Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition

I read this book when I was growing up and after the release of the movies on Lifetime, I decided to read the first one again. Perhaps the fact that I re-read it as an adult and as someone with more knowledge has skewed my thoughts as I found myself rolling my eyes and getting quite annoyed and frustrated several times throughout the book.Firstly, I got tired of hearing about how perfect the family was. How beautiful they were, how handsome the father was, how gorgeous the mother was, how everyone just thought they were the most beautiful looking family in the universe with their blonde hair and blue eyes. Gag. From the very beginning of the book you get the sense that something just wasn't quite right with that family. Perhaps it is the fact that I read the book when I was a teenager and I knew about the relationship between Cathy and Christopher that gave me that sense but as I read the first few chapters -- and later as the book went on -- I got the feeling that Cathy was in love with her father -- not that she simply loved him, that she was IN love with him. The way she described him and her actions towards him, especially the childish way she acted when she found out her mother was pregnant, going on and on about how her father will love the new baby more than her if it's a girl, made me wonder what their relationship truly was.And, of course, with every V.C. Andrews book there has to be some catastrophic event that happens that throws the main characters into their horrific predicament. With this book it was the car accident that killed their father. While I understand that accidents aren't supposed to be funny I must say that this one was. It was so laughable the way he died. It couldn't have just been a simple "he was in a car accident and died". Oh NO! It had to go on, and on, and on with the cop saying "and that wouldn't have killed him but then THIS happened. And still he would have lived if THIS didn't happen". I honestly found myself cracking up when I read it.The characters were so unbelievable and it seems in every one of her books there is an issue with the daughter and the parents, more specifically, the daughter and the father. When I read the books it makes me wonder if the author had some weird things going on with her father. It always seems as if the fathers dote on their daughters in a really creepy way while the mothers despise them. This can be seen in this book as well. If anyone has read the prequel to this book -- Garden of Shadows -- you will get what I mean. Malcolm Foxworth was head over heels for Corrine while Olivia hated her (and again if you read the book you would understand why). In this book, it seems to be the opposite: there seems to be some weirdness going on between Corrine and her son Christopher. The way he talks about her you get the feeling that, like Cathy being in love with her father, Christopher was in love with his mother but also that the mother was a little bit in love with him as well. She constantly talked about how Christopher looked just like their father did when he was his age, and how he was just as handsome as he was. Perhaps I was reading too much into it but it does stand to reason that this might be the truth because what would a V.C. Andrews book be without incest? Why, just another boring book! (One thing that bothered me about this book is how they continuously said that Corrine married her half-uncle when in fact he was her half-brother).Cathy and Christopher -- yeah, you get the feeling that there was something weird going on with them from the beginning. Again, from the way she described her father and how her brother was starting to look like him you got the sense that her feelings for him were a bit more than brotherly and it had nothing to do with being locked in the attic for so long. I got sick of hearing about how they had always seen each other naked when they were younger and how it's "no big deal", even when they grew older in the attic. They even seemed taken aback when not being naked around each other was one of their grandmothers rules. Sure kids take baths together and yes, you probably have seen your siblings naked when you were little but NOT when you're in your teens. To me it seemed like Cathy flaunted herself in front of Christopher even when she knew he was "turning into a man" and was having the same kinds of feelings she was having. Wearing her see through pajamas around him, prancing around in her leotards, cuddling him like he was a child all the while, in her mind, thinking about how much he looked like daddy and how handsome he was growing. Thoughts that a sister should never have about her brother or even her father for that matter.Carrie and Cory - good lord almighty I wanted to kill those two obnoxious kids! They're probably the reason I long ago decided I didn't want children. They were by far the most ill-behaved children I had ever met! Carrie was a loud mouthed bratty little banshee and Cory was just as bad as her. I got tired of reading about how close Carrie and Cory were (again, I wonder if Cory didn't die if they would have carried on some weird relationship as well). I get it. They're twins so they will be close (oh, and thank you so much Captain Obvious, for explaining that they weren't IDENTICAL twins but FRATERNAL because I would never, in a million years have guessed that) but I didn't have to hear about it every other page. I hate to say it but as the book went on and they were slowly being poisoned I was kind of glad because it at least shut Carrie up for the rest of the book.Now, here's the thing that got me. They were locked in an attic for three years. THREE FLIPPING YEARS! It wasn't until I don't know how many years later that they decided to make a copy of the key and go out at night. It wasn't until the obnoxious brats began getting sick that they decided to start stealing from their mother. It boggled my mind. What also boggled my mind is the fact that Christopher still -- and even after they set themselves free (because I can't call walking out of the house escaping) -- believed in his mother and loved her. I also can't believe that Cathy pretty much let her brother call the shots. There were plenty of times that she begged him to escape and he wouldn't -- they had the means to escape too: the rope ladder that they made. Nor did he listen to her about stealing jewelery from their mother until it was too late and she and Bart were gone. I don't know about you but after a week of being locked up I'd demand to be let out. A month? I'd knock my mother to the floor, steal the key and run. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be that trusting of their parent and what they tell them after being locked away for so long. And yet, there they were. Listening to what their mother said about how their grandfather was going to breathe his last breath "any day now" and "you'll be set free!" Did they honestly think that would be the case? Oh, and the funniest part was the addition that he had in the will about how she loses everything if it's found out that she had kids with her previous husband or her new one.Duh.You were disinherited for marrying your half-brother. What did you think was going to happen?!Which now brings me to my rating. You're wondering why, after reading this review, I could have possibly given the book five stars. The reason is simple: despite its short comings (and there were a lot), the ridiculousness of the book and how far-fetched it was I enjoyed it for the pure entertainment that it brought.And yes, I will more than likely re-read the subsequent books in the series.

