![]() ![]() When it seems no one is willing to protect these children, an elderly neighbor takes an interest in Carrie. ![]() In desperation, Carrie writes a letter inviting her grandmother to visit. Gradual moves down the economic scale-to another town, another job, another rundown shack-put even more pressure on the family. Despite the brutality of her family life, Carrie finds enjoyment in the woods, in her friends and teachers, and in memories of her dead father, who doted on her. Afterward, Carrie thinks Emma has taken the whipping meant for her, but it’s clear to the adult reader that Emma has been sexually abused. ![]() When Richard orders Carrie into his bedroom, Emma takes her place, pushing Carrie out and shutting the door. After his tenth beer he tends to explode, so after the eighth, the two sisters begin a slow retreat to the only safe place in the house, a spot they call “behind-the-couch.” Their mother puts up with Richard’s beatings-she needs the economic support-and urges the girls to behave. She and Emma even have his temper calibrated. Carrie’s narrative has a clear-eyed, unsentimental tone: “The first time Richard hit me I saw stars in front of my eyes just like they do in cartoons.” She learns to stay away from home and to stay out of the way after Richard has been drinking. A credible and appealing eight-year-old narrates the story of her family’s hardscrabble life.Ĭarrie Parker lives in Toast, North Carolina, with her mother, her abusive stepfather, Richard, and her younger sister, Emma. ![]()
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