Warning: this episode contains mentions of rape, incest, and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome back to the Forgotten Library; I’m Nikki Gee. Today’s episode is by fan request – several, actually. And I wanted to do it, anyway, so bonus! We’re going to be talking about Petals on the Wind, the second installment of the V.C. Andrews series about the Dollenganger family.
If you have time, I’d suggest listening to episode 2 to get the full story on V.C. Andrews and the first book, Flowers in the Attic. I’ll provide a quick recap in a second, but the story will make better sense if you listen to that one first.
V.C. Andrews was born Cleo Virginia Andrews in the 1920s. For most of her life, she was in a wheelchair or used crutches to get around, due to arthritis. Flowers in the Attic was her first published book under this name and came out in 1979, instantly becoming a bestseller. She published 3 of the remaining four in this series; a standalone called My Sweet Audrina; and the first two of the Casteel family series, Heaven and Dark Angel. Andrews died in 1986, with an estate valued at approximately $8 million. Her family selected a ghostwriter to flesh out her remaining story ideas and churn out new books with her name on the cover. For years, the writer’s identity was a secret, but we know today that it’s Andrew Neiderman, who also writes thrillers under his own name.
So, Flowers in the Attic follows the story of the Dollenganger family. There are four children – Christopher and Cathy, the older children; and Cory and Carrie, who are twins. They have a nice life until their father, also named Chris, is killed in an automobile accident on his 36th birthday. Corrine, who has no marketable skills and is useless with money, having been born rich but then leaving the family home when she was 18, writes to her parents and begs them to let her and the children stay with them in their Virginia mansion.
There’s just one teensy thing – Momma needs to get back into her dad’s good graces, because her family disowned her for marrying her half-uncle, and her father doesn’t know that she has any children from this union. So, the kids have to stay in a locked bedroom adjacent to the attic until Momma can charm her father. Their grandmother knows they’re there, but tells them not to expect any warmth or friendship from her, because they’re not “wholesome.” They must also be modest at all times and all of these other rules. Two weeks turn into months, then years, while they stay locked in this bedroom, and they make a place for the younger kids to play in the giant attic. Momma comes up to visit when she can, and makes promises that her father will die soon and then they can come out and inherit everything.
Then she gets involved with this guy named Bart, and leaves on her honeymoon to Europe, while the children continue to wilt more every day in the attic. Cathy and Chris, living so close to each other, end up getting TOO close, if ya know what I mean.
The food that they get every day has powdered sugar donuts in it after Momma comes back from her honeymoon. The kids get sick every so often, and then one day, Cory is desperately ill; Momma and the grandmother take him out under cover of night to a hospital, supposedly, but he dies. The kids have already been stealing out of the room to rob money from their mom and her husband so they can escape and then Chris finds out while hiding in the library that they’re being poisoned with the donuts, for they’re laced with arsenic. The grandfather has been dead for a year by this point, and his will stipulated that if his daughter has any kids with this new husband, she will lose everything – but she’ll also disinherit if it’s found out she had children from an earlier union. The kids take what money they have and make a run for it, after three years in their attic prison, and this installment leaves them on the bus to Sarasota, Florida.
[break]
Right off the bat, the cover of Petals on the Wind sucks. The original publication had another die-cut cover with a blood-red flower slowly dropping a petal, with Cathy’s face as the style in the center. It made perfect sense, in a Gothic cheese way – Cathy is the narrator and therefore the center of the book, a dead petal to represent Cory . . .
Now, it’s a girl’s face staring out at you with blond hair blowing across her face. It looks like a young adult romance novel! The blurb mentions the Lifetime movie “everyone’s talking about,” so this is the 2014 publication.
Petals opens with the three remaining Dollenganger children riding the bus. Cathy narrates for us that they should have been so happy to be free, but despite their escape, they are joyless, pale, and frazzled by all the stops the bus is making. OK, I know you were in the attic for a few years, but surely you know how buses work? You're not feral children . . .
The bus picks up a “huge black lady” (her words) with quite a few bundles, which takes her forever to pull on the bus. And that's when they finally cross out of Virginia.
Which means Cathy can relax a little and contemplate her siblings. Her “strikingly handsome” brother, Chris, is now 17 and looking every day like their father, who also made the ladies swoon (so much creep in one paragraph and we've barely begun). He brought the guitar and starts strumming and singing, which I'm sure the rest of the passengers just love. He’s singing “Oh Susanna,” and she struggles not to cry; she doesn't say why here, but it's because Cory used to play it. Andrews could do subtlety, if she wanted to. Huh.
