Revisiting Flowers in the Attic Twenty Years Later

Not too long ago, my friend and I were complaining about the Twilight series. I've read the first two books, my friend has seen the first movie. I can't help finding the protaganist, Bella Swan, annoying as hell, especially in New Moon. She has absolutely no hobbies and her whole life revolves around two dangerous men - one is a vampire and the other is a werewolf. Everybody loves her but we never really know why since she is so one dimensional. Her only goal in life is to become Mrs. Vampire and have vampire children. Lots of women feel the way I do about the Twilight books and agree that Bella is probably not the best example out there for girls.

I tried to remember if there were any books I read in my teen years that were as controversial as Twilight. Then it dawned on me: Flowers in the Attic.

Granted, there were no sparkly vampires in Flowers in the Attic, instead there were four beautiful children raised by two beautiful parents, a wicked grandmother, an attic and a whole lot of incest going on. As kids, my friends and I couldn't get enough of these books by V.C. Andrews. I read the whole series: Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If there be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday and Garden of Shadows. The entire series was trashy, addictive and plain disturbing. I realize now that I have no right whatsoever criticizing Twilight.

I decided to revisit Flowers in the Attic (and yes, I still have the book). I wanted to read it as an adult and see if my perception changed from when I was a teenager.

The story of Flowers in the Attic is told in first person. Cathy Dollanganger, the oldest daughter tells the story from her point of view. She is beautiful, with flaxen hair and cerulean blue eyes. She is twelve at the start of the book. She has an older brother, Christopher, who is fourteen and twin siblings, Cory and Carrie, who are four years old. Cathy loves and adores her parents, especially her father. Everyone in Cathy's family shares her flaxen blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes. They are all perfect in every way.

The story takes place during the 1950s in the fictional town of Gladstone, PA. Since they are all blonde and oh-so-beautiful, their friends nick-name them the Dresdon dolls. Cathy's father, Christopher Sr. is a salesman and is gone on business trips during the week. Every Friday night, he arrives home with gifts for his beautiful Dresdon doll family, saying corny things like 'Come greet me with kisses if you love me!' He also gives Cathy extra-special presents, because she is his most favorite of all.

One Friday night, the family had arranged a surprise party for Dad. All their friends were there and while waiting for him to return home, police show up at the door. Christopher Sr. was killed in a tragic car accident.

After her father dies, Cathy learns that the family has nothing, except debt. Everything they have was bought on credit and Cathy's mom has no skills outside of the home. Mom decides to pack the kids up and bring them to meet the grandparents. The kids never met the grandparents before because their mother, Corrine, was disinherited for doing something really, really bad. Cathy learns that her last name is really Foxworth and she comes from a long line of wealthy people. Her grandparents aren't just kind of rich. They are super-duper rich and live in a mansion called Foxworth Hall. Upon learning this, the family quickly abandons their home and heads to their new home, Foxworth Hall.

There is a catch to this: The grandfather is dying. To get back in the will, Corrine must win back his love before he dies. He has no idea that Corrine has children and they have to keep it that way. The children must be hidden away until the grandfather dies.

When they arrive to Foxworth Hall, it's the middle of the night. They are quickly led into a room with two double beds. The grandmother is not friendly, nor compassionate. She's a tall and intimidating looking woman: Six feet tall, hair tightly secured in a bun and is always dressed in gray. She is also crazy as a loon.

It's at Foxworth Hall that Cathy and her siblings find out that her parents were half-uncle and half-niece. Her grandparents are also fanatically religious and the grandmother is convinced that Corrine's offspring are devil's issue and an abomination in the eyes of God. To remind them of this, she hangs an elaborate paining of Hell in the room and gives them a list of strange rules to follow. Some of the ridiculous rules include not to look at the opposite sex and to stare at the bible in order to absorb its holiness. She also threatens to peel the skins from their backs if she catches boys and girls using the bathroom together.

She spies on them in hopes to catch them doing something 'evil'. There is a door in the room that leads to the attic. As luck would have it, the grandmother is claustrophobic and will not go in the attic. They decorate the attic with paper flowers so the twins will not be afraid of it. Cathy and Christopher take on roles of mother and father while locked up and teach the children what they would be learning if they were in school.

