AWRW Way Back Wednesday Book Review: Flowers In The Attic, by V.C Andrews

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Way Back Wednesday is a Book Meme created by A Well Read Woman with the aim to write mini book reviews on books read in the past, that left a lasting impression.

You know what kind of books I am talking about… The ones that you have read multiple times, and they still bring you nostalgia. Books like these are the reason you enjoy reading.waybackwednesday

So grab that old-dusty-yet-loved-book off the shelf, glance it over, write a mini review, and join in with me on Wednesdays! EVERYONE is welcome to participate!

Full instructions, here!

Today’s Way Back Wednesday Post is dedicated to an old favorite, Flowers In The Attic, by V.C. Andrews.

Paperback, 389 pages

Published 1979 by Pocket Books

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Classics
Series: Dollanganger (#1 )

Characters: Cathy Dollanganger, Chris Dollanganger, Cory Dollanganger, Carrie Dollanganger, Corinne Dollanganger

“Such wonderful children. Such a beautiful mother. Such a lovely house. Such endless terror!”

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her children. She did. But there was a fortune at stake–a fortune that would assure their later happiness if she could keep the children a secret from her dying father.

So she and her mother hid her darlings away in an unused attic.

Just for a little while.

But the brutal days swelled into agonizing years. Now Cathy, Chris, and the twins wait in their cramped and helpless world, stirred by adult dreams, adult desires, served a meager sustenance by an angry, superstitious grandmother who knows that the Devil works in dark and devious ways. Sometimes he sends children to do his work–children who–one by one–must be destroyed….

“Way upstairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent struggling to stay alive….”


“I wish the night would end,
I wish the day’d begin,
I wish it would rain or snow,
or the wind would blow,
or the grass would grow,
I wish I had yesterday,
I wish there were games to play…”

Oh to have a peek inside the mind of V.C Andrews. I imagine it was a very dark place.

Flowers in The Attic is an old favorite of mine. I read it a couple times in junior high school, and then again when I was older. Like many of my other faves, this novel fell apart on me and I eventually had to throw it out.

What’s It About?

Flowers In The Attic is a novel about four children who are confined in a dark, dusty attic, by their greedy mother and evil grandmother. They are hidden away because the grandfather isn’t aware of them, and their mother doesn’t want them getting any of the money she is due to inherit.

My Thoughts:

What is up with V.C. Andrews and incestuous relationships? No, seriously, whyyyyy????

V.C. Andrews’ books were a guilty pleasure of mine growing up. They are dark and disturbing, and her ‘writing voice’ is oh so addictive. Someday, I will have all her books on my bookshelf.

Recommendation:

I devoured this series as a pre-teen, but these books may not be appropriate for ALL pre-teens. If you enjoy dark, twisted family dramas, this novel might interest you!

Rating:

fivestars

Purchase:

Click here to purchase Flowers In The Attic, by V.C. Andrews!

About The Author:

V.C. Andrews

Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.

Her novels were so successful that after her death her estate hired a ghost writer.

Read more about V.C. Andrews, here!

12 thoughts on “AWRW Way Back Wednesday Book Review: Flowers In The Attic, by V.C Andrews”

  1. I was hesitant at first on reading it since the whole incestuous relationship kinda made me uncomfortable. Eventually I gave it a chance and surprisingly I really liked it and even watched the movie adaptations. I think it kinda helped that I am only child, so it wouldn’t make me feel so awkward.haha On another note that book cover creeps me out.

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  4. I first read this in 6th grade,the year it came out. In the days before the internet there wasn’t a lot of buzz, so people didn’t know it was “dirty”. I was attracted to the eerie cover in the bookstore, and then when I picked it up and saw that 2-part cover, which I had never seen before, oh boy! Had to buy it!
    I had it on a stack of books when I went over a friend’s house after school. Her mom had heard about it from a Christian newsletter she received and called my mom. My mother didn’t want to make a bigger issue out of things with me, so she told the woman I wouldn’t bring it to school anymore, but she wasn’t going to stop me reading it. All my mom said to me was to have a convo about what I was reading and asked me some questions, telling me some people objected to the book, so leave it home from now on. Then the mother called the school and I had to talk to the principal about independent reading and what was appropriate to bring to school! The best part of the story is that I had only read about 100 pages so far and didn’t even gotten to the incest stuff!
    And all because I judged a book by its cover!

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  5. Oh, goodness, this brings back memories. I can’t remember how long ago it was I read this. I didn’t read any of the others in the series, only The Flowers in the Attic. Is that creepy looking woman in the photo really V C Andrews? She looks scary.

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