I read this book months ago, but only now I finally got around to blogging about it. I've decided to summarize the book (my style!), but I'll keep it as PG as possible (trust me, with V.C. Andrews, that's almost impossible).
So the book begins with Carrie, Chris, and Cathy going on a bus to North Carolina. For those who read Flowers in the Attic, you'll probably know that they've just been locked up in an attic for 3 years by their mother and finally got out. Quite predictably,the book begins with Cathy cursing her mom. Gosh Cathy, get over it! (She complains about this a billion times in the book—not even kidding.) Carrie starts throwing up in the bus, as a result of the arsenic, and the bus driver threatens to kick them out. Then, Henny, a mute, African-American woman, plays Superman and takes all three children to Dr. Paul Sheffield. He puts Carrie under treatment and becomes the children's legal guardian. Chris, like the idiot he is, wants to protect his mother (who, by the way, fed his little brother arsenic) by not telling Paul the truth. Is this the OEDIPUS complex happening again? Luckily, Cathy, who's as irritated at Chris as I am, screams out the whole story.
I'm not going to directly mention this (it's too repulsive to most readers of this blog), but for those who read Flowers in the Attic, you probably know the V.C.A. types of relationships. Here's a hint of what I'm talking about: read the chapter "My Stepfather" in Flowers in the Attic; you'll know what I mean. What's irritating is that Chris STILL clings on to his obsessions, even AFTER escaping the attic. Cathy yells at him to take a hike, and he CRIES. What a whimp.
During Christmas, Paul takes all the kids (I refuse to consider Chris an adult—even though he's about 18) to see The Nutcracker. Afterwards, they meet Madame Marisha who offers Cathy an audition the next day. Cathy makes it in, while meeting Marisha's hot son Julian. Meanwhile, Paul, like the jerk he is, sends Carrie off to a private, boarding school. Considering Carrie is extremely dependent on her siblings, has low-esteem because of her appearance, and doesn't want to leave at all, I completely agree with Paul's decision! Note the sarcasm. Chris, on the other hand, gets to go to a medical school to become a doctor and fulfill a dream while Cathy stays at home and fulfill her dream of becoming a ballerina. I'm surprised Carrie didn't throw much of a tantrum at this. That night, Cathy confesses she's in love with Paul—and the feeling's mutual! Did I mention the Oedipus complex? Turns out it's the Elektra complex instead. But wait, Julian from her ballet troupe is head over heels for her too, but Cathy tells him to leave her alone. Considering that's the non-creepiest relationship in the book, I'm surprised at Cathy's response. She accepts a date with him though, but Julian ends up getting her drunk, speeding in his car, and nearly breaking her arms. I don't know who's stupider: Julian for doing all that stuff or Cathy for going out with this loony after what happened.
When Cathy gets back, she yells at Paul for not having a life. Paul calmly explains that before Cathy barged into his life, he was married to a woman named Julia. Julia, who apparently suffered from something similar to androphobia, told Paul to leave her alone after she gave birth to a son named Scotty. To convert 3 pages into a sentence, Julia drowned herself in the river along with Scotty on Scotty's 3rd birthday. What a wonderful birthday gift (I should really thank my mom for that Hello Kitty bed sheet she gave me as a present—it's much better than a homicide). But guess what Cathy says to all of that?
"I'm sorry. But you can have other children. You can marry again ... Forget Julia!" (Andrews 98).
Very understanding Cathy. During Cathy's Sweet 16 party, Julian comes in and insists Cathy goes to New York to perform with him. Cathy says a simple "No" and Julian responds with, "May all your birthdays be hell on earth!". I'm starting to love this character.