Corrine, was whipped savagely by Grandma the first night at Foxworth Hall and then forced to show her children. She promised the children their grandfather would be dead within a few days. As the days pass, the grandfather lives on, and visits from Corrine became fewer and fewer. As the years go by, Cathy and Christopher start to have feelings for one another. The grandmother catches Christopher admiring Cathy's body and punishes Cathy by drugging her and pouring hot tar in her beautiful blonde hair. She then stops bringing food to the children, The twins become sick. They contemplate eating a mouse, fortunately this never happens because the grandmother finally brings them their basket of food, with a little something extra: Powdered doughnuts.

During their punishment, Corrine never visited her children. Turns out she was honeymooning. Yes, while her children were subjected to torture and neglect, mom got married to a much younger and very handsome attorney, Bart Winslow. Still, she continues giving her children hope and begs them to 'be good' because once the grandfather dies, all the riches will be theirs.

Finally, the children begin to plan their escape. They sneak out of the room in the middle of the night and steal money from their mother's suite. Christopher rapes Cathy in the attic one night and then little Cory becomes very sick. One morning Corrine reluctantly takes Cory to the hospital, (although we don't know for sure if she ever really did). That night, she came back to tell the children that Cory had died and there would be no funeral. Cathy and Christopher blame themselves and believe they are being punished for having feelings for one another.

One night when Christopher is out of the room, he finds Corrine's and Bart's suite empty. They had moved out of Foxworth Hall. He overhears the butler tell a maid that their grandmother has been leaving food in the attic with arsenic in it to get rid of the mice. He also finds out that the grandfather has been dead - for nine months.

Cathy, Christopher and Carrie finally leave Foxworth Hall in the middle of the night. They decide not to go to the police because they do not want to be separated. Instead, they take a bus and head for Sarasota, Florida in hopes to join the circus. They spent close to four years imprisoned at Foxworth Hall.

I cannot lie, I was sucked in immediately. For a moment I was a teenager again and absorbed in a screwed up, incestuous world that V.C. Andrews created. The writing is mediocre but the story is intriguing. Like a train wreck that you can't help but watch, I cannot put this book down.

It dawns on me immediately that Cathy Dollanganger is a total Mary Sue. She's perfect in every way, with long blonde, Rapunzel-like hair. She's daddy's favorite and big brother Christopher is obsessed with her. She's smart, good at everything and wants to be a prima ballerina when she grows up. She has the most perfect body and just like Bella Swan in Twilight, completely irritating to the reader.

Reading the book as a grown up, I notice now that the entire book has incestuous undertones. In the first few pages, Cathy describes her impossibly gorgeous father in such a romanticized way. He lavishes her with special gifts. Cathy's mother is also flirtatious with Christopher. Christopher puts her on a pedestal and is under Corrine's spell for most of the book. The romance that 'blooms' between Cathy and Christopher is unsettling and begins just when Christopher begins to lose faith in his mother.

The grandmother is sadistic and as hateful as I remember her to be. Corrine is spoiled and narcissistic. The men in the book are weak and easily manipulated by the women. The rape of Cathy is so quickly dismissed and Cathy herself takes the blame for it.

Has my perception of Flowers in the Attic changed? Well, the answer to that would be yes and no. Yes, as an adult, I find the book to be a lot more disturbing. The book is mildly sexist and I also wonder if V.C. Andrews herself may have had some mommy issues when she was alive. I also find it interesting that the entire series could be found in our high school's library in the late '80s and early '90s. At that time, the book was banned in many schools.

I understand why this book continues to be appealing. It has all the elements: Tragedy, loss, betrayal, greed and lust. The book stays interesting from begining to end. Cathy and Christopher only fall into each other's arms because they have nobody else. Which doesn't make it right but makes their relationship a bit more understandable. It's fustrating that revenge isn't lashed on Corrine or the grandmother. Fortunately, revenge is carried out in the sequel, Petals on the Wind.

Most of all, the books didn't mess with my head, like a lot of adults believe will happen when kids read this kind of junk. Of course, comparing Flowers in the Attic to Twilight is like comparing apples to oranges, but it was what the kids were reading back then. I guess I should leave the Twi-hards alone, considering the books we read back then were a lot more screwed up than what the kids are reading today.