---

A Novel Idea
The V.C. Andrews series has taken a new direction with the Orphans mini-series. The first four minibooks, Butterfly, Crystal, Brooke, and Raven, each feature one of the orphans, telling her story alone. The fifth book, Runaways, weaves the lives of the girls together for one exciting conclusion.

Patterns Are Meant to be Broken
The traditional five-book pattern as described below has finally been broken. In the fourth book of the Logan series, Music in the Night, we do not hear from Melody's daughter as expected. Instead we read about the tragic story of Laura Logan, Melody's cousin.

The Glass Ceiling
When Virginia was shown the galleys for Flowers in the Attic, her name appeared as "Virginia Andrews." Later, when she received a copy of the book's final cover, her name was changed to "V.C. Andrews." Her publisher said that the change was a mistake made by the printer, and that it was too late to stop the presses. Afterward, Virginia learned the truth: her publishers decided to use her initials in order to prevent discrimination in a male-dominated field. She agreed with their decision after-the-fact.

Art Imitates Life
It is suspected that Virginia used her own life experiences in her novels. Not entirely untrue, she admits. A few incidents are autobiographical, but she is not willing to disclose which pieces. She has also used experiences of friends, family, and her own dreams and memories. Popular and literary fiction has also influenced her writing.

The Night Shift
Virginia's writing habits are as extraordinary as her stories. She liked to write before going to sleep at night. Sometimes she produced thirty to forty pages in one sitting, sometimes keeping her up until the early hours of the morning. Her physical condition often required her to type while sitting up in bed or while standing encased in a body brace. She sometimes used a mirror behind her typewriter so she could watch and use her own reactions for inspiration.

A Star is Born
The theatrical motif is a common thread in most of Virginia's novels. Many of her characters become stage performers of some kind. This draws from her own dream of becoming an actress. Her dream came to an abrupt end with the onset of her crippling arthritis, but was finally realized at the end of her life with a small cameo role in the film version of Flowers in the Attic.

My Characters, My Self
Virginia identified with her characters to an amazing degree. While writing Flowers in the Attic, she lost weight right along with Chris, Cathy, Carrie and Cory. Her connection was so strong that when a character died, she went into mourning and grieved as if she lost a best friend herself.

Five-Book Pattern
Each V.C. Andrews series traditionally follows a pattern. The first book of a series acts as an introduction to the characters and story, focusing on a young woman struggling on the verge of adulthood. The second, third, and fourth books continue the story through her adult years. In all of the series, except the Dollanganger series, the fourth book is continued by her teenage daughter. Finally, the fifth book, called a prequel, returns to the events which happened before the events of the first book. My Sweet Audrina is her only stand-alone novel, and does not fit the pattern.

Young Adult Literature
Why are V.C. Andrews book so popular among young adult women? E.D. Huntley says it best: Andrews's youthful protagonists have experiences that closely mirror the fears of young readers (identity, sexuality, peer acceptance, relationships with parents and other adults); thus, the novels provide readers with a kind of catharsis - a way to expend feelings of fear without actually being in danger. Readers are able to live vicariously through the plights of the identifiable main characters caught between adolescence and adulthood.

The Three Faces of Adult Characters
Virginia typically uses three types of adult characters in her novels. The first role is the "miraculous source of help and comfort" (ie. Paul Sheffield of the Dollanganger series). The second role is the antagonist, which consists of both weak adults (ie. Damian Adare of Audrina) and powerful manipulators (ie. Tony Tatterton, Casteel). In the third role are supporting characters which act as components of the novel's setting, as foils to the antagonist, or as sources of comic relief (ie. Nina Jackson, Landry).

Some information on this page was compiled from E.D. Huntley's V.C. Andrews: A Critical Companion (Greenwood Press, 1996).