Virginia Andrews

Dudess

A thread in All Things Retro reminded me of her. God, I was obsessed with her when I was about 12 or 13! Flowers in the Attic and the sequels, as well as Heaven - her second book - were my life. Absolute trash. And so bloody morbid - between child abuse, spousal abuse, incest! Terrible stuff.
Anyone else love her when they were really young?

Blush_01

Absolutely. She had a thing about precious gems for names too. And orphans. Weird. Very, very weird.

I think that some of her stuff comes back to me occasionally out of nowhere.

Oh, and My Sweet Audrina was one of my favourites!

Deer

Yeah - I loved her when I was twelve or thirteen too. My mother would have been horrified if she had known what those books were about. Heaven was my favourite too. I still have the books and have tried to give them a bash again but to be quite honest they are no longer my type of book. Keeping on to them so I can show my daughter what Mummy used to read when she was little!

odhran

Ah, how I loved Flowers in the Attic... So fantastically over the top!

Dudess

I was 11 when I read Flowers in the Attic - too young! But it didn't shock me as it would now - that's because I was obviously too young to see the true horror.

Oobie

My mother went mad when she caught me reading Flowers in the Attic. Think I was 10 or 11, definitely in primary school anyway. Just as well I'd almost finished!

odhran

I read it for the first time last year (I was seventeen) because I was in the mood for something mindless. I wouldn't mind reaading the sequel next time I'm looking for a break

tSubh Dearg

I read these when I was about 13/14. They are unmitigated trash but I loved them! I read all of the books in the Flowers in the Attic series, I think there was about 4. I've flicked through them again recently and I just couldn't bring myself to read them they're so badly written.

Dudess

She actually died in 1986 but since then, tons of books bearing her name have been published. There was a couple of sequels to Heaven and Dark Angel and then a bunch of new series - Dawn being one of them. And Ruby. The ones she actually wrote herself are probably Joycean compared to the ones "she" wrote after she died! Think her family put together old unfinished manuscripts in order to continue making money... I mean keep her literary spirit alive. :rolleyes:

odhran

Dudess wrote:

She actually died in 1986 but since then, tons of books bearing her name have been published. There was a couple of sequels to Heaven and Dark Angel and then a bunch of new series - Dawn being one of them. And Ruby. The ones she actually wrote herself are probably Joycean compared to the ones "she" wrote after she died! Think her family put together old unfinished manuscripts in order to continue making money... I mean keep her literary spirit alive. :rolleyes:

What a charming story... :rolleyes:

Blush_01

It's true though... like a poorly made straight-to-tv movie. Ironic, since that's what her books bring to mind!

Dudess

The film adaptation of Flowers in the Attic is so unbelievably woeful!

Kolodny

I too was strangely fascinated with her books as a child, especially the Flowers in the Attic series. And I would definitely find her stories more disturbing now than I did then - it's weird. My Sweet Audrina was particularly morbid.

Oobie

Was "My Sweet Audrina" the one about the girl who kept having blackouts and had an older sister who was dead but it turned out she was the dead girl and had been raped? Or was that another one?

Oryx

I loved her books too when I was about 12. I read the whole series without my mum knowing. They are still for sale in the bookshops, her family must be minted. It is utter trash, but god, when your young its ott!
I read My Sweet Audrina, but was about 20 years ago:eek:

Kolodny

Oobie wrote:

Was "My Sweet Audrina" the one about the girl who kept having blackouts and had an older sister who was dead but it turned out she was the dead girl and had been raped? Or was that another one?

That's the one. That woman had one sick imagination, although weren't some of her novels supposed to be based on 'true' stories?

Dudess

When "a true story" is preceded by "based on", I'd be fairly skeptical. Probably an auld ploy to sell more books, methinks.