Bone is the novel’s protagonist and narrator, and the story begins with her birth. She is still a very young girl when her mother marries Glen, the man who will become her abuser, and Coming of Age will be a major focal point within the narrative. Bone’s coming of age will be profoundly impacted by this abuse, but her closely bonded network of extended family will become a kind of counterbalance, offering her solace and understanding that she does not get within her nuclear family unit. The character of Bone is based on Dorothy Allison’s own childhood, and the autobiographical novel can be read as Allison’s attempt to come to terms with the abuse and poverty that characterized her own coming-of-age journey.

Bone is self-reflective and solitary, and even as a young girl she should be understood as a character who is deeply invested in both understanding her surroundings and self-understanding. Describing herself, she notes: “I was a solemn, watchful child” (18). Part of being “watchful” comes to be rooted in the self-preservation instinct, for her stepfather and abuser, Glen, is prone to fits of rage, and often directs his anger towards her.