On Cathy's lap is Carrie - 8 years old, but looking more like 3, but also with “old, old eyes.”. . . Which is it?
And Cathy? She's 15 and it’s November 1960, and she's ready to scream if one more bad thing happens. Chris tries to reassure her, and they will make the most of what they have, and so on, but inside, Cathy is seething and damning her mother and all the denizens of Foxworth Hall.
Then Carrie starts vomiting and turns deathly pale. A passenger complains loudly about them, but then here comes “the huge black woman” (again, her words) with a smile, and a paper bag for the vomit napkins, and some rags to help clean Carrie up.
“Full of gratitude, I smiled at the very, very fat woman who filled the aisle with her brilliantly gowned body.” WOW.
Chris says Carrie needs a doctor, and fast. The woman takes a look at Carrie, then begins signing to them, which they don't understand. Luckily, she carries a notepad! Her name is Henrietta, and she can hear but is unable to speak. She says the little girl definitely needs a doctor, and they’re in luck, because her “doctor-son” can help them. Despite the busdriver’s protestations that he can’t stray from his route, whatever Henrietta says between her gestures and her notes makes the driver turn off the highway into a residential area.
The kids and Henrietta hustle off the bus, and “like a fat mother hen,” she takes them up the walk of this huge house that also has a doctor's office inside. Outside is a man sleeping in a chair, who Henrietta tries to wake, but he doesn’t stir. She leaves it to the kids to introduce themselves.
The children wake Doctor Paul Sheffield, as the sign out front calls him, and he just stares at them with “his beautiful hazel eyes.” Cathy is sure they look a bit off in their many layers of clothing. He scopes Cathy out for way too long, and Chris asks again if he's the doctor. I’m the doctor!
Doctor Paul asks how long Carrie has been unconscious, and Chris explains her symptoms and how they came to the house. Henrietta is his housekeeper and cook, apparently. He leads the way to his exam rooms, and checks Carrie, then takes the two oldest to his office to discuss matters. While they talk, Cathy strips off a dress, and he asks her if she always wears that much clothing; despite Chris elbowing her to be quiet, she tells him that they've run away and have valuables to hock.
Chris changes the subject to Carrie, and Doctor Paul said she's very ill and he’d put her in the hospital if it weren't Sunday - um, hospitals are closed on Sundays? He tells them to contact their parents, and Chris says they’re orphans but have ways to pay.
Paul says that's great and proceeds to tell them that Carrie needs 2 weeks in the hospital and names a figure they, of course, can't afford. They’re also stunned that Carrie is that sick; um, Cory died pretty horribly, did you forget already?
Basically, Chris doesn't want to say much about themselves; doctor Paul says they can confide in him because he's a doctor, and also, the truth is what will help Carrie.
Of course, they are afraid to tell, for who would believe them? and honestly, in 1960 when this is set, this makes sense; these days, we certainly hear horror stories like this all the time.
The doctor shifts to Carrie’s symptoms, and Cathy is getting incensed at the way Chris is still protecting their mother. Something in Cathy's face makes him talk more to her and tell her what he's noticing - they all are pale, thin, weak, with enlarged pupils; they’re hesitant about money while wearing expensive watches, and tasteful clothing, albeit ill-fitting, with poorly shod feet. Carrie is dangerously anemic and has very low blood pressure. Now he says he could admit her to the hospital that evening . . . I thought the problem was Sunday. Is the doctor lying, or is this poor editing on Andrews’ part? Chris says, “whatever is necessary,” leading Cathy to jump up and say that Chris isn't telling the truth – well, duh. Chris still seems to want to protect dear old Momma, and he starts to cry.
Cathy tells their whole, unbelievable tale, from daddy's death until their bus ride (but omits Cory entirely). The doctor seems incredulous. She finishes by telling him that if they tell the police, they'd separate them, and they need each other.
Chris says, “take care of our sister,” and doctor Paul says they also need medical attention; Chris tries to downplay that, and Cathy is pissed again, because fuck pride, he could help all of us. Paul suggests that they stay with him - he has a big house and it's lonely. He says his intuition tells him they're telling the truth. They could help out with yard and housework; no money, just chores – not charity or pity, just business. Chris is still suspicious but agrees to stay so that their sister can get the help that she needs.