The tragic death of her husband leaves Corinne penniless, unable to support her four children. At the tender age of eighteen, she was disowned by her wealthy parents for her sins, but a desperate letter to her mother, begging to be allowed to return to her childhood home, sees the five of them travelling to the sprawling estate – Foxworth Hall – in rural Virginia.Corinne tells her children, Chris (14), Cathy (12), Cory and Carrie (5), that she needs a day or two to prepare her father to meet them. She informs them their Grandfather is dying, and that once she wins back his affections, she will inherit everything and they will be rich. But in the interim they must remain quiet and hidden, locked in a back bedroom on the second floor their Grandmother has prepared for them, with access to the attic via a staircase in the closet, to use as a playroom. But a day turns into a week, then a month, and then years pass. Chris, Cathy, Cory, and Carrie have long ago stopped caring about the Grandfather and the money. All they want it their freedom.First published in 1979, set in the late 1950’s, Flowers in the Attic, and it's three sequels, Petals on the Wind (1980), If There Be Thorns (1981), Seeds of Yesterday (1984), and the prequel, Garden of Shadows (1986) have been favourites of mine for over thirty years. Part horror, family saga and drama, forbidden romance, coming of age and gothic tale, Flowers in the Attic is the troubling story of love, loss, abuse, secrets, lies, and betrayal.Cathy is the sole first-person narrator, and we experience every injustice and shocking revelation as she, along with her brothers and sister, do. As a pre-teen I found Cathy’s thoughts, hopes and dreams, teen angst, body image issues, and mood swings to be very relatable, and as an adult reader my heart ached for her and her siblings and their suffering, and I admired Cathy's strength of character, and her caring nature. Chris, Cory, and Carrie were just as compelling, all with their own unique personality traits, and I loved them all. The Grandmother and Corinne's behaviour and actions, particularly the latter’s selfishness and motivations, held a particular horrified fascination on this read through. How could any mother cast her children aside like this one did?A prominent theme is the end of innocence. The consequences of being isolated and shut away drastically affect the children's physical, mental, emotional, and social development, as well as alter the course of their lives. Cathy and Chris are forced to grow up fast, taking on adult roles of surrogate parents and teachers to their younger siblings – sacrificing their own childhood to care for them. They do everything in their power to minimise the twins suffering, keeping them busy and entertained, making their tiny living space as comforting and homely as possible, and protect them from the worst of the horrors that surround them.For Chris and Cathy, teenagers on the cusp of manhood and womanhood, experiencing puberty in close quarters, acting the part of mother and father, causes them to become dangerously close, and develop sexual feelings for one another. The combination of the dark shadow of their recently learned family history hanging over them, and their fanatically religious Grandmother constantly reminding them that they are wicked, spawned from the Devil, evil from the moment of conception, and that it's only a matter of time until they succumb to their sinful lust contributes to this. Bored, starved of love, education, peer-to-peer contact, and adolescent milestones, it made sense that they become drawn to one another in an inappropriate way. It did contain a certain amount of the ick factor, but to be honest I think it helped that I don't have any brothers, and my overwhelming emotion back then, and now, were sadness for both Cathy and Chris.Flowers in the Attic had elements of dark fairy tale. Cathy, with her long flowing blonde hair, is reminiscent of Rapunzel or a princess, locked up in a dark tower. The Grandmother is cruel, strict, cold, and severe looking, and controls their behaviour and environment through corporal punishment deprivation, judgement, authority, and humiliation. The mere thought of her strikes fear in the children and she is the embodiment of the hag, the old woman, and the witch of fairytale lore. Their mother is beautiful, helpless, weak-willed, and spoiled, showering them with gifts, but the longer they are kept in the attic the less connected she feels to them. The children possess doll-like features, are collectively called the Dresden dolls, their surname is Dollanganger, and Cathy is a talented ballerina who envisions her future stage name as Catherine Doll. The imposing Foxworth Hall has all the gothic trappings – creepy, shadowy, gloomy, depressing, and cut off from civilisation.In my opinion Flowers in the Attic remains a must read. If you’ve never read it then what are you waiting for? If, like me, you devoured it when you were young, then I'm telling you now it deserves a re-read. I’m undoubtedly bias, because I read it for the first time when I was eleven, and wasn't scarred for life, but I still think it is suitable for a YA audience, the POV is a young person after all, and my local library agrees with me, and has it shelved accordingly. I look forward to picking up Petals on the Wind later this year, when the 40th Anniversary edition is released.

