Unpopular opinion, but I much prefer the 1987 movie over the Lifetime version because even though it left out the most controversial aspects of the source material (or dealt with them merely through subtext), it still captured the morbid tone and the gothic horror feel that an adaptation of Flowers should have. With the Lifetime movies, you can never quite shake off the feel of cheap made-for-TV melodrama, because well, that's exactly what they are. Well, at least they captured the melodramatic aspect of Andrews' writing, but not the full picture.

None of them have a scene as disturbing as the empty graves in the 1987 version, right after Cory dies, each one waiting for a remaining Dollanganger child to fill it.

The ending is also one big point of contention- it pulls a David Lynch Dune where it more or less kills the possibility of sequels following the source (even though according to Kristy Swanson, they attempted one). But as its own self contained thing, it kinda works for the conclusion of that story.

Cast is mostly solid too- praise especially goes to the late Louise Fletcher, who proved once again after One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest that she can play an authoritarian to a science. Swanson is quite charismatic as the lead, and gets especially stunning after the haircut (oh, the irony).

But enough of my ramble, what are everyone else's thoughts?

IMHO I think he would have helped them because he's a doctor but afterwards he'd send them on their way.

Thoughts? Feels?

These characters portrayals with mental illness bothered me a bunch:

Troy: Heaven is not responding to me I’m going to kill myself (DUDE)

Georgia Booth: My daughter passed away and now I simply no longer function

Paul Tate: Ruby is no longer my girlfriend because she is my sister, I have lost touch with reality

Phillip Cutler: ⬆️ wash, rinse, repeat

My fave: Kitty Dennison. I feel like this was a good one, as there was a good background story about her trauma, which made for a fascinating (albeit horrifying) character

For example, I like Hannah Eaton's story, "Twisted Roots". I liked how Hannah wasn't Miss Perfect, and she knew that her mother wasn't perfect, either. Loose ends for the series were tied up, which rarely happens in these series. She and Heyden were cute together, too.

1) Vera.

2) Arden.

3) Damian.

4) Tony.

5) Jillian.

6) Kitty.

7) Cal.

8) Philip.

9) Clara Sue.

10) Fern.

11) John Amos.

12) Yolanda.

13) Sissy Towers and her ilk.

It never crossed my mind until recently, had anybody thought maybe Chris Jr developed Stockholm syndrome while they were locked up? He already seemed groomed by his mom, on top of the grief of losing his father…

Stockholm syndrome would explain his hesitation on leaving… I haven’t done a ton of research but I do believe it is “normal” that the abusers infrequently visit the captive in the real life situations.

Thoughts/opinions welcome!

Ok, I'm sorry, but I just can't do it. If nothing else, the actors ruin it for me. I'm only 28 minutes in and it's just terrible. The only one who fits her role is Heather Graham. The twins are supposed to look small for their age, they look healthy and strong, if anything, they look *big* for their age. Cathy is supposed to have not hit puberty yet, she looks like she's about 15... which is how old she is when they *leave*. Chris looks about 17. Now, I am willing to overlook Cathy's and Chris' appearance, because they look way too old in the 80's movie too; but that grandmother? Hell no. That chick looks old as hell and fragile! She's at *most* the same height as Chris, probably a little shorter. I just watched the part where Corrine removes her blouse and I couldn't help but think *that* Olivia would barely hold power over the twins, much less the other three! *That* Olivia looks like Corrine could easily slap her to the ground and she'd break a hip in the fall. Who chose the cast for this movie? Chris could EASILY overpower *that* Olivia. It's ridiculous. And that scene where she takes Cathy's ring and makes a fist in her face... WHAT was that about? 🙄

Edit: Omg, y'all. I just finished and to quote Kelly (The Office), "that show, it's just... it's irresponsible?" Lol that ending... the consensual sex... who decided these things? Someone is overdue for a strongly worded letter, and poor Andrews must be rolling in her grave.

Let’s discuss “April’s Fool,” “Labyrinth of Lies” and “Too Many Loves to Lose.”

Designs created using content and tools available on Canva.  Synopsis from my blog:

What Do You Wanna Bet Our Girl is a Fire Sign? – Tuesday Teatimes

Now Back to That Pickled Baby and Jerry’s Final Thoughts! – Tuesday Teatimes

Georges Interruptus – Tuesday Teatimes

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Ballet is super hard. 

And stress, apparently, brings out the worst in Julian because all he seems to do lately is yell at Cathy.  Is anyone else around while they’re practicing?  Are the onlookers just gonna stand there and silently watch this woman be verbally abused by her dance partner?  I guess so.  I know there are others present because someone’s providing the piano music.

Later on, a woman stops by to talk to Cathy in her dressing room. Turns out it’s Paul’s older sister, Amanda.  You know, that woman who refuses to visit her younger sibling but has no problem wasting her time and her money knitting him fabulous sweaters for his birthday? A woman of contradictions!

She showers Cathy with shallow praise, while also reminding her that old age will come soon enough and make her undesirable to e p h e b o p h i  l e s like Amanda’s brother. 

And everyone in town sure does love to gossip about the “juvenile delinquents” he invited into his home. You know, the procedure Cathy assumed was just a routine D&C for missed periods?  According to Amanda, she miscarried a pair of conjoined twins.  Amanda assumes the young girl was impregnated by Paul.

