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Read this disturbing psychological horror now.
Pay for therapy later.

What do you do with a book like this? I mean, really, it’s a laugh or cry kind of thing.

I read my first V.C. Andrews at the very impressionable age of thirteen and.. somehow became obsessed. The horror. The scandal. My precocious mind devoured the twisted stories like candy, rotting your insides but still.. wickedly addictive.

Be Warned:
There are spoilers and possible triggering content. (I did attempt to keep both to a minimum but.. Better safe than sorry.)

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Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

Flowers in the Attic is V.C. Andrews first installment in the ‘Dollanganger‘ series and the book that started it all. The book was first published in 1979(And now I feel old.) quickly gaining traction and becoming a guilty pleasure in households everywhere. Andrew’s books became a sensation.

It came as no surprise when, in 1987, the first ‘Flowers in the Attic‘ film came to be. And again, in 2014 a second movie adaptation of the book was released.

Andrew’s talent at weaving the controversial topics of abuse, incest, rape, and murder seem to have only increased the books popularity. Giving a voice to the darkest in humanity, her books shine a light on the worst we have to offer.. and what can be overcome.

You become invested in the characters, outraged at their circumstances, and increasingly more absorbed in these children’s struggle to survive.

“There is no hate such as that born out of love betrayed- and my brain screamed out for revenge.”

Meet the Dollanganger children, known by many as ‘The Dresden Dolls’ for their fair appearance.
Beautiful.
Bright.
Beloved by many but, most especially, by their father.

Mr. Dollanganger appears to have it all. A loving wife. Four healthy and happy children.
No one could have guessed the secrets that hide beneath the surface of their carefully designed veneer.

Until one day Mr. Dollanganger doesn’t return home, and instead, officers arrive with news of his death.

“People have a way of believing nothing terrible will ever happen to them, only to others.”

Nothing could have prepared this family for such a loss or how the devastating event will begin the shape their lives in unimaginable ways.

“We learned love was just like a soap bubble, so shining and bright one day, and the next day it popped.”

After the funeral, the four children and their Mother disappear into the night on what is promised to be a grand adventure. They will live with their grandfather in a big old mansion, but only for a short time, only until he dies and his fortune is inherited by their mother. They will be rich beyond imagining and everything will be just perfect!

This is not, however, how the story goes.

The children are carefully smuggled through shadowy hallways and darkened stairs until, finally, they’re deposited in a small room off the attic.

“And we were alone. Locked in. All the lights were turned off. Around us, below us, this huge house seemed a monster, hiding us in its sharp-toothed mouth. If we moved, whispered, breathed heavily, we’d be swallowed and digested.”

As it stands, their mother has fallen from grace and must earn back her rightful place in the family.
But these things take time.. She must ‘play her part’.
Surely they’ll understand.
And they try.

“Children are very wise intuitively; they know who loves them most, and who only pretends.”

The grandmother. An unbearably cruel old woman who blatantly despises the children and does nothing to hide her disgust towards their very existence. She cloaks herself in strong religious beliefs that are used to justify her vile behavior.

Lest they forget that they are the results of their parents unholy union and born of sin.. they are to pray every day for forgiveness.
God sees their sinful acts.
He knows.

She will not tolerate disobedience or shameful behavior and has many strict rules that are absolutely to be followed. Not doing so results in swift and brutal consequences.

“Look at you, standing there in your iron-gray dress, feeling pious and self-righteous while you starve small children!”

As days become weeks and weeks turn to months, the children remain sequestered in their attic prison.

Chris, the eldest brother. Intelligent, with a voracious appetite for learning.
Cathy, the older sister. Kindhearted. The caregiver and protector, she takes on the role of ‘mother’.
And the twins. Sweet, quiet Cory and lively Carrie.. too young to understand.

Soon. Mother promises. But years pass and the children begin to see that they will never be freed. They’re now grown, the older two wakening to their bodies baser urges.

“I love you”, was his reply. “I make myself keep loving you, despite what you do. I’ve got to love you. We all have to love you, and believe in you, and think you’re looking out for our best interests. But look at us, Momma, and really see us.”

Before long Chris has grown into a fine young man, shedding his blind devotion of their mother as neglect and her allowance of their grandmother’s continued abuse reveal her duplicitous nature.
Cathy, now a beautiful young woman, has taken the place of the toddlers maternal figure. Even trapped, she sees that the twins are raised with all the love and patience. Keeping her head and all too clearly understanding the lies their mother weaves, she’s always known that they must leave this place, or risk fading like flowers without sunlight.

The twins, far too young to comprehend their circumstances, stagnate in the darkness of of the attic. Cory finds a gift for music, giving Carrie’s angelic voice life in the shadows. And though the years see the twins change in small ways, there are signs.

The elder siblings come to a horrifying realization that something is wrong with the twins and if there’s any hope for them they must get out..  Then their mother arrives with shocking news that will have unexpected repercussions for them all.

Tensions reach an all time high when they all begin to experience strange aches and a sickness that plagues them all. And danger lurks around every corner because, finally, they plan to escape this nightmare. But before they taste freedom, another deeply traumatic loss shatters their small family once more.

Four Stars!

Liked: The love and devotion these children have for one another is as heartbreaking as it is moving.. You grow attached to them. The author also does an amazing job creating a world out of time.. it’s almost impossible to tell this book was written in 1979 while reading it. Very well done.

Disliked: Holy crap. There is so much wtf not included in this post that it’s not even funny.. but why spoil the most screwed up parts of the story? The Mother is a spoiled, selfish, heartless, manipulative biatch whom I’d very much like to beat some ever-loving sense into. And the grandmother is a completely psychotic, hateful sadist with seriously forked up beliefs. How either of them can live with themselves is beyond me.

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Have you read any of V.C. Andrews books?

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