Rosie's Riveters: Louise & Bone

Rosie's Riveters is a weekly posting written by Booklust readers about riveting females in literature. Many readers have strong reactions to the women in the books they read- either very positive or very negative. These are the characters we find riveting, for good reasons or bad ones, and they form the population of Rosie's Riveters. Through this weekly post, we can discuss females we love to hate, or love to love. And maybe, just maybe- we can determine why we react so strongly to them.

I am no longer accepting people to participate in the Rosie's Riveters series.  The participants I currently have on the list will all have their chance to share their favorite or most hated woman, and then we shall start the new With Reverent Hands series on this blog.  More details on With Reverent Hands can be found in my Sunday Salon post here. 

This week's post is by Louise, who blogs at Lou's Pages.  She is a great book blogger, reviewing mysteries, horror, chick lit and everything in between.  I have only been following her blog for a few months now, but it's lovely and I'm so glad I found it.  I hope you all enjoy discovering her, too!  And if her chosen quote doesn't make you want to go out and grab this book, then you are very different than me :-)


Note:  Next week is the last Rosie's Riveters post.  I'll do a wrap-up on it during Sunday Salon on the 31st, and then start With Reverent Hands sign-ups.

Who is your Riveter? 
(Ruth Anne) Bone Boatwright

What book does she feature in? 
Bastard out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison

Do you love her or hate her? 
Neither. But I respect her.

Describe her personality- how would you describe her to a friend? 
Grimy and scared but brave at the same time

Can you compare her to a celebrity? 
No, not really. In the back of my mind something is stirring, but I can't quite place it. Bone is not a grown woman, so its not easy to compare her to a grown up celebrity. And fortunately, I cannot think of a younger celeberity who is compareable.

What makes her riveting? 
Her life, the milieu she grows up in, her family. But for the most part, she and her story are riveting for a lot of seriously hideous reasons.

What do you most admire/despise about her? 
I admire her ability to survive a childhood so ugly and depressing and still emerge sonewhat strong on the other side, despite it all.

Would you recommend reading the book in which the Riveter features? 
Yes, absolutely. It is one of the best (and worst) books I've ever read. It would be perfect for the Women Unbound Reading Challenge, and it also features on my GLBT-reading lists although homosexuality in this particular book is not the main theme per se.

Do you have a quote by or about your Riveter that you'd like to share?  

"Ruth Anne,"Aunt Raylene whispered.  "Girl, look at me.  Stop thinking about what happened. Don't think about it.  Don't try to think about nothing.  You can't understand it yet.  You don't have to.  It don't make sense, and I can't explain it to you.  Your can't explain it to yourself.  Your mama..."  She stopped, and I looked back at her.  "Your mama loved you.  Just hang on, girl.  Just hang on.  It'll be better in time, I promise you."