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 Bastard Out of CarolinaDorothy Allison (1992) This novel, as the author has publicly stated, is highly autobiographical. Based in part on Allison's own experience of having been sexually abused as a girl by her stepfather, Bastard Out of Carolina tells the story of Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright, who suffers sexual abuse from her mother's second husband Daddy Glen. As emotionally devastating as the abuse itself is Bone's second betrayal by her mother, who chooses to remain with the man who has abused her own daughter. If we can never quite understand how Bone's mother Anney can make such an awful choice-not only allowing her daughter to suffer the original acts of abuse, but then failing to side with Bone once the truth is out in the open-our disbelief runs parallel to a basic social truth. Sexual violence in the home often involves the complicity of a parent or guardian who lets it happen or who turns a blind eye. Stories such as these are all around us, Allison suggests, and our society's deep unwillingess to address issues of sexual violence and incest only perpetuates a social cycle in which it is even plausible for a mother to choose her child's abuser over her child. |