Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger #1)

Alex

Rating: really liked it
I met a friend for drinks last night. She came up and took one glance at the back cover to this book and her eyes widened. "No," she breathed. "Seriously?" Of course she recognized it from the back. She read it around seventh grade. I read it around seventh grade. You read it around seventh grade. An entire generation has this lurking in our collective adolescence.

So that's why I re-read it. (Okay, that and I thought it was hilarious just to hold it up on the subway.) I wanted to know just how creepy it is. To be honest, I couldn't really remember, nor could most other people I talked to. There's a vague sense of ickiness and illicitness, but that's about it.

Here's your answer: it is very, very creepy. Friends, there's like a whole page where VC Andrews describes a five-year-old's underwear in loving, lavish detail. Andrews is willing to eroticize anything. Here's a whipping:

"My eyes bulged at the site of those pitiful welts on the creamy tender flesh that our father had handled with so much love and gentleness. I floundered in a maelstrom of uncertainty." (91)

Floundered. In a maelstrom. Of uncertainty.

Not that that's what we're here to discuss, though, is it? We're here to discuss brotherfucking. I'm not gonna do a spoiler alert, dude. If you didn't know Flowers in the Attic is about brotherfucking, you wouldn't be reading this. So let's get to it:

"And that is where he took me, and forced in that swollen, rigid male sex part of him that had to be satisfied. It drove into my tight and resisting flesh which tore and bled.

"Long strings of clouds blew across the face of the full moon, so it would duck and hide, then peek out again. And on the roof, on a night that was made for lovers, we cried in each other's arms.

"'Don't hate me, Cathy, please don't hate me. I didn't mean to rape you, I swear to God. There's been many a time when I've been tempted, and I was able to turn it off.'

"'I don't hate you, Chris...it was my fault, too.' Oh yes, my fault too...I shouldn't have worn skimpy little see-through garments around a brother who had all a man's strong physical needs.

"And all we could see in the murky-gray and cold, damp clouds was that single great eye of God - shining up there in the moon."

(357 - 359)

Ladies and gentlemen, this was your puberty. How our generation functions at all, with this in our pasts, is beyond me.

But we do, somehow, and some of you now have kids of your own. And you're worried about them being exposed to too much sex and creepiness on the internet. Listen, parents: your kids are lucky. They won't have to slink through library stacks looking for smut like this; they can just go check out bukkake videos on Youporn. There is nothing on the internet - nothing! - worse than this fuckin' book.

And they'll be spared the godawful writing, too.

I'm not gonna give this book stars. Flowers in the Attic transcends stars.

I hope you're happy, Jayme.
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Just because I feel like someone ought to make this list, here are the books Cathy reads:

- Something about King Arthur - unclear which specific book
- Jude the Obscure
- Wuthering Heights
- Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor
- Little Men
- Jane Eyre

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UPDATE: I've just been alerted to the existence of VC Andrews' original pitch letter. Awesome.

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UPDATE 2:
It's been pointed out by no less august a publication than the New Yorker that Flowers in the Attic is not so much about brotherfucking as it is about "the dangers of reading" (to induce brotherfucking). So basically it's Don Quixote. With brotherfucking. Thanks, alert reader El!

Stephanie

Rating: really liked it
These days, I'm always hearing people opine, "Say what you want about Harry Potter, at least it's getting kids to read." Well, you could make a very good argument that Flowers in the Attic did the same thing for a generation of pre-teen girls. When I was 12, everybody was sneaking this novel under the covers or behind their math books. I remember a girl actually got in trouble for bringing it to free reading period in English class. Seemed a little hypocritical to me, since the whole idea of a free reading period was to instill reading for pleasure, but whatever. If I had a dime for every hypocrisy I witnessed in school, I'd be writing this review from my villa in France.

While the incest angle of this story held undeniable appeal for me, I have to say that it was really the premise that captured my attention. The whole notion of a mother who hides her children away in an attic was fascinating to me. I've always loved stories about people who are forced to survive in abnormal surroundings, whether it's Anne Frank or Patty Hearst or Pocahontas. The sick, twisted conditions that the Dollanganger kids endured made for great reading, especially as a preteen undergoing her own hellish circumstances. Contrary to what a lot of other readers have said here, it isn't just the sex that accounts for this book's popularity...the plot is also a strong point in its favor.