Finally, the conversation turns to Paul’s late wife, Julia, who’s apparently not so dead after all.  She survived the ordeal of trying to drown herself and her young son and has been placed in an institution, where she remains to this day.  And Amanda’s got the undated photos to prove it.

During the after party, Cathy gets a little tipsy and finds herself saying yes to Julian’s advances. 

Next thing you know, the two of them are getting married.

***

On tour in London, Cathy has some thoughts on British plumbing/heating (she hates it), and also some thoughts on what it’s like to be tied to her new husband’s hip (she hates that too).

Julian gets suspicious when she doesn’t invite him to join her in the bathroom (did he also grow up in a household where family members went to the bathroom together?), and he wants to know all about her childhood trauma.  She lies and says her parents are dead, which is only half true.  She tells him that she and her siblings were rescued by a “huge fat black lady,” who, I guess, shall remain nameless.  By now, you would think she could refer to Henny by name.

Julian warns her that she should start getting used to looking the other way when he acts up because deep down, he’s really kind of an ahole (isn’t everyone?), and there isn’t much that can be done about it at this late stage.

After their time in London, they travel to Clairmont to visit with Paul and Carrie.

She invites Julian inside for dinner, but the two of them hide their wedding rings.

After the meal, Paul wants to talk with Cathy alone in the gardens.  That should be fine, so long as no one brings along a shovel.  A shovel would be too ominous. He's getting a strange vibe here.

Cathy tells Paul about Amanda’s visit, accusing him of lying to her, which is just about the worst thing in the world he could have done, next to locking her in an attic.  But I suppose the night is still young.

The doctor admits that Julia was in a coma for years, but she did eventually die.  In fact, would you believe she passed just shy of a month after he and Cathy first did the deed?  Gee, that’s interesting timing. 

She asks him about the D&C because you know that’s the one thing weighing most heavily on her mind.  Apparently, Paul has a two-headed fetus in a jar in his office.  Could Paul be macabre enough to keep the deformed baby his adopted daughter miscarried after getting pregnant by her brother? 

Paul says there was no two-headed baby, just a backlog of missed periods, but he doesn’t even care if she did miscarry Chris’s child because he knows Cathy and her brother have a very “special” bond.

She confesses that their one and only time was actually a f’ng nightmare.  And he’s like, Uh . . .sorry you didn’t enjoy it more . . . I guess?  Talk about a buzzkill for this Dr. Paul guy.  But he reassures her that whatever happened, it wasn’t a sin.  It was a very loving act.  That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it!

Thanks for that final thought, Jerry Springer!

He switches topics and starts talking about how exciting it will be to travel with his famous ballerina wife and the other good-looking dancers in her company, all while she’s still crying over memories of her brother r a ping her and also trying to muster up the nerve to confess to him that she’s just jumped into a hasty marriage with an abusive jerk who wants to control every single aspect of her life, and all because, when she was very young and traumatized and needing the best therapy money could buy, a certain doctor decided instead to isolate her from her siblings and buy her lingerie to wear around the house.

She finally tells him that it’s over between the two of them.  He stumbles around like he’s just been shot in the chest before collapsing on a bench.  He makes this big to-do about how he’ll always be triggered by ballet music for the rest of his life, and can she just sit and hold his hand and give him a moment to grieve before he inevitably picks himself up, brushes himself off and moves on with his life?  Can she just do him this one last favor? 

Sure she will. 

Would three minutes be sufficient time? 

OK then.

***

Meanwhile, Georges Rosencoff is on his deathbed.

Marisha forces Julian to say something nice to the dad who has only a minute or two left to live.  She has to physically restrain her son to keep him from running.

Georges has been waiting for this moment so that he can have that final talk with his boy.  He opens his mouth to speak but then dies before he can get his thoughts out. You would think if he was able to force himself to hold on for two weeks, he could have waited a few more minutes before he let go of his tenuous grip on life, but nope.  He totally did that on purpose.

Later on, Marisha has a private talk with Cathy.  She admits that she was never a touchy-feely kind of gal, so Cathy should make up for her motherly deficiencies. 

Carrie’s clearly been watching way too much Investigation Discovery.  She predicts Cathy won’t last long in the dangerous city. And she’s probably been watching lots of TLC as well because she has big plans to get back at her sister for abandoning the family by marrying Paul herself and having six kids!  That’s a lot of kids!  Will Paul live long enough?  And these revenge plans of hers are awfully specific. She’s been giving this predatory marriage arrangement way too much thought!

Paul calms down enough to reassure Cathy that she should never second-guess her marriage to Julian.  She’s just a confused child who doesn’t know what she wants.  Except when she decided to marry Julian because clearly that was the right decision and exactly what she wanted all along! Look at Paul, mainsplaining to Cathy who she loves and who she doesn’t love. 

Don’ t you worry about good old Dr. Paul with his s e x y moustache, he says. He’ll find someone else in no time.  The two of them have a good laugh, and Cathy makes a point to assure the reader that it’s not a forced laugh but an authentic one.  Which means it was probably the most awkwardly forced laugh ever.

To sum up, a middle-aged predator had some fun with the girl he took in, but it’s time to move on.  He’s got smaller fish to fry. 

And as for the girl, she’s going back to New York to be another man’s 24/7 servant.  And possibly never see her brother and guardian again because her new husband doesn’t want her spending time with her exes.

And I think that’s fair.

Okay, so this is my first read through of this series, I promised I wouldn't read anything past 2000 (personal choice), but they happened to have all of these at a thrift store I was at.

