The Dollanganger Family Series

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The Dollanganger series is a series of books by V.C. Andrews. It covers the tribulations of three generations plagued by Generational Trauma, Abusive Parents and the tribulations that follow.

The books in the series are as follows:

Flowers in the Attic, first published in 1979
Petals on the Wind (1980)
If There Be Thorns (1981)
Seeds of Yesterday (1984)
Garden of Shadows (1987) (by V. C. Andrews and Andrew Neiderman)

Tropes used in The Dollanganger Family Series include:

Apology Not Accepted: Quite justified when Corinne attempts to apologize to Cathy and Chris in book three. They aren't forgetting that she locked them up in an attic for three years, allowed her mother to torture them, and poisoned them while disposing of Cory in another room. To Chris, it looks like Corinne wants to play the part of happy grandmother and act like her murdering Cory didn't happen.
Big Sister Instinct: Deconstructed with Cathy. The main reason she wants revenge on Corinne is for the latter killing Cory, and later contributing to the mental health problems that lead to Carrie's suicide. Chris tells her there's no point in getting revenge, because it's not like it will bring their siblings back.
Could Have Avoided This Plot: Bart is very disgusted when he finds out the reason that Corinne hid away and tried murdering her children owing to the codicil in her father's will. He points out that any decent lawyer, like himself, could have easily contested that in court.
Crossing the Burnt Bridge: In book three, Corinne attempts to make amends with Chris, Cathy and their grandkids by moving next door to their house incognito and being nice to Jory and Bart Jr.. Chris is not amused when he finds out, and Cathy attempts to beat up her mother for daring to ask for forgiveness.
Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- One of the main conflicts between the three generations. Malcolm and Olivia, as well as their relative John Amos, have some rather antiquated views based on Christianity though the branch isn't confirmed. They blame Corinne and Chris Sr. for getting together despite being related and are convinced that any offspring who emerge would be twisted and evil by default. With Cathy and Chris, they decide not to have any children together when they finally decide to get married and run with Cathy's sons to California, renaming themselves as the Sheffields. Even so, Cathy's attempts to be open about sex and sexual discussions can put her at odds with how casual her kids are about hookups.
- It's mentioned that social services are quite bad in this time period. Rather than terminate her parental rights and make her kids wards of the state since she can't afford to take care of them as a single parent, Corinne opts for the physically and emotionally abusive solution. Later, when the kids finally run away, they discuss how they could turn in Corinne with the donuts and dead mouse, but they may be separated as a result; Chris and Cathy are terrified about what would happen to Carrie. That Paul Sheffield was able to adopt them with no wellness checks even though he's confirmed to not be the nicest guy, and Julia has her own traumas, says a lot.
Even Evil Has Standards: Maybe with Olivia. She was the one that said Cory needed a doctor when the latter was sick. When she finds out that her religious teachings indirectly led to Carrie's suicide, she does weep while stroking a bit of Carrie's hair.
For the Evulz: While Corinne has her reasons for attempting to make amends with her children and grandchildren, John Amos decided to make things worse by corrupting Bart Jr. purely to deal with the "sinners" in the family bloodline.
Karma Houdini Warranty: Book two has Cathy enforce this on Corinne and her grandmother, by seducing Corinne's new husband Bart and revealing the truth of Cory's death to Bart at Foxworth Mansion. While Corinne evades jail by setting the whole mansion on fire and gets committed to a mental hospital, she kills her mother and Bart by accident. Book three shows that Corinne suffered a Heel Realization about this, especially since her mother did give her the money with no strings attached, meaning there was no reason to hurt anyone. Chris tells her to fuck off and stay away from him and Cathy when she attempts an apology; when she tries to beg Cathy for forgiveness, her daughter responds by trying to beat her up. Cathy only forgives her when Corinne rescues her from a fire, a genuine accident this time, and succumbs to heart failure.
Only Sane Man:
- Cathy portrays Chris as this. He's the one that tells her to not get revenge on Corinne or Olivia, that they're better off moving on and living well. In reality, Chris is just as traumatized as Cathy, and he has his own baggage.
- Jory might be this as a kid. He gets bad vibes of the old lady who lives next door claiming to be his and Bart Jr.'s grandmother, and gets as far away from her as possible. The only reason that he doesn't tell his parents is they have a lot of sex, and it makes him uncomfortable to interrupt them about such matters.
Stalker Without a Crush: Corinne's intentions to reconcile in book three are genuine for the first time, but she still tracks down her children, who moved states to get away from their family trauma, and moved in next door to them.
Unreliable Expositor: Corinne claims in book two that her father made her lock up the kids, and the poisoning was an excuse to sneak the kids out of the hospital. Bart contests that; he never saw Mal being physically or emotionally abusive with his daughter. Cathy herself doesn't believe this given how many times Corinne has done Playing the Victim Card.
Was It Really Worth It?: Apparently Corinne suffered this offscreen between books two and three. She got the inheritance she desperately wanted, and her kids are out of her lives. But that's because two of them are dead, the other two want nothing to do with her, and it cost her both Bart and Olivia's lives. John Amos is all that she has left after she marries him.