Summary

Written by Dorothy Allison in 1992, Bastard out of Carolina was first published in 1993 by Plume, a member of the Penguin Printing Group.

Chapter 1.

Anney Boatwright, a single, 16-year old dropout gives birth to “Bone” whose real name is Ruth Anne Boatwright. Injured in a traffic accident, Anney is unconscious during the birth and awakens to find her mother and sister have bungled the information for the birth certificate. The result is a birth certificate with “Illegitimate” stamped across the bottom in bright red ink. Anney wages a losing battle with the courthouse to have the word that would forever brand her and her daughter, removed.

Anney marries Lyle Parsons and has another daughter (Reese) with him. Lyle is killed in an automobile accident shortly after her birth. Eventually, Anney’s brother Earle introduces her to Glen Waddell, the black-sheep, youngest son of a wealthy townsman...