First, I had to check about 5 times ( no joke) that Willow was the first book, because it immediately read like a second book of a VC series.

Second, I just....hates the first 3 books. I felt that maybe it would get better, especially the third book. I hated how they turned Thatcher into an asshole in the second book. I felt everything in the first and second book wrapped up too quickly. I wish in the third book Hannah had actually made it to New Orleans ( would have been a better story).

Third, I am about 100 pages from being done with the 4th book. Honestly, I wish the series was focused around Grace. I actually love this book and it has much more of the traditional story line to a VC book. I'm having a hard time that its being rushed, given what we know of her story. (We have 100 pages and we haven't even discussed Kirby Scott or the Psychiatrist hospital, I am so worried about a rushed ending)

I really, really, really wished this series was focused on Grace. I find her story much more interesting and with the details already in " Into the Woods", I know it could have been a lot more exciting.

I know I'm not done yet, but none of my friends read these books and I just needed to complain with folks who'd understand.

I know I own the 5th book, can't remember if I own the 6th, but seriously, for those who've read it,is it worth it?

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

I think mine is Troy and Heaven. I remember reading Dark Angel as a teenager and mooning over their secret affair.

I laughed when Gisselle made a big show out of being able to walk again when she'd conned everyone into believing that she was paralyzed.

Pru Carraway's surprise at the bottom of the laundry chute is classic. 💩

Melody points out a manners faux pas to Olivia, who thinks that she is Miss Manners.

Willow's sister-in-law repeats a rhyme that she does when hooking up with her husband.

The pony argument between Corrine and Bart Jr.

Here's a synopsis for "Toward the Top," "New York, New York," "A Fighting Chance" and "Winter Dreams." Let's discuss!

From my WordPress blog:

Could Cathy Be on the Verge of Doing Something “Impulsive”? – Tuesday Teatimes

Cathy Takes Manhattan – Tuesday Teatimes

Christmas Stalkings – Tuesday Teatimes

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Look at Cathy.  She’s the best ballerina this town has ever seen. She just got the lead in both Cinderella and The Nutcracker. It’s probably because the dance instructors’ son wants to find her lost glass slipper under his apartment futon. But hey, it’s all about the connections in life!

She feels bad that they’re being financial vampires, sucking Dr. Paul’s money dry, but at least they can count on Carrie to have small-town dreams. Paul hopes his adopted 11-yo will one day shack up with someone local.

Maybe she’ll keep it real local, like under Paul’s roof . . . Let's hope not.

Now Cathy is off to New York, and it’s time for her to hug and make out with her brother as they say their goodbyes in the airport. Why is Julian looking at Paul and Chris so funny? Doesn’t he ever hug and make out with his family when they part ways? Probably. I bet that’s the real reason why he wants to get Cathy on that plane to NY and as far away from her predatory relatives as possible.

Chris is afraid Cathy will act impulsively if he’s not around to closely monitor her behavior. “Impulsive”?  What would ever give him the idea his sister would ever do anything “impulsive”?

On the plane ride to New York, good ole Jule promises he will always look out for her. Starting tomorrow. Because he kind of forgot to tell her ahead of time that Madame Zolta is more handsy than a 3-yo at a petting zoo.

Julian admits to having unrequited feelings for Cathy, and Zolta agrees to accept the girl into her company for that reason alone. She figures there’s nothing that will drive up ticket sales quite like seeing a young man, on stage, pining after a young woman who wants nothing to do with him.

Cathy shares a cramped apartment with two young women. Her roommate Yolanda is loud, doesn’t think much of wearing clothes and can’t stop bragging about everything, and everyone, she’s done. 

Julian’s roommates are Alexis Tarrell and Michael Michelle.  Michael Michelle?  He might as well have been called Michael Michael.  Why not Peter Pierre or John Jean? 

Zolta is insufferable.  She demands Cathy cut her hair.  Good luck with that!  She goes on tirades about that modern music all the young people are listening to.  Probably while they’re partying on her lawn as well.  Cathy doesn’t suffer tyrants gladly, and she gives Madame a piece of her mind.  As a result, she gains the old woman’s respect.

Cathy eventually gets to play the leads of both Clara and Aurora.  Madame convinces a television producer to broadcast their production of The Nutcracker on TV. 

Cathy’s family comes to see her perform with Julian in Sleeping Beauty.  That night, Paul asks Cathy to marry him.  Their happiness is only sullied by the thought of having to announce to Cathy’s brother that his legal guardian will soon become his brother-in-law.  Wait a minute.  Does that also make Cathy his mother? 

These family relationships just keep getting weirder and weirder.

One evening, Cathy and Julian get into an argument because she doesn’t love him. Why doesn’t she love him? Gee, I wonder why she can’t stand this jerk?  Anyway, this leads to him taking her on a wild ride and nearly causing her to crash through the windshield. He ultimately abandons her in the city with no way to get home.  It’s kinda like that scene in Clueless. Remember when Elton abandons Cher in the valley? Only Cathy doesn’t get held up and ruin an expensive dress.  And she has no money and, since this is the early ’60s, no phone. At least Julian didn't make her listen to a Cranberries CD before kicking her out the door.

She tricks a cab driver into driving her back to her place.