Meanwhile, Carrie, who everyone forgot about, is being bullied in school because of her short height. The other girls in the school, who are about 9 years old, actually lock her up in the roof. Kids are getting violent these days. Finally, Cathy, Paul, and Chris get Carrie out of the school and send her to a public school. Cathy decides to go to New York with Julian to pursue her career. She meets Madame Zolta, who turns out to be the meanest teacher ever. After Cathy shouts at her one day, Zolta immediately sweetens up. Split personality disorder? Don't know. Anyways...one night Paul privately proposes to Cathy and she accepts. Samus is absolutely speechless. On Christmas, Chris finds out about it and sulks...a lot. Later in April, Paul's virtually-unknown-to-the-reader sister Amanda comes and says a bunch of lies, including: Julia is still alive, Cathy miscarried twins, and that Cathy had an abortion as a result. Eek! Anyways, Julian takes Cathy out and proposes to her, and Cathy, who's drunk, accepts. They soon get married. Apparently Romeo and Juliet wasn't that exaggerated after all.
Paul, after talking with Cathy, just mopes around and doesn't say much. Turns out Amanda was LYING! I SO did not know that. Chris, on the other hand, is pissed off and throws a tantrum. A few years later, Chris graduates from medical school. Julian, who should be (by legal standards) locked up by now, doesn't let Cathy go, so she ditches him in Spain for her brother. Julian retaliates by kicking her out of their ballet performance while she's with Chris. When Cathy confronts Julian about this, he steps on her foot and breaks some of her toes (I don't like this guy anymore). While Cathy's recovering, Julian gets himself injured in a car accident.
When Cathy approaches Julian, he yells at her to get lost. Cathy yells at him for wrecking their apartment and reveals she's pregnant with his child. Julian says to get an abortion.
The next day, Cathy notices Julian cut off his life support, committing suicide. Later, on Valentine's Day (really ironic, considering Cathy and Julian's almost loveless marriage), Cathy gives birth to Jory (Julian+Cory get it? haha).
After a while, Cathy decided to move to Virginia with Carrie to get revenge on her mother. I don't think she's heard the quote "forgive and forget." Obviously Chris has because he warns her not to move. But, of course, she tells him to get out of her face.
Once they move in, Carrie goes out with a guy named Alex. Considering this is Carrie's first date EVER (she's 20), she's practically jumping up and down. Alex, however, tells her that he plans to be a minister. Turns out Carrie understood all the grandmother's lectures about her being the "Devil's spawn." Then, Carrie sees her mother who refuses to recognize her. Carrie, in a state of depression, eats donuts coated with arsenic and dies, leaving a suicide note. This was the only death that really touched me in this book. Obviously, it touched Cathy because she becomes PISSED as a result.
Cathy, almost losing it, plays her idea of revenge, which involves seducing her stepfather, Bartholomew Winslow. Right now, I'm about to lose it. But, SHE DOES sneak into Foxworth Hall and whip her grandmother. Three cheers for Cathy at this point! THAT was the perfect revenge. Soon, Cathy becomes pregnant with her stepfather's kid (EW!) and tells Bart that he either divorces her mother or loses his kid. Bart doesn't give a direct answer, only yells at her.
Cathy then plots the final stage of her revenge. She dresses up as her mom did 15 years and yells out the truth about her past in front of all the party guests. I still don't get it that she actually expected people to believe her. Cathy's mother denies everything (of course), but Bart gets her to spit out the truth. Then Cathy's mom starts to say a bunch of crap about how Malcolm Foxworth used her and blah, blah, blah. I didn't fall for it and neither did Cathy or Bart. Chris suddenly appears and tells Cathy that they need to leave immediately. Bart says that he can't let Cathy go, and he hopes to redeem himself. Seems like a happy ending, right? It would be except for the part when Bart opens the door and the house is on fire! Cathy, Chris, and their mother all get out while Bart and Cathy's grandmother die. No big loss there. Then Chris tells Cathy that Henny died from a stroke and Paul suffered a heart attack in trying to help her. Cathy marries Paul and gives birth to Bart Jr. Paul urges her to "marry" Chris so they can live as husband and wife. So much for getting OVER the whole experience. Cathy, much to my horror, AGREES! Soon, Paul dies. Cathy and Chris take Jory and Bart with them to California. Cathy mentions that her mother is now locked up in a mental institution. Apparently, the grandmother left all her money to Cathy's mother and now Cathy's mother has no use for it. So in the end CATHY's revenge was pointless. In the end, Cathy says that she's nothing like her mother. Judging what happens in the next two books, I DIS-agree.
0 comments:
Post a Comment