Although it's been many years since I've read this story, its characters remain vivid. This is definitely a sign that the author did something right. I particularly enjoyed the two villians: the glamorous, narcissitic mother and the pious, sadistic grandmother. Looking back, I still hate those bitches! They were sort of like Godzilla vs. Mothera. (Speaking of good stories...)

It may seem like a small point, but I remember enjoying the ballet angle of this book. I loved how Cathy used to practice her ballet moves in the attic with the elaborate costumes her mother bought her. I also remember how the bodice on one of them was too tight, because dear old mom hadn't recognized that her daughter had developed breasts. This scene may seem salacious to some, but I actually appreciated it on a whole different level. As a young girl venturing into adulthood, I could really identify with Cathy's desire to be acknowledged as a young woman, only to be treated like a little kid.

Believe me, I'm not saying this is a great work of genius...the writing is so bad it's good...even at 12 I laughed at expressions like "Great golly lolly!" Still, Flowers in the Attic is the literary equivalent of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It's delicious on the way down, but its lingering effects are vaguely sickening. Still, that won't stop you from having another...and another...until the whole box is gone and you're left bloated and groaning on a smelly old mattress, only to be raped by your brother.

Sorry, I got my metaphors mixed there for a second. Anyway, taken in the right spirit, Flowers in the Attic is a decent read, especially when you're being force fed rubbish like My Brother Sam is Dead and Where the Red Fern Grows. Get thee behind me, sixth grade!

Kat

Rating: really liked it
y'all who read this shit as kids... u okay?

Emily (Books with Emily Fox)

Rating: really liked it
What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Read it because of the hype. Now I know.

Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: really liked it
Well, I read this, I guess.


Strange how my entire life people have told me "it's that incest book'; imagine my surprise when I found out that, no, it's that rape book.

Kate

Rating: really liked it
If loving the Flowers In The Attic series is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin

Rating: really liked it
Reread on Audio! I loved the narration.



Have loved this book since I was a little kid!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

Regina

Rating: really liked it
Good gosh golly GROSS!

First of all, kudos to my parents for somehow keeping me from reading this when I was a kid. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Wowza, I’m almost without words here. Is this 1-star trash? Or a 5-star masterpiece? I’m going with a 3 and splitting the difference.

1 star - This is the vilest, most stomach-turning book I’ve read in awhile. I can’t believe it was ever published.

5 stars - This is the vilest, most stomach-turning book I’ve read in awhile. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Trigger warnings: ALL OF THEM!!! Incest (x2), rape, animal cruelty, child abuse, blood drinking, torture, need I go on???

Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/

Malbadeen

Rating: really liked it
I read this book in grade school (maybe middle school) and I don't remember much except being in total awe that someone would write down such naughty things. I seem to remember a scene where the grandma walks in while they're having sex and they can't stop because they are so enraptured with the experience and I remember thinking damn! Sex must be awesome if it makes you lose your mind and not be able to control your senses. Note to any young person that may be reading this: sex is actually not so great that you couldn't stop if you're grandma walked in on you mid-act: so really, theres no need to run out there and try it too soon and always, always, always use a condom and sex with a sibling may be a titilating topic (as evidenced in Middlesex) but in real life that's just f*#^@ed up!

Fabian

Rating: really liked it
No wonder this was so controversial. Time has not diminished in shock factor, I'll tell you that! It's more risque even than "The Thorn Birds"! Quintessential page-turner.

Cannot wait to continue reading about these freaks that are the Dollangangers!!