'God wouldn't see. He'd closed his eyes to everything the day Jesus was put on the cross 'This has to be one of the most compelling books I've ever read. I didn't want to pick it up, yet once I had I never wanted to put it down. It was also one of the most horrifying. Not because of what the children did--they were innocents, thrust into the most impossible of situations--but because of the emotions it aroused in me. I often wanted to cry for Cathy, Chris and the twins, but the tears turned to those of anger.I've read many books, and disliked many characters, but never have I felt hate such as I felt for the hypocritical old witch who masquerades as being God-fearing while showing not one shred of love, mercy or compassion, or any other component of humanity or Christianity. I wanted to kill her--not a merciful or quick death by bullet or blade, but--after beating her to within an inch of her life with her own willow-wand--to lock her in a windowless attic, with water but no food, to keep her alive to slowly starve to death. In short, to let her suffer the horrors which she inflicts on children whose only crime was to be born. Whatever else they do is down to her--and her daughter, who initially invites compassion which she loses through her worthless behaviour. May they both rot in literary hell--or get what they deserve in one of the following books.Author V C Andrews has written in just the right style for her subject. Meticulous details are given of the things the children do, the fake flowers they make, the books they read, their growing awareness of their own bodies. In other books I'd find such detail tedious, but when four children are imprisoned in a couple of rooms, these things are the major and meaningful events of their days, symbolised by the real flowers, the mice, the dolls' house.It's a wonderful work of literary gothic-horror, as well as an emotional roller-coaster. As to the outcome--I leave you to make your own judgement. Ten stars out of five.

I first read this years ago as a child and remembered I loved the book so thought I would read it again. Was as good reading it for the second time. Book 2 already downloaded !

From a teenager to middle aged, as good today as the first time reading, and many times since. Captivating, enthralling.

I love this book one of my all time favourites.Dark & twisted but I couldn't put the book down (though I've read it many times before)Highly recommend the entire series.Nice size book as well not too small but not to big and bulky either perfect for putting in a handbag

Ahhhh I loved it so so so so so much. Just incredible. Dark, creepy, heartbreaking, traumatic.. Brilliant.