out of Carolina is a 1996 American drama film made by Showtime Networks, directed by Anjelica Huston. It is based on the 1992 novel by Dorothy Allison and adapted for the screen by Anne Meredith. Jena Malone stars in her debut as a poor, physically abused and sexually molested girl.

<i>The Delinquents</i> (1989 film) 1989 Australian film

The Delinquents is a 1989 Australian coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Chris Thomson from a screenplay by Clayton Frohman and Mac Gudgeon, based on Criena Rohan's 1962 book of the same name. It is the first film by Village Roadshow Pictures. It stars Kylie Minogue and Charlie Schlatter as the main characters Lola and Brownie, and was filmed in the Queensland locations of Brisbane, Maryborough and Bundaberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Allison</span> American writer (1949–2024)

Dorothy Earlene Allison was an American writer whose writing focused on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism, and lesbianism. She was a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison won a number of awards for her writing, including several Lambda Literary Awards. In 2014, Allison was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

<i>Three</i> (2006 film) 2007 American film

Three is a 2007 Christian horror thriller film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ted Dekker. Directed by Robby Henson and written by Alan B. McElroy, it stars Marc Blucas, Justine Waddell, Max Ryan, and Bill Moseley. It was shot on location in Łódź and Warsaw, Poland. The film grossed $1.4 million and has a 5% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, which called it a "thrill-free thriller" in its critical consensus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rex Balsom</span> Fictional character from One Life to Live

Rex Balsom is a fictional character from the American daytime drama One Life to Live, portrayed by John-Paul Lavoisier from May 9, 2002, to the show's finale on January 12, 2012.

<i>The Rules of Survival</i> 2006 novel by Nancy Werlin

The Rules of Survival is a 2006 novel written by Nancy Werlin. It depicts the story of a boy and his two siblings trying to survive vicious emotional and physical abuse by their mother, Nikki. This book was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. It also received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association.

<i>A Thousand Splendid Suns</i> 2007 novel by Khalid Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a 2007 novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, following the huge success of his bestselling 2003 debut The Kite Runner. Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat, is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a family tragedy. Laila, born a generation later, lives a relatively privileged life, but her life intersects with Mariam's when a similar tragedy forces her to accept a marriage proposal from Mariam's husband.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance MacKenzie</span> Fictional character

Constance MacKenzie is a fictional character in the 1956 novel Peyton Place by Grace Metalious. In the subsequent film adaptation, she was played by Lana Turner; in the sequel Return to Peyton Place, by Eleanor Parker; in the primetime television series, by Dorothy Malone ; and in the daytime soap opera Return to Peyton Place, by Bettye Ackerman and later by Susan Brown.

<i>Sioux City</i> (film) 1994 American film

Sioux City is a 1994 American mystery drama film directed by and starring Lou Diamond Phillips, with Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, and future Touched by an Angel star John Dye. It was Phillips' directorial debut.

<i>Towelhead</i> (film) 2007 film

Towelhead is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Alan Ball and based on Alicia Erian's novel of the same name. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2007, under the name Nothing Is Private. The motion picture, like the book, touches on issues of coming-of-age, sexual awakening, privacy, and race.

This is a list of fictional stories in which illegitimacy features as an important plot element. Passing mentions are omitted from this article. Many of these stories explore the social pain and exclusion felt by illegitimate "natural children".

<i>The Onion Girl</i> 2001 novel by Charles De Lint

The Onion Girl is a 2001 contemporary urban fantasy novel by Canadian writer Charles De Lint, which takes place in the Newford universe. It is the first Newford novel centering on the recurring character of Jilly Coppercorn, now a middle-aged woman. The book was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. De Lint published a sequel in 2006, Widdershins, and a 2007 prequel, Promises to Keep, the latter of which featured Jilly as a young woman.

<i>Prem Granth</i> 1996 film

Prem Granth is an Indian Hindi-language film which was released in India on 24 May 1996. Directed by Rajiv Kapoor, the movie stars Rishi Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit and deals with the subject of rape. It serves as an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's English novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

<i>Widdershins</i> (novel) 2006 novel by Charles De Lint

Widdershins is a 2006 urban fantasy novel by Canadian writer Charles De Lint, set in the Newford universe. It continues the events of the 2001 novel The Onion Girl, where Jilly was left partially paralyzed and her relationship with Geordie unfulfilled. It also deals with a potential war between fairies and "cousins." Fairies, according to the novel, came to the Americas along with the European explorers. Cousins are the original inhabitants, who can take the form of specific animals depending on their bloodline.

<i>Big Stone Gap</i> (film) 2014 American film

Big Stone Gap is a 2014 American drama romantic comedy film written and directed by Adriana Trigiani and produced by Donna Gigliotti for Altar Identity Studios, a subsidiary of Media Society. Based on Trigiani's 2000 best-selling novel of the same name, the story is set in the actual Virginia town of Big Stone Gap circa 1970s. The film had its world premiere at the Virginia Film Festival on November 6, 2014. The film was released on October 9, 2015, by Picturehouse. The film was released in Blu-Ray by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on February 2, 2016.

<i>The Red Tent</i> (miniseries) US television miniseries by Roger Young

The Red Tent is an American television miniseries produced by Paula Weinstein and directed by Roger Young. The first two-hour episode premiered on Lifetime on December 7, 2014; the second and final episode aired the next day. The series is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Anita Diamant.

<i>It Ends with Us</i> 2016 romance novel by Colleen Hoover

It Ends with Us is a romance novel by Colleen Hoover, published by Atria Books on August 2, 2016. Based on the relationship between her mother and father, Hoover described it as "the hardest book I've ever written". It explores themes of domestic violence and emotional abuse.

Lani Forbes was an American author of young adult novels, most known for her fantasy series, Age of the Seventh Sun.

References

  1. 1 2 Marsh, Janet Z. (2009). Twenty-First-Century American Novelists : Second Series. Detroit, Michigan: Gale, Cengage Learning. ISBN   978-0-7876-8168-5.