V.C. Andrews

In sixth grade, I read a book behind my mother's back. It was 'The Prince of  Tides" by Pat Conroy and has  been my favorite book since I finished it. I read it everyday after school. My mother had rented it from the library, and as soon as I came home from school, I picked it up and read until I heard her car, then I slammed it back down on the stove, and pretended to be innocent. I remember the details of this book as if it were yesterday because it REALLY affected me in a way that no other book, except maybe "South Of Broad" also by Pat Conroy, ever has. I felt like this book was reading my life. I still feel that. It is also the only book that I can or have read more than once. I keep copies of this book to pass out among people I met who have never read such a gem. I confessed a few years ago to my mother as we were waiting in line to meet Pat Conroy for the first time. Whenever I need a quick pick me up or I just want to view the language that Conroy uses that i find to be melodic and lyrical, I simply read a few pages of 'The Prince of Tides". It will forever be in my heart.

There are very few books that I have read in life that have had such a profound effect on me, or rather there have been many and it isnt until years later that I realize it. Today, has been one of those days. I have read five books today. Yes, today I read 5 books. You read that correctly. They were all smaller books. Im really not THAT good. Still, as I was sitting in the bathtub with my book, I remembered the first book I ever read by this author. V.C. Andrews

"Flowers in the Attic". Need I say more? I was reading at age 4, and I know I read it before 'The Prince of Tides" so I was somewhere between the ages of 4 and 11 when I fell in love with 'Flowers in the Attic". I found it at the library. I remember being so throughly shocked that a mother could do something so horribly to her children such as lock them in an attic and feed them poison. Still, since I didn't have an attic.....I wanted to live in one....at least for a little while. I have had a fascination with attics since I read that book. (I have an unhealthy obsession with books. I love them too much to put them down, and I like to pretend to live inside them while I read them)

I always identified myself with Carrie in "Flowers in the Attic". Most likely, it was because she was the character closest to my age as I look back. I've always considered V.C. Andrews to be the first horror writer I have ever read. She made me see the world differently as a child. She allowed me to see the evil in the world when I was a sheltered, protected child. I ended up reading every book in that series, and have been looking for that series for a few months now.

I read so quickly that I HATE buying books. It feels like a waste of money to me. Still, the library is no good because I forget to take them back on time. I either read them right away, then set them off to the side to collect dust, or I let them sit a while until I am in the mood to read it. Buying a book seems like a waste of money because I pay 7-30 bucks for a hour, maybe 2 hour, read. So, I have adopted yard sales and Goodwill as my major book buying source, and when I am finished I take them to a used book store for credit towards another book.

So, while looking for the series including "Flowers in the Attic", I found the entire V.C. Andrews collection EXCEPT the ones I was looking for. Regardless, I couldnt resist, and I bought them all. So, today I have read: 'Into the Garden', 'Butterfly', 'Crystal', 'Brooke', 'Raven' and Im starting 'Runaways'. Each tale tells of girls that led miserable lives. 'Into the Garden' even had a scene where a group of friends actually buried one of the girls' mother so that she wouldnt have to enter the "system".

I remember thinking as a child that I wanted to one day write as honestly as V.C. Andrews. It is one of the only times I can remember ever thinking about wanting to write instead of be a musician. I still love the honesty in her writing. Its sad that she has died. How does it work that your family tells the story of the characters you have made after death anyway? I find that odd.......

Still, she explains the complexities of being a troubled teenage girl quite well. I love that. Once, I was a troubled teenage girl. I think I would have remembered everything.....if things hadn't happened the way they did so that I had to make myself forget in order to survive. But, I forgot. When I read V.C. Andrews, I am reminded of that troubled teenager that I once was, and sometimes.....I miss how innocent she was even though she didn't think of herself as being innocence. Then, I wonder if I will one day forget my 30's too, and I become afraid that I might.

Still, there are triggers to my childhood, and V.C. Andrews just happens to be one of those. I have even thought that maybe I am a little foolish for reading something that I would have read as a child. Then, I remembered how much I loved Judy Blume and promised myself to find one of her books to reread.

Regardless, I am having a grand time reading V.C. Andrews. In due time, I will have read the entire collection just because I can.


What book have you read that affected you the most? Why? What book do you, as a human being, relate to the most?