The Dollanganger Family Series
By V.C. Andrews
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pub. Date: January 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1476775852
Pages: 400
Review:
It’s hard to believe the guilty pleasure novel Flowers in the Attic is over 34-years-old! I wasn't even born back in 1979 when Flowers in the Attic written by newcomer V.C. Andrews was published. The book about four siblings being locked up in a bedroom and attic for over three years was a huge success, but there was major controversy involving the incest theme involving a teenage brother and sister. The book has been banned from libraries and schools because of this, though over time some have put the book back on the shelves, it is still banded in some locations.
The book is told from the point-of-view of Catherine Leigh "Cathy" Dollanganger and centers on the there and half years when her siblings, Chris and twins Cory and Carrie, are hidden away in the vast Foxworth mansion. After their father died in a car accident, their mother, Corrine, drags them to live in her parent's house, where they are locked in a bedroom by their wicked Grandmother.
Their mother had been disinherited years ago when she married their father Christopher, and now the only way to get back in her father's grace is if she never had any children with her husband, so the Dollanganger children must be away in a bedroom, which has access to the attic, until their grandfather dies.
During the first year their mother visits them on a daily basis, but as she starts to establish herself back into society, she distance herself from her children. Meanwhile, Chris and Cathy become less like brother and sister to the twins and more like farther and mother, as they take care of them and continue their schooling (well as much as they can). They’re fearful of their Grandmother, whom will give them severe punishment what she considers sinning. Being locked away has put stress on the twins and they are physically becoming ill. As for Chris and Cathy, they are starting to have intimate feelings for each other, despite the fact they are brother and sister.