And so, Cathy tells us, they quietly moved into Doctor Paul's huge home. He gives Carrie and Cathy a room to share, which hurts for the two oldest, because now they won't all be sleeping together. Chris says to Cathy that they have to be careful, for Doctor Paul should never suspect them. Cathy says nothing to that, it's over, but won't meet his eyes, “guessing, even then, that it would never be over.” More blame for Momma, although she didn't force the two of you to be physically intimate.
The room is beautiful; full of sunlight, and no hell. Hell is in her mind, though, and she wants to know if what she and Chris did was sinful. HE says Never again, and that night, she goes into his bedroom and crawls in beside him in the bed. Originally just for comfort, but then they start kissing, passionately - “evil and wrong! Yet I didn't really want him to stop.” She pushes him away, and he's like, you came to me, bitch, do you expect me not to want you? Um, YEAH.
Cathy goes back to her room to cry, and fears that she's just like her mother.
Carrie goes to the hospital everyday for tests, and Cathy finds out that Carrie told Paul about Cory. Doctor Paul says that, thankfully, Carrie doesn't have permanent organ damage from the arsenic. Now he wants to examine the two oldest, and Cathy is apprehensive about being undressed in front of him. Chris tells her that it's silly for her to think a 40-year-old doctor would get any pleasure from scoping out a teenage girl’s nubile body. Cute. Chris doesn't know very much, eh? In the end, she just ends up being embarrassed by his questions about menstrual cycles.
Afterwards, she goes to help Henny in the kitchen. Andrews really goes into some caricatures of both black and overweight people. Henrietta's skin is “slick as oiled rubber,” in a “moon face.” Henny is a “rolled up goose down comforter” that “waddles” about. Cathy tells us that Henny was her first black person, and she at first was ill at ease and afraid, but soon realized she's just another human. Not quite, as despite her inability to speak, she is very wise and hands down wisdom in the form of pastel-colored notes. Looks like we’re entering Magical Negro territory.
Paul is a sad man, but also kind. He gives Chris nice gifts for his 18th birthday and planned a party. This makes the kids feel guilty because he's been so generous and yet, they’re making plans to leave. Chris also doesn't like that Paul has replaced him in Cathy's life, and also, he’s seen how Paul stares at her. Cathy is fascinated to hear that dudes his age might be interested in girls her age.
They decide to test Paul to see if he really wants them there; they'll tell him they’re leaving and see how he reacts. Before this, they find out that his wife and young son died in an accident 13 years ago, and his sister hasn't spoken to him since. But still sends him a birthday gift, albeit via mail from the other side of town.
Chris broaches their idea to leave. Doctor Paul says that he's been looking into making them his wards. The court will petition Momma to contest, but if she doesn't show up, he'll get permanent custody. He believes they've made his life better in the three weeks they've been there, and believes they were sent for a reason. But he leaves it to them to make the choice. Carrie is the one who jumps up and hugs Paul and says she wants to stay. Paul dries her tears and says he always wanted a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, but he looks at Cathy when he says it. Hmm.
So, they stay. Doctor Paul won't take their money, and he'll also give them allowance if he gets custody. They go shopping for clothes and the children are dazzled by the display. Cathy also notices that all the teen girls seemed dazzled by her brother, too. Then Carrie has a tantrum in the store, because she doesn't want “baby” colors. Some woman suggests she can have clothes custom-made. Paul says, great, Cathy can make you some clothes. Cathy is annoyed, for she's a dancer, not a seamstress – honey, you're 16, so you're not really ANYTHING, yet.
They travel home, laden with purchases, hair done, hard-soled shoes, and for Cathy, high heels, bras, and make up. They go upstairs to try on all their new clothes and Cathy thinks of Momma, and all they lost from their attic years. Suddenly, she remembers that Momma’s husband, Bart, was from South Carolina. And, as contrivance would have it, Clairemont (where they live now) is right nearby! Cathy begins her revenge plot by getting a subscription to the Virginia society paper so she’ll know every move Momma makes.
The day of the court hearing arrives and of course, Momma doesn't show. Come on, Cathy, you knew she wouldn't. Although I am curious how she managed to hide the court notice from Bart... Cathy cries that night, making her pillow soggy, wishing for the time when daddy was alive and everything was perfect. And for Cory. Then she turns to revenge plotting again, thinking of sending Momma a Christmas card from the Dresden dolls. She’d just rip it up and go swim in her pile of riches.