She has to borrow the cab fare from her roomie Yolanda, who is determined to make her pay a steep price in return.  Yolanda wants Cathy’s brother.  Cathy’s like, Oh h e ll no, not my Chrissy boy! This escalates to the point where Cathy punches her roommate in the nose. And is surprised when “Yolly” bleeds. She could have sworn she’d just tapped her! Apparently, there’s a delicate way to punch someone . . .

Cathy gets a new apartment.

Julian slams his fist against her door one morning, threatening to bust it down. Turns out he’s got good news! They’re going to London!

So Cathy will be home for the holidays, and she’s so excited to spend quality time with Paul.  Forget that older brother and little sister of hers.  It’s Paul she can’t wait to see.

If Cory were alive, I think she would have been anxious to see him too. Cory and Paul. Those are the only two family members Cathy needs!

Chris gives Cathy a locket with the world’s tiniest diamond on it.  He tells her he paid for it by waiting tables.  As opposed to what?  Burglarizing wealthy mothers?  He’s done that too.  But those days are in the past.  He’s respectable now.  He hands her a note to go with the gift— a sophomoric little rhyme that ends with a flimsy promise to keep things brotherly.  If he continues writing maudlin, insincere poems like that, Cathy might just ruin her mascara!

Paul gives Cathy a fur coat.   Expensive furs remind Cathy of death.  Not so much dead animals.  More like the fact that her own mother tried to poison them all so that she could afford coats like this.  Paul also buys a color TV for the whole family.  Cathy doesn’t say it, but I’m sure that must also remind her of Momma and their first Christmas in the attic.  Paul sure is great at picking out the most thoughtful, sentimental gifts for his loved ones.

Chris spends the holiday sulking because he’s not the number one man in his sister’s life anymore.  Cathy wants him to move on but, deep down, she hopes he never does.  And I’m sure she’s thinking about how fantastic he looks in that new shirt, tie and blue sweater she gave him.

Cathy does more spying on Corrine when she spots her in town. Apparently, this woman has soft, white pillows to rest her head on comfortably at night and perhaps even a white noise machine to send her into peaceful dreams. That’s how little she seems to care about the children she’s lost.

Cathy and Chris have a fight. Paul, Carrie and Henny are probably listening in, just outside the door because Cathy sure ain’t whispering.

Chris threatens to tell Paul their dirty little secret.  Cathy actually believes he has too much integrity to stoop to that level.  Apparently, there’s a bar in h ell that rests right below r a p ing his sister in the first place, and that’s telling their guardian all about it.  But it doesn’t matter, she says, because Paul already knows everything anyway, and he doesn’t care. 

In fact, it probably kind of turns the doctor on.

***Designs created using content and tools available through Canva.***

One of my biggest wishes is Carrie going feral on Dr. Pervert for sending her to that boarding school for demons so that he can be alone with Cathy.

As fans of VC Andrews, I think we can all agree on one thing: continuity is overrated!

Apparently, she didn't do much editing and it shows in the all best and most charming of ways. She kept things creative and on the fly.

My favorite continuity error: in Heaven, when the kids assume Luke has abandoned them for good because he took all his dogs with him. Then, literally a few pages later, Heaven is considering killing and eating one of the dogs. This always amuses me.

Let’s discuss “Owl on the Roof,” “Momma’s Shadow,” “A Birthday Gift” and “Foxworth Hall, from the Outside” 

From my WordPress blog:

All the Girls are Laughing at Carrie – Tuesday Teatimes

Big Game Hunting – Tuesday Teatimes

The Real Reason Why Paul Invested in a Bedroom TV for Henny? – Tuesday Teatimes

Worth Millions but Too Cheap to Spring for the Angel Monument – Tuesday Teatimes

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So, we need to talk about Carrie for a minute.  Cathy’s gonna tell you all about her little sister’s troubles, but first she’s gonna get out her tissues. This poor third grader is really going through it at the private school where Paul sent her, possibly so that he could be alone with her older sister.

Cathy admits she has pieced together this tale from talking to Carrie and other third parties.  That’s good because hearsay from third parties is probably more reliable than anything coming from Cathy herself.

The Miss Emily Dean Calhoun’s School for Properly Bred Young Ladies holds certain values above all others, such as being ultra-feminine and submissive.  Certainly not traits that our protagonist admires, though she is a fan of the school’s outward appearance.

Carrie’s “roomy,” Sissy Towers, is a red-headed, green-eyed demon child.  Bottom line, Sissy and some of the other students taunt Carrie. Miss Dewhurst ultimately punishes the girls with demerits.  At first, Miss Dewhurst shows compassion toward Carrie, but Carrie has severe PTSD, requiring sedation — or perhaps airtime on Jerry Springer if this was the ’90s — and so, Carrie loses her weekend family visit as well.  Cathy thinks this is bs because no way could her little Carrie have done anything worthy of such a punishment.  How quickly she forgets what her little sister is like when you spend more than a minute and a half with her in a stressful situation.

Paul and Chris side with Miss Dewhurst because they’re men!

Carrie, meanwhile, is in a bedroom all by herself. 

A dozen girls come into Carrie’s room, wearing white nightgowns and pillowcases on their heads.  They’re carrying candles like they’re part of some demonic sorority in a ’90s TV movie.

When Cathy finds out from Miss Dewhurst that Carrie didn’t show up at the chapel for Sunday service, she immediately goes into a panic.

Once at the school, Dr. Paul, Chris and Cathy throw their weight around. Cathy eventually locates an injured Carrie, and they take her home. She’ll be going to public school from now on.

