Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

Glen's temper, already volatile, becomes even worse, and he can't keep a job. Anney's child is stillborn, and she can't have any more children. But, as she's giving birth, Glen molests Bone in the car in the hospital parking lot. When Anney gets pregnant with Glen's child soon after they are engaged, Glen is elated. Over the course of a few years, Anney allows herself to trust him and let him be a father to her daughters. Anney works long hours in a diner to support her daughters after her first husband dies in a car accident.Īnney's brother introduces her to Glen Waddell, the youngest and least successful son of a dairy owner. The extended Boatwright clan is a tough but poor bunch living in Greenville County, South Carolina. Anney tries multiple times to get a new birth certificate without the stamp, but with no success. Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright is born out of wedlock to fifteen-year-old Anney and has "ILLEGITIMATE" stamped on her birth certificate.