Cathy meets her brother outside and they hug. He says he was hoping Momma would come with a “reasonable explanation.” Cathy echoes my thoughts when she says, “for murder?” Also, Momma isn't too smart so ... Chris hugs her tighter and cries, and she stands there and tries to soothe. And then, they start kissing again and he tries to get her into his room to “hold her.” He needs something more for when he's away at school. She says no and that they can't make the same mistakes as their parents.
She can't sleep so she goes to his room. He says it's always going to be the two of them. She kisses him but then runs back to her room and locks the door, wondering if she's as evil as their grandmother said.
Christmas arrives and they’re spoiled to hell. Paul also has bought tickets for them all to see The Nutcracker. The company also teaches lessons, and Chris brags that Cathy is advanced and the soul of Anna Pavlova, etc. The show is wonderful, especially Julian Marquet who danced lead. Then Cathy gets taken backstage to meet the dancers. Madame Rosencoff, after discovering that Cathy has never been told that she is excellent, concludes she must just be mediocre. Chris argues that Cathy is much better than the girl playing Clara, and that Cathy's dancing makes him feel things, and man, dude is smitten with his sister. Ew. But Madame tells her that she is to return tomorrow for an audition. Julian overhears and tells Cathy to be flattered, as usually people wait months or even years for auditions.
Cathy is scared, of course, feels she's out of practice, but Chris has faith in her. She has nightmares, and it's still night when she drifts downstairs and finds Chris underneath the tree. They give each other weird compliments, he kisses her throat, she feels things but says don't do that, he says there will never be anyone else for him. Does he have to leave? She cries, they kiss, he calls her angel, he says she loves him like this, too, he unbuttons her nightgown and admires her breasts. And then they’re saying crazy things while they’re edging ever closer to having sex. But not openly in front of the tree. Not Chris’ room, too close to Paul. They decide on Cathy’s room because Carrie won’t wake up. They get to the brink again, she says no, and then end up on the floor, where they collide with a box of food. Chris asks Cathy why she’s hoarding, but she’s fuzzy on the details, and then she tells him to get out. He begs for just one instance of Sexy Time for their whole lives. She Says No, but not because he’s her brother, but because he's leaving her. You’re sounding an awful lot like Corrine right now . . .
Cathy goes to her audition, choosing Sleeping Beauty for her music. Julian tells her to break a leg, then flirts with her. She goes through her routine and then, before she can do the leap, she gets terrible pain in her abdomen and blood is flowing out of her; she passes out, to wake up later in the hospital. Chris explains that she needed a D&C (dilation and curettage) and that all her missed periods must have built up and finally broke free. He looks at her and stresses it was nothing else - which, I get they’re dancing around the topic of pregnancy, but the timeline’s are a bit messy in these books, so how long has it been since the attic incident?
Anyway, she was accepted to the dance company (Madame sent flowers) and Julian already is tailing her, too. Paul also seems to suspect something between the siblings.
School time! Cathy will be attending 10th, Carey 3rd, and Chris a College Prep School. Carrie doesn't want to go away to school, but they talk her into it. Paul gives her a lovely red luggage set, and Cathy gives her the little porcelain people from the dollhouse. This leads Carrie to ask where Momma is, and Cathy has to explain again that they have to pretend she is dead and no one else can know their real story. When they take Chris to his school, Cathy wishes she could make this a farewell to love - at least, the incestuous version of it, but they're in a public place. Chris tells her time won't erase this love. Again, she says they can't be like their parents. He said she looks like their mother, and warns her not to “enchant” Paul too much. And then he says that Paul probably took them in because of Cathy, but she dissuades him from that notion by citing the 25 year age difference. Erm, that don't mean shit.
Cathy is now the only one at home with Paul and feels very alone, so she starts putting the moves on him. He tells her she's a witch, switching quickly from naive to seductress. Then he asks just what is up between her and her brother? She tells him that being locked up together for that long sometimes made them not think of each other as brother and sister. When she hesitates, Paul grabs her and puts her on his lap, demanding to hear the rest. She says they did the best they could. What does that mean? he asks. She counters that he claims she's a seductress, but she sees him undressing her with his eyes, and sending her siblings off to school and she’s sure this is the payment! The nightgown he gave her is not age appropriate. He leers at her, flushed with drink, and paws at her breasts, then snaps out of it, and asks her why she let him do any of that. She forgives him, because she loves him, and she's here, if he wants her.
