Andrew Neiderman

This biography of V.C. Andrews was fun and interesting! It's by the writer who "took over" from V.C. Andrews after her death, first completing a couple of books she had started, and then writing 80 or 90 more as "the V.C. Andrews Trust." The style of this biography is a little bit overblown but a) are you surprised? and b) that seems appropriate.

I first encountered V.C. Andrews when I was ten or eleven with her book Heaven. It kind of blew my mind apart because it starts with a fairly show more child-friendly story about a girl who is very poor but her immediate problems include choosing what flavor to get when their teacher takes her and her siblings out for ice cream. Then bam bam bam we have a stillbirth, a father selling his children for $500 apiece, her new father molesting her, and her sister's new father the minister molesting the sister (with a fair amount of rationalizing why these assaults were not that bad.) Heaven was definitely an eye-opener and introduced me to the seedy side of life. I was simultaneously intrigued, repulsed, titillated, and amused. Which is pretty much how you are supposed to feel reading a gothic novel like this, and V.C. Andrews wrote cracking good ones.

I didn't know anything about V.C. Andrews and I was surprised to learn that she had a disability and that her first novel was not published until she was in her fifties. Her disability seems to have been partly from medical malpractice, partly from a fall she had in high school, and partly from bone spurs or other organic causes. There's some ableist language in this book about "wheelchair bound" and "confined to a wheelchair" but really this is a disability pride story that tells itself.

I thought it was interesting what issues a current-day version of V.C. Andrews would not have to face and what ones she still would. Her mother was her sole caregiver and Andrews went out very rarely, in part because her mother felt shame about having a daughter with a disability. (No wonder she was able to write so vividly about being trapped in an attic.) One of the reasons V.C. Andrews began writing was that she knew if her mother pre-deceased her, she would need to pay for all her own care, so she had to make some money. Today thanks to tireless activism and the ADA, people with disabilities have caregivers paid for by Medicaid, more places are accessible, and (until COVID hit) social service agencies are supposed to make it possible for people with disabilities to take their rightful place in the community. When V.C. Andrews sold her first book, it was a total gamble because her $7,000 advance meant that her benefits would be cut off, but most people don't earn back their advance. That kind of thing is still a problem today as people with disabilities can't take most jobs or marry without losing their benefits. Fortunately, Andrews' first book (Flowers in The Attic) was a smash hit and she was able to buy a new house for her and her mom. And instead of staying cooped up at home, she and her mother were able to see the world, including publicity tours to Hollywood, Paris, and London.

The assumption I made about V.C. Andrews based on her novels was that she was a survivor of incest and/or sexual assault because it's such an enduring theme in her stories and she seemed to be grappling for a way to somehow make it okay or romantic. The author Andrew Neiderman doesn't get into this topic, but he presents the POV that Andrews had a sort of lurid view of romance because as far as anyone knows, she never had the opportunity to have a real-life romance of her own. After her literary success she did have a dreamy attorney and stockbroker who seemed to be vying for her attentions.

Unfortunately, the good life after her big breakthrough only lasted for about seven years before Andrews died of breast cancer. The author Andrew Neiderman explains that he was first tapped by their mutual agent to finish a book for Andrews while she was still alive but in failing health, and that he never actually met her. It's unclear from his account how much V.C. Andrews knew about or assisted with this plan. I remember as a kid being increasingly incredulous as more and more books by V.C. Andrews kept coming out after she died. At first the book jackets or front matter would say something about how it was an unfinished book or based on plans or notes she left behind. I thought, no one leaves behind notes for a dozen different books! Then ultimately the books began to say something more like "inspired by" or "based on the work of" or "authorized by the estate" or some language like that.

Neiderman opens the book with a poem he wrote about Andrews, expressing that he has cheated Death of victory as he resurrects Andrews with every page he writes. That pretty much sums up the whole tone of the book: egotistical but truly devoted to V.C. Andrews and her memory. Most of the information comes from Andrews' surviving family, which Neiderman describes as having become a second family to him. I probably would have been happier with a more straightforward story of her life and less literary criticism. But overall I came away thinking well of both Andrews and ghost writer Neiderman, and I heartily recommend this book for anyone who has fond memories of V.C. Andrews' novels. There are also a few chapters from a genuine unfinished V.C. Andrews novel included at the end. I gratefully received an ARC of this biography from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

The movie caught my eye, and I was thinking, the book's gotta be better. Right? More often than not, a book trumps a movie hands-down, though some adaptations have turned out to be decent efforts. This book is from the same man who ghostwrites the V.C. Andrews novels (and the books he writes under her name are just god-awful) but I figured that if someone wanted to make a movie from this book, then the book had to be good... right? Right???

NO! The screenplay is actually better than the book! show more I could see echoes of Neiderman's lame "VCA-esque" writing in here especially with the bland dialogue. Some parts were all right, but overall the book fell rather flat and it left me surprised at how such a good (if somewhat disturbing) movie could have been greenlighted from this book. It is definitely better than a one-star, but I just couldn't bring myself to give it anything higher than two stars. show less

Neiderman's earliest works were the best. Some authors get better as they get older (and wiser) However, that does not apply to Neiderman, his works have been getting worse (and more rushed) This sounds like a really cool story (bad books often do in the summary) but the characters were awful. Mom and Dad are flat, two dimensional characters and I found myself wanting to slap Mom (and Dad) around. The writing in itself is pretty bad, with a lot of repetition or belaboring the point in show more certain parts, and I found the ending to be utterly unrealistic and rushed. show less

Neidierman's first and BEST book, in my opinion. Adult sisters Rita and Harriet run their deceased parents store in the Catskills and live in apartments above. Excellent characters, with a dark Shirley Jackson vibe. Plain and practical Rita looks out for her pretty but simple sister, Harriet. Life is smoothly predictable until a drifter named Richard enters. Neiderman expertly winds the tension and gives just enough forshawdowing without giving the ending away. I LOVE this book. One of my show more top 10 favorites for sure. show less