Matt

Rating: really liked it
With the novel that put V.C. Andrews on the map—and set the book-reading world aflutter—this piece seeks to explore the darkest and most seedy side of familial interactions and the extend to which blood can blind when placed in front of an extreme moral code. The Dollanganger family are living a wonderful life, two loving parents and four well-behaved children—Chris, Cathy, Cory, and Carrie. When news comes that the patriarch has died in a fiery crash, changes must be made. A slew of letters go out, seeking assistance, though the replies are slow. When Mother receives word from her own parents that she and the children may come to Virginia, the entire Dollanganger brood are overjoyed. However, there are certain stipulations. As Mother was tossed out of her childhood home and disinherited, she must hide the children away until she can convince her father to write her back into the will. And, he knows nothing of the children and can never be made aware. With all four children baffled about these strict rules, they are forced to accept that their mother knows best. Upon arriving at this old mansion, the children are introduced to their grandmother, who is as steely as she was made out to be. The children are locked in a room on the upper floor, forced to remain quiet, so as not to make their presence known to anyone. Receiving food once a day, these children must follow a regimen that includes highly moralistic rules and strong biblical teachings. The one night they are to be stashed away becomes a week, a month, and then more than a year. Chris and Cathy mature into young adulthood and become the surrogate parents to their younger twins. Trying to find a way out, they discover that this prison is one worse than they could have imagined. With the wickedness only increasing and their mother beginning to plot out her own life, winning her parents over after a scandalous union that saw her banished fifteen years ago, these children learn that they will have to fend for themselves. Hormones coursing through them and blood boiling at the deception they faced, it is time to take action, or remain wilting flowers in this gloomy attic forever. Chilling and graphic at times, Andrews has me hooked and wanting to know more. Recommended to the reader who has heard all about these pieces or remembers them from when they were released, but likely not a good book for readers who cannot stomach some odd inter-familial behaviours.

I knew little of the book before I began reading it, save that V.C. Andrews presented a high-impact incestuous storyline throughout. However, as scandalous as it sounds, the reader may better understand this underlying thread once they are able to explore the novel and series a little deeper. The characters come to life on the page, particularly the narration through the eyes of Cathy. As the surrogate mother, the reader is able to see her enter a forced maturity, from the apple of her father’s eye to fending for herself while protecting her younger siblings. Chris has the same maturation, though he presents as a little more standoffish before an intoxication with power, which some readers may justify while others condemn strongly. Other strong and supporting characters help fuel the cruel undertone of the piece, including The Grandmother and the children’s mother herself, giving the reader a sobering look at the extent to which some will exact their own moralistic code in order to keep some in line. Other readers may see an ongoing vapidity in these two, out of touch with what children need to foster strong and healthy characters. The story was surely disturbing on many levels, though I cannot see the extreme scandal in today’s more open-mined society as would have been present in the late 1970s and early 80s. Surely, as the book is deemed “Young Adult Horror”, those who read the book at the time have grown, as I have, to better understand some of the literary and societal nuances not grasped at the time. Not to say that this is condoned behaviour, taken out of context. I would like to read the rest of the series to see what is to come... but must wrestle with my TBR pile in order to give it the time it deserves.

Kudos, Madam Andrews, for a fabulous and surely memorable opening novel in this series. I will return to see how these flowers grow and what blossoms emerge.

This book fulfils Topic #2:Remember... in the Equinox #6 Reading Challenge.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Julie G

Rating: really liked it
Scientists say that the reasoning part of an adolescent's brain is not fully formed until about the age of 25.

I get the impression that they have enough scientific evidence to prove this theory. But, just in case there are still any doubters out there, I would like to offer up V.C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic as the final piece of conclusive scientific evidence.

When I was 13-years-old, I got my hands on Flowers in the Attic, and I not only read it multiple times, I read the entire series, and I even went on to read Ms. Andrews's next series, The Casteel Family .

I loved these damn books.

Strangely enough, I was a precocious reader who had also discovered both Carson McCullers and Thomas Hardy by that time, and even those good books in my hands didn't cause me to toss the others aside.

I repeat. . . I loved these books; I read them like the pages were crafted from meth, and I have long wondered what returning to this beloved series would feel like.

So, I returned this week, to crack open the first book in The Dollanganger Family series and be with Cathy, Chris, Cory and Carrie (my dear friends!) all over again.

And, let me tell you what I felt like, re-reading them: Horrified.

I wondered at the reasoning part of my adolescent brain. Had mine been even less developed than those of my peers?

