Flowers In The Attic

Flowers in the Attic, Virginia Andrews

The Dollanger family was a very happy and firm family. Father, mother, one daughter (Cathy), one son (Chris) and a twins (Carry and Cory). That evening father has become 36, everybody was dressed very chiquely and everyone waits with anguish for the moment of father's arrival, but he doesn't come. Two policemen come to the Dollanger's house to tell that Mr.Dollanger is perished in a car accident. All the hearts of the family are broken. They had to move, because the bills can't be paid anymore. They want to move in with the parents of Mrs.Dollanger, extremely rich people. Mrs.Dollanger wants to re-win the affection of her father, which she has lost, because of something that happened in the past and
he disinherited her of the thing that happened. Her father was going to die, so if she re-wins his affection and he makes her heiress again, they'll soon be very rich. She writes a letter and after a lot of letters her parents agree with it. The children don't want to move.
After a long trip by train and by foot, they finally arrive at the house where Mrs.Dollanger's mother brings the children to a room they aren't allowed to leave.
They aren't allowed to make noise and nobody must know that they (the four children) were in the house, especially grandfather, because he would send them straight away.
When grandmother comes over to bring food the next morning, the children get a list of all the house rules and they have to learn them inside out. Grandmother isn't nice.
Cathy, Christopher, Carry and Cory go to the attic, the room where they discover the strange things. They also discover that there have been locked up more children in the attic. After a while they want fresh air from outside, especially Carrie and Cory. In the evening their mother visits them and she looks very
bad.
Mother asks them how they have spent the day and the twins start complaining and yelling that they want to leave the room. They yell so hard that it drives grandmother crazy and she hits Cory and pulls Carrie up on her hair. Then the children find out how it is possible that mother looks so badly. She has been hitten with a whip and grandmother tells them she does the same with them if they don't listen to the rules.
Mother tells them why her parents are so strict. (In the past she has always been the most valuable possession of her father and when she married her half-uncle, they saw this as a great sin). Mother will follow a secretary-course so that they can move out of the house very quickly.
The children pass the very long and boring days with all sorts of games, then their mother tells them that grandfather has written under the letter, she had sent before they went to this house, that the only thing good about her marriage with her half-uncle has been that they didn't have children. That means that they aren't allowed to leave the room until grandfather has died, because he may absolutely not know that they are in the house.
To make the twins feel more comfortable in the scary attic, they start to make a garden of paper. After a while the twins get used to the idea that the garden of paper is, the only garden where they can go to, that they can't go outside anymore. Cathy was sometimes troubled with crying-fits. In the meantime they are already two months in the attic.
The holidays almost start. At thanksgiving their mother brings them in secret a spread feast-meal and at Christmas she gives so much presents there isn't a place in the room that's free, but the nicest present she brings them is that her father makes her heiress again. The children have to win grandmother's affection, they made a present for her, but she doesn't take it.
Cathy and Chris hide in a secret place their mother has showed them. Now they can look at the party what in honour of Christmas is given in the house. They see their mother with a man the whole evening and they wonder what kind of relation they've got with each other. Chris takes the chance to look through the whole house.
When Chris returns, his mother is in the room and she gives him a smash in the face so mad she is on the fact that Chris has left the room. She regrets it immediately but Chris and Cathy think she has changed. Chris tells Cathy that the man their mother was with the whole evening has kissed her.
They now are a year in the attic. Cathy and Chris slowly begin to come into puberty. They start growing up.
Grandmother has catches Cathy (naked) and Chris (who is staring at Cathy) in the bathroom. She thinks it's terrible and she wants to punish the children for this. They don't get food until Cathy has cut off her hair. Ca-thy doesn't want this and the next morning has grandmother Cathy's (when she was sleeping) doused in tar. With difficulty they got it out. For two weeks they don't get food. They were almost starved to death, they even have in mind to eat mice and Chris let the twins drink of his own blood. Just when they want to escape out of the house, grandmother brings them a basket with food. Their mother doesn't come to them anymore.
Cathy and Chris go out of the house by an id of cheats, so they can go swimming in a lake. When they return they feel a lot better. In the meantime their mother hasn't visit them for a month.
On a rainy afternoon Chris stares sadly out of the window when grandmother comes in (they aren't allowed to look out of the window).
She orders him to go away by the window but instead of obey her he starts to abrise her. Grandmother gets so furious that Cathy and Chris are thrashed by the whip.
One morning there's a mouse stocked in a mouse-trap, with one paw. Cory wants him as a pet, so there is a new mate, Mickey.
After 2 months mother visits them again. But instead of embrace her, they read her a lecture. Cathy doesn't believe her anymore and she is depressive she wants to commit suicide. Their mother will not visit them until they treat her with respect and love.
After ten days mother comes again. She tells them she is married again and that she is very happy. The children don't like this of course. Cathy and Chris want to escape and they want to take the twins with them. Chris forges the key of the room and he steals money from his mother every day, so that they soon have enough money to live with. (At least for a
while).
When Chris is ill one day, Cathy goes out to steal. When she wants to enter the bedroom of her mother she sees her stepfather sleeping in a chair. She feels very attracted to him and kisses him while he is sleeping. When Chris goes out stealing, suddenly his mother and stepfather come in. He just can escape. Chris and Cathy's longing for passion grows. One evening they have sex with each other. Their mother has discovered that she misses money, but thinks the servant girls have done it.
Cory gets ill. He has to be treated in a hospital. Grandmother and mother take him there, where he dies of pneumonia. (That is what mother and grandmother say). Now Chris Cathy and Carrie want to escape as quick as possible.
When Chris the evening before they are leaving wants to steal the jewellery of his mother, everything in her bedroom has gone. Mother and stepfather have gone also. He wants to steal from his grandmother but she is still awake, then he decides to steal from grandfather. (He sleeps in another room). He discovers the most horrible thing: Grandfather ha died a year ago and their mother didn't tell them.
They find out, Cory didn't die a natural death, but he was poisoned by the castor powder that always was on the donuts grandmother gave them. They also find out that their mother would lose everything if it appeared that she has children. (This was in the testament). They escape out of the house after three years and five months. They finally can start a new life.