Way upstairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent little secrets, struggling to stay alive. Flowers In the Attic The four Dollanganger children had such perfect lives — a beautiful mother, a doting father, a lovely home. Then Daddy was killed in a car accident, and Momma could no longer support the family. So she began writing letters to her parents, her millionaire … parents, whom the children had never heard of before.Momma tells the children all about their rich grandparents, and how Chris and Cathy and the twins will live like princes and princesses in their grandparents’ fancy mansion. The children are only too delighted by the prospect. But there are a few things that Momma hasn’t told them.She hasn’t told them that their grandmother considers them “devil’s spawn” who should never have been born. She hasn’t told them that she has to hide them from their grandfather if she wants to inherit his fortune. She hasn’t told them that they are to be locked away in an abandoned wing of the house with only the dark, airless attic to play in. But, Momma promises, it’s only for a few days….Then the days stretch into months, and the months into years. Desperately isolated, terrified of their grandmother, and increasingly convinced that their mother no longer cares about them, Chris and Cathy become all things to the twins and to each other. They cling to their love as their only hope, their only strength — a love that is almost stronger than death.
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Seriously, this woman may be the WORST mother in the history of mothers. After the death of her husband, she takes her four children to her extremely wealthy father’s house where she proceeds to literally lock them in the attic and basically forget that they exist – all in the name of securing her father’s money for herself (and ostensibly the children). Horror upon horror gets piled onto the heads of these poor kids as they suffer every indignity and deprivation imaginable. All in the name of greed. Mother of the year, here you come… There have been rumors that the story was based on an actual woman/family – one can only hope these rumors have, like those of Mark Twain’s death, been greatly exaggerated.
The Dresden dolls. That’s the nickname for the four blue-eyed, blonde hair, perfect Dollanganger children. With their beautiful parents, they’re the envy of the neighborhood. Then disaster strikes, and their family is shattered. With no choice but to abandon their old life, Mrs. Dollanganger takes her children home to Foxworth mansion where they’re stored in the attic with promises that they’ll be let out soon. That’s where they stay for three years.
This was such an emotional story. I’d heard many things about Flowers in the Attic before I ever got this audiobook, but the story itself was an experience. As the children are forced to grow up in complete isolation from the world, each of them has their own struggle. Their only outside contact comes from their grandmother who is quick to let them know that she detests their very existence.
The emotions of each child as they went from loving their mother to despising her was very real. This was a slow burn psychological horror in my opinion. To see the way that money can be more valued than human life is a very real, very scary fact.
Of all the characters, Christopher was my favorite. He was the most level-headed. As the oldest, it was his responsibility to look after his siblings. Because of this, he was the one with the most faith in their mother. It’s for that reason that one of the most emotional moments in the story was when his faith in her was shattered.
From the grandmother’s terrible games, to starvation, to isolation, the children experienced a lot. Perhaps the most terrifying thought about this book is the fact that this could actually happen. It’s sad just what greed can drive some people to do.
Narration really brought the story to life. I felt as if Catherine herself was telling me her tale, that’s how raw and believable every sentence was.
I originally read this book years ago as a young teenager and the story has stayed with me ever since. When their father dies, four children are taken to their grandfather´s stately home by their mother. She needs to win her way back into her father´s heart so she decided to hide her children up in the atic until she has won him round. Fate and life have other plans and the children remain in the attic, hidden away. I do not wish to give away any spoilers, so all I can say is that if you have´t already read this book, you really should.
I was captivated by the novel when I was in grade seven. It was a random choice from a bin of many books. I couldn’t put it down. The story was new, never heard of in my life. That kept me reading the twists and turns within the story and character growth. I found that this was a book to a series and within six months I had read the four. It is a one of a kind plot with interesting, intelligent, and emotional writing that makes it a great read.
5 stars to V.C. Andrews’s Flowers in the Attic. This was one of the earliest books I remember reading as a young adult. I was captivated by the relationships which is probably from where my love of reading and writing family dramas was born.
As an avid genealogist, this books is ripe with analysis to understand all the connections between blood and non-blood relatives. It played to everything I found fascinating and the psychology of why people do the things they do.
The subject, incest at its core, can be a difficult one to digest; however, Andrews handles it with care. I daresay many readers are rooting for some of the couples to get or stay together — and that’s not easy to acknowledge. But ultimately, I think the reader has to forget the family relationships between some of these characters and just focus on the intensity of the drama between 2 people regardless of their relationships.
Locked in an attic. Rejected by your mother. Poisoned by someone. Religious grandmothers with a vengeance. Who is right and who is wrong? The religious themes in this book are so prevalent that you can’t help but question your own beliefs.
I didn’t realize there were multiple volumes in this story until many years later and went back to re-read the original one. But when I did, I was ensconced in my reading realm. This family is just so maniacal… you have to read it just to see what some people are capable of.
This is one of the first kinky books I read growing up. It marked me! The movie came out and I was stoked, then disappointed while everybody just looooved the movie. I’m just seeing how many MORE there are in the series! I am checking them out!
i love it
VERY INTERESTNG!
It kept me in suspense. I continued to read this authors books after that
I read this as a teenager, followed by the rest of the series. The story has stayed with me all these years. Truly unforgettable.
V.C. Andrews is a wonderful author and i love her books.
This book is all the things I find great about a book. You take a mother who is all about money because her husband died who also related to her. She places her four children in her parents attic because the grandparents think they are sin because they are born from incest. The two older children have to take care of the younger kids which are twins. But their mother lies to them over and over breaking these kids of any hope. They are waiting for the grandfather to die because the mother will get a ton of money. But does she care about her kids? You really feel like she doesn’t. The mother leaves them in the attic for long they don’t get sun light, schooling or even have friends. This book his heart breaking on so many levels.
V. C. Andrews was an author known for her gothic horrors and family sagas, and I believe Flowers In The Attic is the book that made her famous. I bought all five books in the Dollanganger series in the 1980s. This one I read right away because it was so notoriously famous for its subject of incest, but I never finished the others. Now that I have decided to finish them, I had to re-read the first one. What could be more horrible than a mother locking her four children in an attic for years. Chris and Cathy, the oldest, literally raise themselves while taking care of their younger twin siblings, Carrie and Cory. As they mature, with only themselves to rely on, what could be more natural but for them to fall in love with each other, emotionally and physically. At the end of the book, when they finally get the courage to escape, there are only three of them (as Cory has died), but they are determined to see the world and make something of themselves. In the 80s. the story was considered outrageous, and even now, it is a well written emotional roller-coaster ride.
Flowers in the Attic should never be started at night BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT PUT IT DOWN! It’s a beautifully told heart-wrenching tale about four siblings whose life gets turned upside down by a tragic death, their manipulative mother, and terrifying grandmother.
I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s a great gothic novel.
I love all of V.C. Andrew books
Overall flowers in the attic is a really good book. It is not for the lighthearted or young reader. There is a lot of death and betrayal in this book. It shows the hardship of four young kids after their dad died and they find out things they never knew.
I love v.c. Andrews I have read whole series
Very good read.
Oh my god Who locks their children away in the attic for years………. This is freaking crazy, and page turning juiciness that you cant put the book down. This book is the 1st in the series of 5 books and it runs through 4 generations of the Dollanganger family. Once I started I was so totally engrossed that i read all 5 books in 3 weeks. I could not put them down. I read on the bus at school at work every where i could steal a minute/ *MUST READ THIS SERIES
i loved it and all V C Andrews series….i am hooked!!!!!!!