And, if you were a reader who loved these books as I did, you might be wondering. . . is it the incest, Julie?? Is your 40-something self just recoiling that so many young, impressionable minds were left pondering such blatant, three-generational examples of glorified incest??

And I can only respond with. . . the only thing worse than reading a book about incest is reading a book about incest that HAS DIALOGUE THIS ATROCIOUS!!!

This is a horror novel, people, and the HORROR for me never ended in this adult re-read. Here's what I found the MOST horrific:

the dialogue
inauthentic Voice for ALL characters (and DO NOT get me started on how little Cory and Carrie talk!)
the narration coming from a grown up Cathy, who never sounds like an adult OR a child
the constant back-pedaling of “filling in” the reader on plot points at the most awkward and inappropriate times
the writing

And, THEN, after all of that, let me toss in the creep factor. Again, not so much a case of “why was there incest in the story,” as a case of WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THIS V.C. ANDREWS WOMAN?

Never, in my youth, did I give her OBSESSION with incest a moment's thought, but this time around, my fully formed brain demanded to know why every woman in this story wants to smash her son's face deep into her bosom and why every man wants to kiss his daughter (um, or his granddaughter or niece) full on the lips to warm her, and leave her all tingly.

Well, you can do your own Google search, but let me just summarize it like this:

she had two older brothers, no sisters
she had terrible back injuries from falling in a stairwell (that kept her in crutches and a wheelchair)
she lived with her parents her entire life

You can see how family relations, house confinement, and fear of staircases all come into play in her stories.

Sorry, Ms. Andrews. I'd have given your writing a solid 5 stars as a teen, I'd give this 1 star as an adult. Let's average that out to three.

I sure wish you could have left your house and gone out for drinks at least one time with an unrelated man. Poor thing.

No wonder you wrote horror.

Baba

Rating: really liked it
When I was a kid EVERYBODY was talking about this book. A gothic horror with dollops of terror... as a woman hides her children in the attic of her child-unfriendly new partner... for years!!! This Gothic horror mega-best selling novel by V.C. Andrews is the first book in her Dollanganger Series. Written in the first-person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger, one of the children in the attic. Such a clever idea, superbly executed to create a phenomenon without being seen (or read) as tacky or tawdry, despite the main themes of this series being set around child abuse and much much more. 7 out of 12

2003 read

Kristin Myrtle

Rating: really liked it
I know, I know... this book is tawdry, it's tabloidy. It's the one book I secretly coveted and acquired in my tedious pre-pubescent soul-searching. I'd lay under the covers, flashlight in hand, knees up to make a psuedo-tent and I'd search... for the dirty parts. I knew there was something naughty between these pages, something to be whispered and giggled about later on with my girlfriends, something I didn't rightly understand.

I went back and read the entire Dollanganger series as an adult, and yes, it is tacky. But it's also elegant, like a beautifully written yet laughable soap opera. It's pedantic yet fluid. Monotone and a little stale, but it works, damn well. And oh, the melodrama. And above all else these books are fascinating. The series is truly epic in scale, reaching back far before the children in Flowers were even born. And it stretches further into their future, when some of their lives have ended, or been drastically altered.

Andrews is relentless in her portrayal of parental indifference. The mother and grandmother characters treat their progeny with such disregard, and yes, they do lock them in the attic, for years. They never get to go outside, they're starved and slowly poisoned. They get sick and grow weak, their bones don't grow right, it's interminable. And you begin to wonder, Jesus! Why am I reading this terrible book? And then it dawned on me.

The gist, the grist, the core of this saga is the lasting and far reaching effects of incest, abuse and neglect. The worst of which occurs in this first book. And these things happen... all the time. In our world, the real world, all around us. I think this book is important. I think it tells a universal story and I was often moved by it and by the series as a whole. But it made me wonder, it made me wonder about the author, about her story... if she was raised in similar circumstances. And I think that's the point... because you never know, you can never ever really know what someone else has been through, where their lives took them, and why they are the way they are.

Alex

Rating: really liked it



Whoa, what did I just read??

Freud would have a field day with this one...