Raylene...

18 May 2020: "I like my life the way it is, little girl. I made my life, the same way it looks like you're going to make yours--out of pride and stubborness and too much anger. You better think hard, Ruth Anne, about what you want and who you're mad at. You better think hard." --Raylene in Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina

Finished rereading this book today and it's just as gutting as the first time. Actually, more so, since I am 20+ years older and it seems even more realistic and important than it did when I was 22. As I said earlier, in September I'm supposed to give a talk on Allison and diversity in Appalachian literature. On this read-through, Raylene, Bone's queer aunt, stood out to me. She cares for Bone in the end when her mother leaves her. She's not a fairy godmother who makes everything better, but she's fierce, flawed, and powerful. Her queerness in a broad sense gestures towards some kind of hope for the child at the center of the book. Really interesting...