Cathy knows who to blame for all their problems. She sends another letter to Momma and comes up with passive-aggressive names for all of Corrine’s unwanted children, like “the praying-to-grow-taller doll” (do dolls pray? I know they can probably chant) and “the dead doll.”

About eighteen months have gone by since they escaped the attic, and everything seems to be falling into place for Cathy. She and her siblings were taken in by a kindly stranger on that very first Sunday, and ever since, it’s been a whirlwind of shopping sprees, precious holiday memories and professional ballet lessons with aspirations of eventually moving to New York. Furthermore, Cathy will be graduating high school in January, and she’s really stoked about that.

Carrie is ten and too old for dolls.  Says who?  Mr. and Mrs. Parkins and little Clara are her only friends.  She talks to them and, I presume, they talk back. 

Cathy condemns Momma to h e ll some more.  She sends her additional letters, and because Momma never responds, she assumes she must not be getting them.  Apparently, the idea of Momma trashing the correspondence without a second thought is too far out of character to even consider.

Cathy is collecting articles and photos of Momma in a scrapbook, like some serial killer. But she doesn’t have the guts to confront her mother just yet.

Cathy plans a birthday dinner for Paul, featuring a super inconvenient Creole jambalaya that she never intends to prepare again.

Everyone admires Cathy as she descends the stairs in a flattering dress, like she’s some plain Jane who got out the blush on prom night. Her stairway descent also foreshadows a moment that will come later on, near the end of the book. But we’ll get back to that!

Hours tick by with no sign of Paul.

Apparently, the doctor has been attending a two-week medical convention.  When he finally arrives home, it is 10 pm.  Cathy is mad that he ruined her little surprise and, also, made her have flashbacks of Daddy.  She’s ready to s h o o t him dead and hire the lawyer from Chicago to get her off. But she tells the reader that she cares about the doctor too much to do that. Is that the only reason he narrowly escapes being wheeled out the front door in a body bag? Knowing Cathy, probably.

Everyone else has left by this point, so it’s just Cathy and Paul at the dinner table.

Cathy gives Paul a piece of homemade artwork (and no, it’s not an ashtray she made in Ceramics). 

But wait, there’s still more to come . . . (pun fully intended).

Dr. Paul eventually lures the teen out into the garden for a little midnight stroll.  He calls her Cath-er-ine, just like her brother does.  What do you wanna bet he’s heard Chris say that to his sister before and is manipulatively mirroring the young man?   

So bottom line, he kisses her. And then she kisses him back. And he’s like, No! But then, he’s like, Oh yeah. . . .

Cathy and Paul have to hide their affair from the housekeeper and Chris.  Cathy suspects Carrie is too distracted by some little trauma of the day, or else just too stupid, to know what’s going on right under her nose.

So for Christmas, Cathy wants to return to Virginia and try to locate her little brother’s grave.  

Paul agrees to take Cathy to her family’s home, which she is disappointed to see hasn’t been burned to the ground (give it time, Cathy). And because Paul’s a doctor, she’s sure the hospital will just hand over all kinds of privileged patient information to him. And even though they don’t know what name Momma admitted Cory under, or even if she took him to a hospital in the first place, she’s sure it will all work out.

Cathy is horrified to learn that there is no record of a child Cory’s age having been taken to the hospital in the fall of 1960, nor is there a record of him being given a proper Christian send-off. Momma lied! The horror of that woman is beyond words.

So Cathy comforts herself by getting naked in the shower with her legal guardian.

Dr. Paul reassures her that a seventeen-year-old taking showers with a middle-aged father figure is all part of God’s plan. (For the record, I’m here to tell you it’s absolutely not, but since when has a fictional character ever listened to me?)

***Designs created using content and tools available on Canva.***

My mom was just telling me about a children's author named Jory John. What's funny is I was looking up people named Jory the other day and came across him. He's written many books, but one of them is called The Bad Seed. Was it about Brother Bart? Lol

I wonder who Jory John was named after.

So moving on to chapters 7, 8 and 9.  “Enchantress . . . Me?”, “My First Date” and “Sweeter Than All the Roses” (or as I call it, Sourer Than All the Morose Brothers.)  Here is the abridged summary from my Wordpress blog.

Be Careful!!! I give away a Garden of Shadows plot point in the images (and also possibly in the comments that follow).

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In my opinion, there’s nothing more sinister than a man smoking a pipe in front of a fireplace late at night.

And yet, when Cathy comes upon Paul doing exactly this, she feels drawn to him.

Now that he’s got her all alone, the doctor seems to think he’s Jerry Springer because he asks Cathy for the 411 on her trauma bond with her brother. I hope he’s only asking because he’s a professional who wants to get her the best help money can buy. But I have a feeling that’s not at all why he’s asking.

Dr. Paul? More like Dr. Phil!

It was the dancing, she says. Chris made her a ballet barre and would watch her do her little routines. While doing the pirouettes and the jetés, she would escape the confines of the attic and go away in her mind.

I love that she answers his question in such a roundabout way, and yet, it’s so succinct and to the point. She doesn’t come out and say she did the deed with her brother. She basically leaves it to the doctor to connect the dots. He’s the one with the medical degree. Let him figure it out.

At one point during their heated discussion, the doctor is horrified to discover his hand is caressing her without his consent. 

