The Works of V.C. Andrews

[dwanollah]

It is a little vague, but the good doctor was adamant that the "monster baby" (he had it in a jar in his office) was something he'd had since med school and wasn't hers, that she didn't miscarry. But it outed her relationship with Chris.

I love the doctor's throwaway psycho sister who shows up once, causes trouble, and then disappears again. Great plot tension, Ginny!

[Deleted]

I would think that an embryo that young would have been too small/early to be able to discern legs/heads/arms, etc.

[susannahdean]

I know the fetus in Dr. Paul's office wasn't hers, but I do think she miscarried. She was so afraid that she would get pregnant by Chris and was imagining this monstrous freak that would be their child. Considering how much incest was in that family already, I don't blame her.

[Deleted]

Really. Especially if you've read Garden of Shadows, their parents are also...brother and sister in addition to be being uncle/neice. (Their parents weren't inbred, exactly. Chris Sr.'s father, Garland, married his second wife Alicia, and they had Chris Sr. Then, after Garland died, Malcolm, Garland's son from his first marriage, rapes his stepmother, Alicia, and Corrine is conceived. But they were never told this, and assumed that Corrine was Malcom's daughter with his own wife.)

[Deleted]

So Alicia was both Chris Sr and Corinne's mother? I didn't know that!! (I think I've never read Garden of Shadows)

[dwanollah]

susannahdean said:

I know the fetus in Dr. Paul's office wasn't hers, but I do think she miscarried. She was so afraid that she would get pregnant by Chris and was imagining this monstrous freak that would be their child. Considering how much incest was in that family already, I don't blame her.

Oh, don't be ridiculous, susannahdean! Copious inbreeding only makes you INCREDIBLY PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE!

[susannahdean]

So it would seem, lol. Funny how all four of the kids were the most beautiful kids in town with perfect skin, golden hair and cornflower blue eyes, instead of three eyes, an extra thumb, or perhaps a tail.

[ladymadonna]

ALL of the VC Andrews heroines are incredibly beautiful, talented, and charming, even the "fat" or "ugly" ones. They always end up with the incredibly caring, hot guy who will jump through hoops of fire for them, and they always have an incredibly gorgeous, but horrid step/sister/cousin/friend who is out to destroy them. But good ultimately prevails and our heroine eventually lives happily ever after, presumably with no therapy.

I think that's why I was first attracted to the series; I wanted to be beautiful and misunderstood and sought after with great passion. What 13 year old girl wants to be "normal"? We all want to be extraordinary, which is what VC heroines are written as.

I don't care. I still love this trash, and will buy each increasingly trashy novel as it comes out, because, much like watching The Real World year after year, I can't help myself. It's my crack. I'm powerless. ;D

[Deleted]

True, but they were only the first generation. If Chris and Cathy had continued on and had children of their own, and then THOSE children then mated, then you'd start to see problems. From what I gather, inbreeding isn't a problem so much the first time, but if it's practiced in one family over a period of time, that's when things go wrong. VERY wrong. Ever hear of the polygamous Kingston clan in Utah? They're one of those fundy Mormon sets that split from the LDS, and inbreeding has gotten so bad that they've had some really severe birth defects.

And thus concludes our lesson in inbreeding!

[muskratmonroe]

After somehow getting through my high school years without ever reading a V.C. Andrews book, I picked up a paperback copy of Flowers In The Attic for 25 cents at a library booksale yesterday. This thread just really intrigued me. Now I've gotta see for myself!