Locked up and tortured (Flowers in the Attic - Virginia Andrews)

Member Name: casarka

Product:	Flowers in the Attic - Virginia Andrews
Date:	23/05/01 (281 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You won't be sorry you read this one, A thoroughly good story

Disadvantages: You may find it upsetting, stories based on true life very often are.

This book is apparently based on a true story and begins the journey of the Dollanganger family through the horror of the death of the father, to their move to Foxworth Hall (the home of the mother's family).

For financial reasons the mother, Corrine, decides to relocate her 4 children, Christopher 12, Cathy 10 and twins Carrie and Cory 4, to Foxworth Hall. Upon their arrival the children are shepherded to a room near the attic by their grandmother (a tremendously scary and deeply religious woman).

It turns out the mother, Corrine hasn't told her father that she has 4 children, because their father was her half uncle, so they stay in the attic at the mercies (she doesn't have any) of the grandmother.

While Corrine swans about living a life of luxury down in the real world, the children are alternately fed and starved in the attic by the grandmother, at one point reaching the horrendous stage where Cathy has to let the twins drink her blood to keep them alive.

Some time later, Corrine begins to give the children sugared doughnuts and they all think she is wonderful for it until it is found that the sugar is arsenic and she has been trying to poison her "little darlings" in order to get rid of them, so she doesn't have to tell daddy about her awful little secret.

Their entire stay in the attic is horrific and the two older children find solace in the arms of each other. It's all done very tastefully and you can't help feeling sorry for them and even understanding their reasons for doing so.

I've probably given away more of the story than you might like but the whole brother/sister relationship going awry is crucial to the whole plot and the film of the book totally misses it out, so I strongly urge you not to make the mistake of watching it.

It's not necessary to read the whole series, this book can be enjoyed on it's own as a stand alone book but if you w
ant to read the others (and you probably will) you must read this one first and the others in order or you will miss a lot of the nuances.

The fifth book in the series is actually set before the others and is about the grandmother when she was young and it does explain why she became the way she is in this book.

The entire series is extraordinarily good and not to be missed by anyone who likes a good story. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

I've read this one 3 or 4 times, the first time I was only 14 years old and it is easy to read and even the younger reader will not be left feeling inadequate in their comprehension skills.

Virginia Andrews was a fantastic writer and you may also wish to read her other books, My Sweet Audrina (the only stand alone book she ever wrote), Heaven, Dark Angel, Fallen Hearts, Gates of Paradise and Web of Dreams.

There are other books written under the name of Virginia Andrews that were written after her death but along the same lines as the ones mentioned above. You can probably find them on the shelves at your local bookshop.

I truly hope that you enjoy this book and totally expect that you will.

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