For Fun Friday: Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews

I read on another bookish blog that VC Andrews' cult classic Flowers in the Attic is celebrating 40 years of being a Guilty Pleasure Read. So I thought I'd blog about it today. Because why not?

A Cult Classic turns 40
Is it worth reading? That's up to you.

I first read Flowers when I was 12. It was one of those rare books on my parents' "forbidden" list, so of course I secretly borrowed it from a friend (thanks, Julie!) who has secretly borrowed it from her mom. And I just as secretly read it with just as much relish as a tween of today would devour Harry Potter or Hunger Games. So lots of secrets going on. I'm sure my parents were 100% aware of what was going on, but figured my breaking a "don't read this book yet" rule was far better than any other shenanigans I could be getting into. It WAS the 80s, after all.

Anyway...

Looking back, I'm not sure what the appeal was. It's really quite a terrible book, filled with cliche characters, overdone tropes, and absolutely NO plot or literary merit to speak of. Pretty much every Andrews book ever written. The fact that the book was taboo, certainly, added some appeal. But it was also my first encounter with an "adult" book. And that was exciting too. Naturally much of the  more 'mature' content sailed over my head at the time (And of course I couldn't ask my folks about it because I wasn't even supposed to have the book. And Google didn't exist back in 1989). All I knew was, at the time, I loved the book with all my tweenage heart.

For those who have not yet read Flowers, I'll sum up without giving too many spoilers: 

Here we have four siblings: Chris, Cathy, Carrie, and Cory. These much-too-beautiful blonde children were the product of a forbidden marriage. When their father dies, Mom moves the fam back in with her super-rich parents. The catch is her elderly father (who is supposedly dying) must not know about the children since it was he who forbid the marriage in the first place. So the kiddos are stashed in the attic, which was actually pretty posh as far as attics go (and was likely larger than my first apartment). They are cared for by their Grandmother, who shows the children far too much animosity and resentment than is called for (if you read the Flowers prequel, you'll sort of understand why). There's drama, there's romance, there's drama, there's secrets, there's drama... And more drama. And MORE drama. And there's a Plot Reveal you'll see coming a mile away. 

Still, Flowers in the Attic is what could be called a Cult Classic. And we do have the series in the Teen Area. If you're curious and want to read something that doesn't require much mental capacity, go ahead and see what it's all about. But then follow it up with something a bit more meaty.

--AJB