I was down with the flu a week ago and decided to read one of the old books stored on my shelf. My eyes rested on V.C. Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic. Without any hesitation, I grabbed it and read it again.

I’ve had this book since I was 13 or 14. I remember almost all the girls in class had their own copy, too. I also remember that most, if not all, of us tried to hide this book whenever we wanted to read it. Looking back, I honestly think that I shouldn’t have had read this at that age. The plot was a little to mature for a young girl of 13.

Flowers in the Attic is a story about a family that once had a healthy and fun relationship. However, their fairytale story has an end. One night, their father died from an accident on his 36th birthday. The mother, who now has to take care of her 4 children, has decided to ask help from her parents. Everything would have been alright; except that the parents have disowned their daughter. The plot goes on to show that the mother, Corrine, had to keep the existence of her 4 children a secret from her dying father. This she had to do so that she can inherit the family fortune when the old man dies. The children stay locked up in the attic for a period of more than three years.

In the attic, the children have learned to be dependent on each other. In relation, their adolescent years were spent with each other. At some point in the story, Chris and Cathy end up having sex with each other.

Incest is a main theme in Flowers in the Attic. Chris, Cathy, Cory, and Carrie’s parents are apparently half-uncle and niece. It just goes to show that incest was to be part of the family “tradition”.

As stated above, this book is a little too much for an adolescent. Now that I am in my early 30’s, I have no qualms about having sex. I do, however, have issues about having sex with a relative. How much more if I were to do it with a brother or a sister? Another thing I didn’t like about this story is that Corrine (the mother) was able to abandon her own children and lock them up in the attic. My goodness! What kind of a mother could do that, right?

V.C Andrews has written quite a nasty novel. However, I must admit that I liked this book despite some of the issues I had. This story is so riveting I couldn’t really put the book down even if I wanted to.

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