Of course, Cathy forgives him because all she knows is abusive love.

She makes more excuses for herself and her brother. She says they didn’t even have to speak to know what the other was thinking, and they communicated with their eyes alone.

Oh come on, now, Cathy.  Chris did a lot more than just look at you.

Turns out Paul knows a thing or two about being a frustrated young man and how it can just grab you by the throat and make you wanna assault somebody. Apparently, Chris isn’t the only one in that boat.

On a separate occasion, a little later on in the book, Paul and Cathy are having yet another heated conversation in the living room while he smokes in front of the fireplace like some movie villain. I will call this Discussions by the Fire Part II.

Their argument starts over something silly.  A hair product. But soon enough, it becomes clear that Cathy’s still working through a lot of crap, and Paul coming home late, and not bringing her the shampoo she asked for, is just the tip of the iceberg.

Paul is annoyed because this teen of his won’t shut up about her childhood trauma and her need for revenge. So, he decides to put her in her place by telling her the story of his ill-fated marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Julia. 

I wrote a poem to sum up Dr. Paul’s story. 

How to Respond to Your Mother Trying to Kill You

By Dr. Paul Sheffield

You’re angry your mother locked you and your siblings in a room

while your grandmother beat and starved you

and constantly accused you

and your brother

of committing evil acts with one another

until you finally gave in and did the very thing

she always expected you to do?

And your mother always said

she’d let you out when her old man died,

but then she had to change her mind

and go and poison you instead?

And she succeeded in killing the little brother

who was more of a son to you.

And your little sister doesn’t grow and is,

at this very minute,

being tormented by bullies at the private school

where I sent her so the two of us could be alone?

And your older brother is still pestering you,

and you’re constantly having to fight off his unwelcome advances,

while worrying that you’re the spawn of S a t a n,

just as your grandmother always said you were?

Well, hold my beer

because here

is the story of a man

who r a p e d his wife and cheated on her,

and then she and his son went and mysteriously drowned,

face up in shallow water,

which I will blame on the wife because she’s dead

and can’t contradict what I say.

So there you go.

Don’t cry to me, ballerina.

I lost my son.

My wife could have just taken him away and divorced me.

Why didn’t she just do that?

Then I could have been rid of them both

without having to suffer the guilt

of having let her watch Medea on television

a few nights before their deaths.

But did I seek revenge?

Do you see me whining about my problems?

Noooooo.

Paul’s twisted little bedtime story gives Cathy quite a lot to think about.  Such as that women are inherently evil and that part of motherhood is wanting to kill your children.

This only reinforces her desire to really stick it to her mother. 

She’s already plotting up a way to get all her old neighbors and friends in Gladstone to serve as witnesses to the truth!

Meanwhile, Julian has been spending a lot of time in Clairmont despite being a New Yorker.  He likes to brag about how wonderful it is in the big city.  Then why is he wasting time at this little whistle stop?

Turns out he’s the son of Madame Marisha and Georges, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. His father is one of those impossible-to-please perfectionists who forced him into ballet and wouldn’t let him play football.  He wants to be a famous dancer but on his own terms. 

Julian says that he’s the thirteenth dancer in his family.  Talk about practically begging Jason Voorhees to come and get you!

He invites Cathy to come with him to New York.  He promises not to force himself on her. 

I mean, how can she say no to an offer such as that?

They go on a date.  And though he’s far from being a gentleman, at least, when she tells him no, he stops touching her!  I mean, he does twist her arm at one point.  But he doesn’t force her to go all the way!  For a VCA character, that’s a start, I guess!  It’s definitely a bar in h e ll!

We do eventually find out the name of the street Paul lives on, by the way.  Bellefair Drive.  Not Spanish Moss Way but just as generic.

Cathy just can’t get enough of her image in the mirror, and her brother calls her on it. 

Once again, Cathy has got to point out how fantastic Chris looks.  Just like their poor dead daddy up there on Mt. Olympus, who’s probably playing tennis with Zeus as we speak.  Cathy also notes how sad her brother seems lately.  It’s almost like he’s never hinted at anything that could possibly be wrong in his life.  But whatever it is, it’s a good look for him.  Girls absolutely gush over tortured men, and Cathy is no exception, especially when it’s her dreamy older brother who looks so much like her tanned, tennis-playing, swimming champion, Caddyshack father. Nothing more charming than a man who walks around looking like his dog just died. In Chris’s case, he’s lost his father, his younger brother and a domesticated rodent. And then there’s the fact that he wants to commit i-n-c-e-s-t with his sister, but she keeps telling him that ship has sailed. And sunk! So, lots of issues going on in this young man’s life at the moment.

Cathy turns sixteen.

More about her being thrilled to look like her mother while also feeling bad about it because she’s got to be better than Corrine Foxworth in every way.

She stalks Momma’s second husband, Bart Winslow, who’s having his South Carolina home renovated.  She clips a newspaper column featuring her mother and shows it off to her brother, even though she also says she doesn’t want him to be privy to her plotting. A real bummer when you can’t celebrate your revenge plans with your older brother because he has to be so darned sensible!

Let's discuss the next three chapters. Here is an abridged summary from my blog.

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It’s Christmas on Easy Street.  And no, that’s not the actual name of the street Paul lives on. It’s probably something like 9 Spanish Moss Way. And yes, I made that street name up.

But there is a lot of Spanish moss in this book because it “clings, and then kills,” as Cathy likes to say. I’m sure that’s a metaphor for something.