And then they are cuddled up watching the storm, and she flirts a bit until he kisses her, then gets upset again, and she cries, and he warns her not to tempt him. She says he can just use her, and apparently he doesn't have the best reputation already, so... he's just a man, not a saint.
Cathy is an outsider at school, so she's thankful for ballet class where she feels like she belongs. The revenge against Momma keeps her going, too. Julian visits Clairmont fairly often, as Madame is his mother (and for Cathy, obviously). And she spends her evenings with Paul, where sometimes she’s the daughter and othertimes the flirt. She wonders if Paul is drawn to her for escape, just like she's trying to escape Chris.
Julian comes down just to see Cathy. He waxes on about New York and says they'd make a great team. She says they don't know each other and he scares her. His reply? “I won't rape you.” What. The. Fuck.
And then she goes out on a date with him, anyway. Paul doesn't object, and Chris disapproves, of course. They go to a “very elegant” restaurant with “colored lights” and “rock music.” These things don't scream elegant to me, but perhaps I'm not sophisticated enough. Julian says that they dance well together and they could make it big. He takes her to MakeOut Point but she doesn't want to do that and he basically calls her a tease. Then he talks about his family and then again about how they’d make a good team in New York; he promises to not take advantage of her and that she needs to be her own person.
Chris doesn't like Julian. He worries about her always. She says he needs to forget her, but she knows that won't happen. She lets Julian take her out again and they almost have sex, but she stops him and he twists her arm behind her back and says she is a tease and he doesn't need her.
Because no one needs her, she drifts to Revenge Land again - how can she make Momma hurt most? The rainy night is making her flashback to the attic. She goes to find Paul and starts an argument with him and nearly strikes him. Cathy thinks that there's no one for her to depend on - only Chris, who's too far away.
Why does no one think of therapy for these children??
More talk and occasional flirting. She talks in her sleep apparently and cries out for Momma. She feels she's not ready for New York. She talks about revenge on her mother, and Paul says she should forgive and forget. She says it must be easy for him to say that, not having had that sort of life. Oh, no? he counters.
And now, The Ballad of Julia and Scotty. Paul and Julia were childhood sweethearts. They married when she was 19 and he was 20. Julia was scared of sex, and screamed when he tried to undress her. He didn't know what to do, so he just raped her repeatedly “or so she said.” Um, if she told you no then yep, rape. He started drinking and cheating, and yeah, still occasionally raping her. Then she got pregnant. After Scotty's birth, Julia wanted to be left alone. Her mother hinted at abuse in Julia's past, which, yeah, sounds about right. But she also didn't want to go to therapy.
So he starts screwing his receptionist, for several years, until she gets pregnant. He wasn't even sure he was the father. Apparently, she tells Julia, who threatens suicide.
Julia throws a party for Scotty's 3rd birthday, but needs more candy, and takes her son on a walk to the drugstore. Guests arrive and they do not return. They never went to the drugstore, but the river instead! She drowned herself and took her son down with her. Side note - they had watched Madea several days prior and she, never much for TV, was very interested
Somehow, the aftermath turns into Cathy playing seductress again and this time he responds for a bit. They go up to her room and then she talks about her and her siblings being Devil's spawn which is one way to temporarily cool the ardour, eh? He says her place is as his daughter and nothing else.
Alone with her thoughts, Cathy drifts into a revenge fantasy where she's famous and she entrances Bart and takes Momma’s money away. And apparently, Cathy discovered their birth certificates stuffed in an old suitcase. She plans to go to the man who needs her most, which, I assume, is Paul? And then Chris can hate her and turn to someone else, too.
Cathy turns 16 and is so hot that all the boys and men can’t stop staring. She is vain and preens before all the mirrors at home. Julian wants her. And, of course, so does Chris. Her family throws her a surprise party. When she blows out her candles, she wishes that her revenge will be successful. She might have been better off wishing for her brother to stop viewing her as a sex object. Julian and Chris nearly come to blows over their shared prize. Julian curses all her future birthdays and storms out.
Chris is waiting in her room, and demands to know what is going on between her and Julian. She says it’s none of his business and how dare he try to tell her what to do. No man is going to guide her actions, even him, so he needs to stay out of her life. He pleads with her not to say things like that, as then it seems he’s not as necessary in her life as she is in his.
