This is a wonderful book. Set in 1950s Greenville, South Carolina, it tells the story of Ruth Anne Boatright, known by all as "Bone," and her family. The Boatrights are poor, uneducated country folk, who have lots of kids, get drunk, spit in the yard, roughhouse, and tell stories on the porch.
Anney gives birth to Bone at fifteen. Anney's mother runs Bone's father out of town, so Anney is left to raise Bone on her own. During the birth, Anney is comatose from a car accident and unable to lie about being married, and two of her sisters give differing last names for Bone. Caught in this deception, Bone's birth certificate is stamped "illegitimate." Anney eventually marries Daddy Glen, and this is where the heart of the story emerges.
The novel is told from the perspective of Bone, as she grows up to age thirteen. Daddy Glen despises her, and the physical and sexual abuse that he unleashes shapes her upbringing.
Besides being a bildungsroman, this a story of family and class. Anney does not want her child labeled illegitimate, so she tries to change Bone's birth certificate after she is born, but is unable. Bone acutely recognizes that Greenville looks down on her family as trash, which bothers her. Her conflict with Daddy Glen and how it affects her relationship with Anney is important. Moreover, she has black hair, whereas other women in the Boatright family are blonds, which further marginalizes her. All of this shapes her upbrininging too.
Allison beautifully captures the culture, language, and rhythms of the South. Elements of the story are autobiographical. The author was born in Greenville in 1949 to a poor, unmarried teenage mother. Her stepfather abused her. Allison was the first person in her family to graduate high school.
This is worth reading for anyone interested in Southern literature.
1 comment:
Never heard of this book. I'll check it out!
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