V. C. Andrews: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers)

170 Pages·1996·1.12 MB·English

by  E. D. Huntley

V. C. ANDREWS:
A Critical Companion
E. D. Huntley
GREENWOOD PRESS
V. C. ANDREWS
RecentTitlesin
CriticalCompanionsto PopularContemporaryWriters
KathleenGregory Klein,Series Editor
Mary HigginsClark: A CriticalCompanion
Linda C. Pelzer
Michael Crichton:A CriticalCompanion
ElizabethA. Trembley
Anne McCaffrey:A CriticalCompanion
Robin Roberts
V. C. ANDREWS
A Critical Companion
E. D. Huntley
CRITICAL COMPANIONS TO POPULAR CONTEMPORARY WRITERS
Kathleen Gregory Klein, Series Editor
Greenwood Press
Westport, Connecticut • London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Huntley,E.D.
V.C.Andrews : acriticalcompanion / E.D.Huntley.
p. cm.—(Criticalcompanionstopopularcontemporary
writers,ISSN1082–4979)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–29448–8(alk.paper)
1. Andrews,V.C.(VirginiaC.)—Criticismandinterpretation.
I. Title. II. Series.
PS3551.N454Z695 1996
813'.54—dc20 95–38655
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright(cid:1)1996byE.D.Huntley
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:95–38655
ISBN:0–313–29448–8
ISSN:1082–4979
Firstpublishedin1996
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
TM
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To David
and to the memory of Paul T. Nolan
ADVISORY BOARD
Mary Catherine Byrd, English Teacher, EastMontgomeryHigh School,
Biscoe, North Carolina
Dr. Dana McDougald,Library Media Specialist, Cedar Shoals High School,
Athens, Georgia
PatriciaNaismith, Library Media Specialist, Springfield High School,
Springfield, Pennsylvania
ItaliaNegroni, Head, Library Media TechnologyDepartment,StamfordHigh
School, Stamford,Connecticut
Rudy Rocamontes,Jr., English Teacher, SouthwestHigh School, San
Antonio,Texas
Alice F. Stern, Young Adults Librarian,BostonPublic Library,
Boston,Massachusetts
MarciaWelsh, AssistantDirector, Guilford Free Library, Guilford,
Connecticut
Contents
Series Foreword by Kathleen Gregory Klein ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1. The Life of V. C. Andrews 1
2. V. C. Andrews and the Gothic Novel 17
3. Flowers in the Attic (1979) 33
4. The Dollanganger Chronicles 57
5. Garden of Shadows (1987) 77
6. My Sweet Audrina (1982) 95
7. The Casteel Story 113
8. The Other V. C. Andrews: Andrew Niederman 131
Bibliography 143
Index 149

Series Foreword
The authors who appear in the series Critical Companions to Popular
ContemporaryWritersareallbest-sellingwriters.Theydonothaveonly
one successful novel, but a string of them. Fans, critics, and specialist
readerseagerly anticipate theirnextbook.Forsome,highcashadvances
and breakthrough sales figures are automatic; movie deals often follow.
Some writers become householdnames,recognizedbyalmosteveryone.
Butnovelsarereadonebyone.Eachreaderchoosestostartand,more
importantly, to finish a book because of what she or he finds there. The
realtestofanovelisinthesatisfactionitsreadersexperience.Thisseries
acknowledges the extraordinary involvement of readers and writers in
creating a best-seller.
TheauthorsincludedinthisserieswerechosenbyanAdvisoryBoard
composed of high school English teachers and high school and public
librarians. They ranked a list of best-selling writers according to their
popularity among different groups of readers. Writersinthetop-ranked
group who had not received book-length, academic literary analysis (or
none in at least the past ten years) were chosen for the series. Because
of this selection method, Critical Companions to PopularContemporary
Writers meets a need that is not addressed elsewhere.
The volumes in the series are written by scholars with particular ex-
pertise in analyzing popular fiction. These specialists add an academic