She says that she’s just all messed up. She’s not ready for New York, but Julian says he loves her and she isn’t sure if this is love. Chris tells her to wait another year and hugs her, while Cathy worries whether she’s turning into her mother inside as well as out.
She finds out Momma’s husband, Bart, is 8 years younger than his wife, and also his address. She discovers old mentions of Momma in the society pages, one of which she sneakily cuts out and brings home. Oh, my librarian heart! Not cool – please don’t do this.
Julian doesn’t come to visit as much and when he does, he starts dating Lorraine DuVal, supposedly Cathy’s best friend, of whom we have heard nothing until now. Well, she’ll show him, too; she’ll show everybody!
During all this, what of Carrie, their darling younger sister attending a private school for properly bred young ladies? She came home every weekend and said nothing bad about the school or anyone, but had once again become shy and withdrawn. Which, if the rest of these fuckers hadn’t been so self-absorbed, might have noticed this was a problem much earlier.
Apparently, the girls, especially her roommate, Sissy, have been taunting her and saying she’s a freak, with her owl eyes and her head too large for her body. One girl tries to defend her and gets punched in the face, making Carrie scream. This brings all the teachers and the headmistress who view a fierce battle royale. Carrie has a flashback to the attic when she sees the headmistress towering over her and thinks she’s the grandmother so she screams she hates her. Carrie is denied weekend leave, along with the other girls.
Stuck for the weekend, the girls steal Carrie’s little porcelain family and then they all come in at night holdings candles and with pillowcases on their heads. They chant at her to drive her evilness away and Carrie, already having a PTSD-type episode because the dolls are missing and what will grandmother say, is freaking the fuck out. Especially after they tell her she must give them the dolls or suffer the consequences. They blindfold and gag her, tie her hands behind her, and take her to the roof, telling her she must stay until morning. She claims to be guided by instinct and Cory to the trapdoor, through which she falls, breaks a bone, and blacks out.
In the meantime, the school calls Paul’s house to say that Carrie has gone missing. Cathy finds the little porcelain dolls in the main bully, Sissy’s, pocket. Another girl tells Cathy where they put Carrie last night. Everyone goes to the attic and Cathy senses she’s there before she finds her, still gagged and blindfolded, and now a broken leg. Cathy has to crawl in toward her and have Paul pull them out together.
Cathy blames Momma for this, too, because Carrie’s broken leg spoiled their vacation to New England. Meanwhile, Momma is living it up on the French Riviera. She shows this article to Chris, who is trying to forget. Cathy, of course, is building her revenge scrapbook, which also includes handsome Bart.
She sends a note to her mother, then regrets it the minute it’s posted. She and Chris cry together that night in the rain, where Cathy discovers Chris still loves their mother. Because he loves her. And she looks just like Corinne. He starts kissing her and she says, “You love me because my face is like hers!” Uhhh . . . and his reply is that he was only comforting her, and “don’t turn it into something ugly.” Dude, you want to sex your sister. Your moral compass is broken.
Carrie’s leg heals and she goes to public school now, but still has no friends. Every night Cathy hears her pray to first, find her mother and second, to make her a little bit taller. Cathy adds this to her mental revenge journal. The poor child is told at school that she should find a stretching machine, and she is disappointed when Paul says something like that doesn’t exist.
Cathy keeps sending her mother notes to torment her. And then, Momma comes to Greenglenna, and she sees her and Bart one day in town, shopping. Somehow, they don’t see or hear her behind them. More revenge plotting and then she goes home and breaks a mirror.
Cathy plans a surprise party for Paul, which is ruined because his flight is delayed; in the end, it’s just Cathy and Paul with the fancy dinner and her all dolled up – once again, she’s playing the role of seductress. They walk in the garden, Paul mentions Julian, and Cathy says she’s conflicted about Julian, and about love in general. Paul says that her mother’s actions have made her bitter.
She falls off the swing; Paul kisses her and she says she’s giving him herself as a birthday gift. He says she’s just a child; she says he owes her because of all the long looks he gives her. She grabs his hand and puts it on her junk, then puts her hand on his junk. He carries her upstairs and has sex with her, but she’s not able to orgasm and he goes to sleep. Oh, and remember he’s her legal guardian. Icky. She stares up at the ceiling and thinks that Chris is now set free.
