Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
This book was great. Wonderfully written, and I enjoyed it to an extent. However, I do NOT recommend it unless you can handle reading about sexual abuse. It had me in tears more than once.
This book is the story of Ruth Anne Boatwright, called Bone. Born when her mother was only fifteen, she never knew her father. Her mother marries when Bone is young and gives birth to a girl, Bone's new sister Reese. But not long after that, her husband dies in a car accident. All Anney, Bone's mother, wants is someone that will love her and love her kids. She thinks she's found it in Glenn. At first, things are wonderful. Bone has a father and a family like she wanted. But on the night her mother gave birth to her baby brother, Daddy Glenn did something awful to her. She pretends it didn't happen and tells no one. But when the baby dies, things get much worse. Glenn beats her, and defends himself to Anney by telling lies. He claims Bone yelled at him, said she hated him, called him names. And Anney always believes it. The abuse, physical and sexual, happens often. Bone tries to stay out of his way, but she can't do it forever. All she can do is hold on to the hate. She wanted a father to love her, but Daddy Glenn isn't it.
I won't say more because I don't want to give it away to anyone who does decide to read it. Just be warned it doesn't have a happy ending. It upset me to the point that I wrote Bone into the story my best friend and I are writing so I could make her happy. I've only ever done that once before, so you know this was pretty bad. Though the entire book isn't about the abuse (it also discusses Bone's friends, her family's problems, and her dream to be a gospel singer) it is the main focus of the book.