Several years before the 1992 publication of Bastard Out of Carolina Allison had already established herself as a writer outside of the mainstream; her 1988 collection Trash won the Lambda Literary award for best lesbian book. Bastard Out of Carolina was her first novel and considered to be her "crossover" book. It drew immediate attention from critics and readers. George Garrett wrote in his review for The New York Times, "When I finished reading Bastard Out of Carolina I wanted to blow a bugle to alert the reading public that a wonderful work of fiction by a major new talent has arrived on the scene." That year as well, the book was selected as a finalist for the National Book Award.
Some reviewers saw Bastard Out of Carolina as a "southern" novel, rich in the gothic.....
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