This is a book review on “Bastard Out of Carolina” by Dorothy Allison. This emotional yet haunting young adult novel was an intriguing read. Allison delves into family values, morals, and what love really is and what some people will do for it, even if it’s not real.

This heartfelt and deeply written novel portrays a lost child and a young mother who want love, but seem to have very different perspectives on what love is. Ruth Anne Boatwright, better known as Bone thanks to her cleverly speaking grandmother and aunts, has three birth certificates affirming her as an illegitimate child. Bone’s mother Anney was only fifteen when he had her and had grown up quickly. Southern hospitality seems to have come a long way in Greenville, South Carolina, with terms like “yes ma’am,” “dumpling,” “honey girl,” and sweet stuff, “and women seem to be taking the lead in this. A determined novel. Not only is Anney young, but she is also beautiful, strong and independent. It almost seems that the novel is making southern women fast and not very smart, but Allison cleans up the stereotype by making the Boatwright responsible women. , independent and strong-willed, at least at the beginning of the novel. The story of Bone and his mother is difficult to read due to the pain they both went through, especially with the story told through Bone’s eyes. The novel describes the grief of loss and the suffering of love and how this young mother and daughter overcame both. At first, there was Lyle, who was perfect for Anney and Bone, but an unfortunate car accident took him away from them. Bone had lost her friend Shannon and her aunt Ruth. Having these losses at such a young age was difficult for Bone as he tried to maintain a tough exterior. Finally there was Glen Waldell, who was Mister Southern Hospitality himself, or so everyone thought.

Bone may not have been a perfect, well-spoken girl, but she was a carpenter nonetheless and they were tough women who weren’t afraid to speak their minds and had to grow up fast at a young age, just like her. Mommy. However, as for any woman, love can turn into a weakness and that is what happened to Anney and Glen. Although Glen seemed shy and sweet, he had some anger issues and control issues that sometimes got out of hand. What’s a woman to do when the man she loves is the man she really wants to hate but doesn’t want to lose? She could have left him for good or turned him over to the police after he raped Bone, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave up all her responsibilities and left with Glen, leaving her now emotionally scarred daughter behind. Was it fear or love that made Anney leave? It seems hard to say, but Allison made it pretty clear that when it comes to domestic violence situations and there are children involved, they should come first, but as her novel shows, it unfortunately doesn’t always happen that way. Anney wanted love, but not just any kind of love. He wanted the love of a man as opposed to the love of and for his children and that is what he had gotten from Glen, regardless of his actions. She was blinded by this love and even though he was angry and controlling, he really loved Anney and he didn’t want to let her go and she didn’t want to lose love again. She was desperate for it, so desperate that she left her family behind for it. Allison’s intentions for young adult readers are for them to understand and know what love is before using the term to get into a situation like Anney did. The novel is full of laughter, tears, and anger as Allison defines love in her own words, as it is used for the right and wrong reasons.