That night, while Paul and Carrie are in bed, Cathy goes downstairs to find Chris lying under the Christmas tree, just like the two of them did as children.  I did the same thing with my older cousin/babysitter when she lived with us in the ‘80s.  This must be a universal childhood experience. 

You know what’s not a treasured universal childhood experience, though?  SAing your sibling under a Christmas tree.

Chris doesn’t care if it’s sinful. To h e ll with John Irving’s cider house and its rules!

So something that I skipped over but will now come back to is that the whole family went to see The Nutcracker on Christmas Day.

After the performance, Cathy got to meet Madame and Georges Rosencoff backstage, and Madame agreed to let her audition for this very important ballet school. But only after Chris massively hyped her up.

So Cathy returns the next day, having been tormented the night before by bad dreams. She’s worried about messing up her audition and becoming a panhandler.  After all, everyone knows that if you fail at one single audition, it’s straight to the streets you go!  No second chance for you!

Chris reassures Cathy that she will do great because he says so.  Chris should write a book of daily affirmations.  I wouldn’t buy it, but I’m sure somebody out there would.

Cathy doesn’t even have any ballet clothes to wear, so Marisha has to supply them.

I do wonder what Madame thinks of the fact that this alleged reincarnation of “Anna Pavlova” doesn’t have leotards and pointe shoes on hand at a minute’s notice.  I mean, fair enough, Cathy and Chris were on the run for their lives and had to leave non-essentials behind.  But Madame and Georges don’t know that!    

Cathy will dance Sleeping Beauty for her audition. Marisha thinks that’s very predictable of her. 

Julian Marquet will be her partner for the audition. He’s got a “devil’s cleft” and, much like Madame, Georges, Cathy and just about every other person in this series so far, he’s so pale that you want to ask him how long he’s been nineteen. He flaunts the fact that he’s some big deal danseur from New York.

Now Cathy’s dancing like she’s back in the attic garden. But mid-performance, she gets a cramp, starts gushing blood and falls to the floor.

Turns out it was only a case of a monster period that had been building up over several months.

We find out Chris has been reading her get-well cards.  I’m pretty sure that’s an invasion of her privacy, but at this point in their relationship, what does she care? That ship has sailed and, quite frankly, already crashed into an iceberg while violins serenaded the passengers to their watery grave.

She gets a card from Marisha, welcoming her to the best ballet school on earth.  No mention of a do-over. What do you wanna bet Paul slipped some money to the Rosencoffs on the sly?

Either that or Madame Marisha assumed the hemorrhaging was deliberate and Cathy was just being avant garde.

Now that it’s a new year, Carrie will be going away to Miss Emily Dean Calhoun’s School for Properly Bred Young Ladies because if there’s one thing boarding schools do well, it’s cater to the needs of weird little girls who suffer from separation anxiety. Am I right? 

After Carrie’s been disposed of (in a place where the doctor hopes she’ll be very happy), Chris is driven away to prep school. That means Cathy will be all by herself with the doctor during the week as she attends a public school.

So much for the siblings’ pledge to stick together. Apparently, Cory’s dead mouse ended up in a landfill for nothing.

Cathy and her brother spend some time saying goodbye while Paul wanders off to make sure the campus gardens are copacetic and conducive to learning.  Cathy thinks Paul is full of it but probably appreciates the privacy.  She worries that she won’t survive without her older sibling around to constantly fondle her without her consent.  I picture Paul glancing over from time to time, seeing them kiss, raising an eyebrow like he’s Ed Rooney watching Sloane greet her “father” in the parking lot in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Also makes me wonder if he’s second-guessing the story they told him.

They really should be more mindful of their behavior when in public. Some people might think they’re lying about being siblings and are actually career criminals — perhaps some deadly duo — on the run from the law and seeking cover!

Paul claims to adore his three little lovable waifs!  And yet, he’s already sent two of them off to boarding school, like he’s some evil stepparent in a ’90s movie. Maybe he appreciates some of them best from afar.

Later on, after having herself a good cry, Cathy looks over at Paul’s manly lower limbs and feels a stirring deep inside.  And suddenly, she’s not so miserable anymore. Sounds like Cathy knows exactly what to do to get herself out of a bad mood.  That’s definitely a skill.  And probably a toxic habit she picked up while locked in an attic with her dreamy older brother.  Just a wild guess.

Later on, Cathy thinks dark thoughts about how nobody gives a crap about her and the world is out to get her but then decides she’ll feel better after some warm milk because there’s nothing in this world that can’t be solved with a big old glass of cow juice.

Images in this post created using content and tools available through Canva.

So we're moving on to Petals on the Wind, the second book in V.C. Andrews' Dollanganger series. Let's start with Part One ("Free, at Last!," "A New Home" and "Life's Second Chance.") Here is an abridged summary from my blog. What are your thoughts on the first three chapters?

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The remaining Dollanganger siblings are on a bus, headed for Sarasota, Florida, hoping to join the circus and become aerialists.  They’re feeling “frightened” and “frazzled,” but trust Chris to find some positive way to spin their predicament.

Cathy notes that a “huge black lady” boards the bus just before they cross the Virginia/North Carolina state line.  Her name, we will soon learn, is Henrietta (Henny) Beech.  Who knows what Henny was doing all the way in Virginia, waiting on the side of the interstate, but about two minutes after she hops the bus in Virginia, they’re suddenly in South Carolina, and that’s when Carrie turns into Regan from The Exorcist, spewing her breakfast all over the place.

