'Awful and fabulous': the madness of Flowers in the Attic

Forty years ago, VC Andrews’ novel about incest, rape and murder-by-doughnut was declared ‘deranged swill’, but new books under her name still sell. Why?Forty years ago this month, Flowers in the Attic, the debut novel of one VC Andrews was published. A review in the Washington Post didn’t mince its words, describing it as “deranged swill” that “may well be the worst book I have ever read”.The plot is nothing if not deranged – but even 40 years later, utterly compelling. Cathy and Chris Dollanganger and their little brother and sister, Cory and Carrie, are beautiful, blond-haired and as happy as can be until their handsome father dies. Their destitute mother tells them that in order to regain the fortune from which she has been disinherited, they must hide in their grandparents’ vast attic for a few days so she can persuade their grandfather to reinstate her as his heir.The most terrible things about my childhood probably were those that I created in my mind Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-11-14 14:02:15 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "'Awful and fabulous': the madness of Flowers in the Attic"


Canongate publishing 'astonishing' debut novel from Phil Klay

Canongate is publishing an "astonishing" debut novel of “extraordinary suspense” from award-winning writer and US Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-19 20:45:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jeremy O. Harris: Brandon Taylor ‘Subjugates Us With the Deft Hand of a Dom’

In the debut novel “Real Life,” a biochemistry Ph.D. candidate confronts the harder lessons of how to be a gay black man in a white world. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-18 10:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Jeremy O. Harris: Brandon Taylor ‘Subjugates Us With the Deft Hand of a Dom’

In the debut novel “Real Life,” a biochemistry Ph.D. candidate confronts the harder lessons of how to be a gay black man in a white world. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-18 10:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


In ‘Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line,’ an unforgettable voice emerges from an Indian slum

The debut novel follows a child detective bent on tracking down a missing classmate. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-06 17:56:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Review: Chasing homers, ballplayers and dreams

Emily Nemens' debut novel about a fictional baseball team takes on the social swirl of spring training. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-02 15:00:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘On Swift Horses’ is a vibrant tale of unconventionality

Shannon Pufahl’s remarkable debut novel “On Swift Horses” tells a searing story about a forgotten side of 1950s America. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-01-28 20:36:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Megan Angelo’s ‘Followers’ looks at the hazards of our hyper-connected world

The debut novel examines the lives of people who are more interested in how they appear online than who they are in real life. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-21 17:44:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Katherine Kayne on the Strong Women of Hawaii’s Painful History

In this delightful debut novel Katherine Kayne sweeps us back to a Hawaii still mourning its lost kingdom, where ladies—their ballgowns covered in yards of protective fabric—gallop across the mountains and down the city streets on their way to polo matches and parties, men dance the hula as well... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-17 09:46:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Impossible Exercise of Interviewing Leonora Carrington

Heidi Sopinka’s debut novel The Dictionary of Animal Languages is the deceptively gentle tale of the aging artist Ivory Frame, whose character and life are based, both loosely and closely, in alternation, on Leonora Carrington. In fact, Sopinka was struggling to write the book—struggling to get... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-13 09:48:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Such a Fun Age Satirizes the White Pursuit of Wokeness

Kiley Reid’s debut novel is a funny, fast-paced, empathetic examination of privilege in America. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2020-01-08 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Long Tail of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’

Delia Owens’s debut novel has sold more than four million copies — an astonishing trajectory for any new writer, much less for a 70-year-old wildlife scientist. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-12-21 10:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Considering Darryl Pinckney and Authenticity

This week, Lauretta Charlton reviews Darryl Pinckney’s collection of essays “Busted in New York.” In 1992, Edmund White wrote for the Book Review about “High Cotton,” Pinckney’s debut novel about a young black man coming of age. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-12-20 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Read Harder: A Debut Novel By A Queer Author

Find a new author to follow or the first book your fave wrote with this list of debut novels by queer authors for the 2020 Read Harder Challenge. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-12-18 11:31:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What We're Reading – December 2019

Text Me When You Get Home: the Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship by Kayleen SchaeferIt’s a non-fiction book about the change in perspective around female friendship over the last few years, featuring interviews with a huge range of people including Judy Blume. The book looks at... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-12-17 09:49:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


‘Africaville’: Featured Fiction from Jeffrey Colvin

Today, we present an excerpt from a debut novel that earned praise from Victor LaValle, who called it a "gripping and moving book." The post ‘Africaville’: Featured Fiction from Jeffrey Colvin appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-12-10 19:30:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Tramp Press bags 'stunning' Bourke debut

Tramp Press has bagged the “stunning” debut novel from Irish writer Niall Bourke. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-06 16:27:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bloomsbury scoops McMullan’s debut novel

Bloomsbury will publish journalist Thomas McMullan’s debut novel The Last Good Man in November 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-03 21:48:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Legend bags 'stunning' debut from Mustafah

Legend Press has bagged Sahar Mustafah’s "stunning" debut novel charting the background to a shooting at an Islamic school in Chicago. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-03 17:48:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harvill Secker wins Elaine Feeney's first novel at auction

Irish poet Elaine Feeney’s "dazzlingly inventive" debut novel As You Were will be published by Harvill Secker following an auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-02 15:33:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Restless Housewife, a Closeted Vagabond, and Lady Luck

From the title, you might think that On Swift Horses is about cowboys, horse wrangling, rural landscapes—and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Shannon Pufahl’s debut novel explores wide-open spaces and how people navigate them in a post-Depression, post-World War II, Baby Boomer era in Southern... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this