Bastard out of Carolina was a heartbreaking story about a child Ruth Anne or "Bone" rather. "Bone" a nickname given to Ruth Anne at birth because her uncle thought she was no bigger than a knucklebone when she was born. Bone was lucky that she was even born in the first place, after experiencing a traumatic car accident, which rendered her mother unconscious she was born while her mother had still not come through. Because of her mother's state at her birth, it was up to her Aunt Ruth and grandmother to take car of the birth certificate. Bone's father never was a part of her or her mother's life so his name was not clear to either Ruth or Bone's grandmother, because of this their was no choice but to claim Bone as illegitimate. When Anne came to she was very upset that her child had been named a bastard, so three times after Bone's birth she tried to go to the court house and change the birth certificate, failing every time. Anne finally gained satisfaction when the courthouse burned down and all the records were destroyed. .
Anne married again soon after Bone was born, it was important to her that her daughter grew up with a daddy. But, once again Anne was struck with bad luck; her second husband was killed when a car struck him while he was working for the family. Now, finding herself with a newborn and a toddler, Anne was once again on the look out for a father figure and a husband. Anne's brother introduced her to Glen, a blue collar stud. Glen seemed so perfect at first, but soon after they married Anne found out he was anything but.
Glen was constantly in and out of jobs, forcing Anne to be the main bread maker of the family. Under these circumstances the family was forced to move often to a place where Glen could find an odd job or two. At one point in time the children were eating nothing but crackers and ketchup for dinner, the only meal of the day. While finical situations continued to get worse, Glen got on edge and took his frustrations and anger out on the only thing he could find, Bone.