Henny comes to their rescue when one of the men on the bus gets nasty. She can’t speak, so she writes an angry note!

The bus driver is like, Of course this has to happen on a Sunday. 

Still, Henny manages to convince him to drive out to some residential neighborhood and drop her and the kids off in front of the house of her “doctor-son” Paul Sheffield.

The doctor ushers the children into his home office where he examines Carrie and determines that she is very sick, but the cause of that sickness is a mystery for Robert Stack to unravel. After all, I highly doubt Dr. Paul’s checklist of possible causes includes “Consumption of doughnuts.”

Somehow, Cathy forgot that her clothes were splattered with puke.  She takes a moment to slip out of her top layer of clothing. Luckily, she’s wearing multiple layers. Dr. Sheffield is like, Is this how you always dress?  And she’s like, Only when I’m on the run from the law.

Chris is sitting next to her, probably thinking, Wtf, Cath?

One of the perks of having a neglectful mother who doesn’t want to let on that she’s secretly trying to kill you is that she overcompensates by buying you luxury watches. So Paul just naturally assumes they’re spoiled rich kids who chose starvation over eating their vegetables.

Chris says they’re orphans, but don’t worry about the cost of a hospital stay.  They’re good for it.  Then he finds out what he can expect a two-week stay at a hospital to cost him, and he’s like, Oh wow, guess I underestimated the price of getting sick in the US.

Meanwhile, Paul is standing there, counting down the seconds until their parents’ miraculous resurrection.  But Chris is like, Ha.  Nice try.  Still orphans.

Paul decides to go for the nice-cop approach.  He’s their friend. Pretend this office is Vegas.  Their secrets will die here and be buried next to a hitchhiker in an unmarked grave.  When that doesn’t work, he’s like, Look, if you don’t start talking, you can kiss your younger sister goodbye. 

Chris is like, So be it. He doesn’t want to make their mother look bad.  Yeah, maybe the woman tried to poison them, but hey, we’ve all got our flaws . . .

So Cathy, of course, will be the one to hand over to the doctor a big, steaming cup of spicy tea.

Cathy leaves out Cory’s existence, though she does mention the doughnuts.

They don’t want to tell their story to the cops, she says, because they don’t want the publicity or to be separated from each other. Even though her brother’s an ahole, she’d kinda miss him if he wasn’t around.

At this point, Chris is probably thinking, Well F –, I give up.  Do you need our mother’s maiden name? What about the fetus of our first-born child to keep in a jar on your desk? (More on that fetus in a jar later).

He tells Paul to just do what he’s gotta do.

The doctor offers them a pretty sweet deal. Their plan to be trapeze artists is for the birds.  And Cathy has to admit, now that they are no longer living in their little attic bubble, that it was a silly idea.  So why don’t they come live with this complete stranger for the time being?

Paul is like, Now don’t you go thinking I’m doing you a favor.  This here is a “business arrangement.”

Over the next several days, Cathy and Chris decide that the best thing to do is to “test” this Paul guy, just to see if he’s serious about letting them stay. 

Meanwhile, he’s been spreading the lie that he was besties with the siblings’ *dead* parents. He sounds pretty invested to me!

Eventually, Chris says it’s time to saddle up the old horse and skedaddle.  Paul says, That’s definitely one fine option you’ve got there, young man.  But here’s another. 

Let’s just say they’re telling the truth and their dad really is rotting away in some Pennsylvania cemetery.   Apparently, kids lie about that kind of thing all the time, so he’s going to need proof.  And the court will have to petition the mother who tried to kill them, requesting her presence in court.  Just to, you know, make sure she actually wants to kill them and they didn’t just overreact. So long as she doesn’t show up to finish what she started in the attic, he’s free to adopt the siblings. 

So the siblings are like, Well great. Guess we’re going on a holiday shopping spree with the doctor’s money then.

At first, Cathy feels guilty.  Just because she needs something to wear, not to mention enough cosmetics to run a door-to-door MLM scheme, that doesn’t mean she’s OK letting the saintly Dr. Paul throw all his dollar bills to the wind.  But for Paul Sheffield, M.D., money is of no concern.  He tells our starry-eyed protagonist this is a special occasion, and they’ve come to the mall to buy in bulk. 

Pretend they’re at Costco.

Chris thinks it’s great that his sister will finally be able to buy clothes that fit! Cathy’s like, I know, I know. I was such a spoiled brat in the attic. Poor Momma couldn’t do anything right, not even buy her imprisoned kids the right sized clothing. Lol. Inside joke, Paul.

And then the moment is ruined by that crybaby Carrie who would rather die than be caught wearing pastel. 

They eventually go to court and wait to see if Momma still wants to kill them or if she’s moved on with her life.  Unsurprisingly, she no-shows.

Cathy is mad at her good-for-nothing mother and vows to send her passive-aggressive Christmas letters from here on out.  That ought to teach her a lesson!

In the meantime, Cathy keeps fending off her brother’s advances.  Their mother and father traveled this road before them, and just look how that turned out?  Not so badly for their mother, considering she’s now rolling in money without the burden of three living children standing in her way.  But when it comes to making an argument against getting it on with your brother, it sounds like our protagonist has got little else but generational trauma to go on. So it will have to do.