'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 ]

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No Direction Home: On Ben Lerner’s “The Topeka School”

AN ADOLESCENT NAMED Adam Gordon is the protagonist of Ben Lerner’s new novel, The Topeka School. He shares this name with the narrator of Leaving the Atocha Station, Lerner’s debut novel from 2011. Leaving the Atocha Station was about the quarter-life crisis of a talented misanthrope;... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-09 12:30:44 UTC ]
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Mantle signs Shipping Forecast-inspired debut in two-book deal

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 03:27:54 UTC ]
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Uber Can Go Fuck Itself

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[ Electric Literature | 2019-10-08 11:00:58 UTC ]
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Doubleday makes 'substantial' six-figure pre-empt for 'exceptional' debut

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-04 09:03:45 UTC ]
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Headline Review pre-empts 'remarkable' Druart debut as international offers flood in

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-04 05:26:17 UTC ]
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PRH stands by Prescott in Pasternak plagiarism row

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-01 13:11:52 UTC ]
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Cape pre-empts Megan Nolan's 'exhilarating' debut about toxic relationships

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-26 16:21:35 UTC ]
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Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Debut Novel Mingles History and Fantasy

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[ The New York Times | 2019-09-24 09:00:11 UTC ]
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Lorna Cook triumphs with debut novel to win Joan Hessayon Award

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-16 02:19:21 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: September 16, 2019

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador snaps up Scottish author Armstrong's 'blistering' debut

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-11 13:33:42 UTC ]
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S&S UK lands fashion insider's debut novel

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-02 21:57:13 UTC ]
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A Debut Novel Reimagines the C.I.A.’s Efforts to Promote ‘Doctor Zhivago’

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[ The New York Times | 2019-09-02 18:51:54 UTC ]
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Rewriting the ‘Boy Genius’

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[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-01 11:00:00 UTC ]
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‘The Ventriloquists’: Featured Fiction from E.R. Ramzipoor

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[ The Millions | 2019-08-27 19:00:55 UTC ]
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“Wicked Fox” is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-08-22 23:52:56 UTC ]
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‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

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‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

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‘Wicked Fox’ is an engrossing – if convoluted – YA fantasy

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A Nigerian American in Utah Strives to Be ‘A Particular Kind of Black Man’

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[ Electric Literature | 2019-08-21 11:00:12 UTC ]
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