This begins Cathy and Paul’s secret rendezvous. They are very discreet around Chris so he doesn’t suspect, but Cathy worries inwardly what he’d think.
It’s nearly Christmas. What does Cathy want for a present? A roadtrip . . . to Foxworth Hall! Chris is against it, of course, but Paul defends her if it will help give her closure. They trek up and Paul gets his hands on hospital records but they don’t find any information on an 8-year-old boy dying of pneumonia 2 years prior. They go through cemeteries in an attempt to find Cory’s grave. And finally, they drive to Foxworth Hall, so Cathy can see it in its old-money glory, still standing, and not punishing the mother and grandmother. Carrie cries to go inside and see Momma. Paul should really look into a group rate for therapy for these kids.
Cathy is still being pursued by Julian. She gets plum roles like Clara in The Nutcracker and Cinderella. After her debut performance as Cinderella, she agrees to go to New York. Carrie says she hates her for leaving, but she does, and now she’s alone with Julian, the ruthless and roguishly handsome. She meets Madame Zolta who feels her up like a horse at market and takes her in to the company. After 7 months, she’s given the role of Clara in The Nutcracker, and this time, it will be televised. Then she gets the role of Sleeping Beauty and Julian keeps at her in his goal to possess her completely.
But, Paul is there, too, and they register at a hotel under Mr. & Mrs. Sheffield. After bedding her, he says that he meant what’s on the register. So they make preliminary wedding plans, the biggest of which is not telling Chris until Christmas, when everyone will be home.
She keeps her secret from the company, too, so Julian is still after her. He takes her for a ride in his new car, then when she says she doesn’t love him, he calls her a cockteasing virgin, takes her on a scary ride through the slick streets, takes her purse, then shoves her out of the car. He sounds like a real keeper, doesn’t he?
She hails a cab and borrows a twenty from her roommate Yolanda, who is “easy,” in the parlance of the time. In return, she wants Chris. They argue, and then it turns physical; Yolanda swears her revenge – she’ll get your brother, pretty, and your dancing partner, too! Cathy packs her things and tries to get her purse back from Julian. He wants to know who she loves if it isn’t him, because obviously, it’s her fault he does shitty things. He insinuates she’s interested in her brother, too, which, I think everyone can see, so don’t give him any points for that. They fight, he says she’s his and he’ll kill anyone who comes between them. Oh, and her, too. He’s dreamy!!
She threatens to leave Madame’s company unless she gets more money to have her own apartment. More revenge notes are sent to Momma. The company is going on tour to London, so Julian comes over and plots their future, until Cathy says that she’s engaged to someone else. He curses her for leading him on – which, she told you no a bunch of times, so . . .
Cathy goes home for Christmas – she gets a diamond and gold necklace from Chris, and a grey fox fur coat from Paul. Something in their look betrays their feelings, for Chris gets pouty and goes to his room. They watch Cathy’s Nutcracker performance on TV, then Cathy and Paul go at it when everyone goes to bed, only for Cathy to be caught by Chris as she’s leaving Paul’s room. She tries to explain the next day, but he’s hurt and snide.
Cathy goes to a jewelry store to have a ring resized for Carrie, and Momma is in there, chatting about a party – so obviously she wasn’t home to watch the ballet. Momma buys a $300 locket for a young girl. And what does Cathy do? Nothing.
Later, as she’s getting ready for a party, Chris storms in and shakes her, saying he knows she still loves HIM and that this engagement is a farce. He knows it’s wrong, his feelings for her, but he can’t help it. Oh, and she doesn’t want kids, anyway, so why not him? We can’t make our parents’ mistake, she says again; he says that their relationship doesn’t have to be sexual. He sees that she still wants him, though! And Paul is too old, anyhow – even Julian would be better. Cathy says he’s just jealous and knows he’s had affairs, too. Chris threatens to tell Paul about their relationship; eh, you’re too honorable for that - oh, and he already knows.
Cathy plays Juliet and after her performance, a strange woman comes to her dressing room, who turns out to be Paul’s sister, Amanda, the one who lives in the same town and mails birthday gifts to him. She tells Cathy that her brother likes ‘em young, and that the gossip all over town is that the siblings are taking advantage of him and they’re JDs to boot. Cathy says Paul paid Amanda back for putting him through med school, so he owes her nothing. Amanda mentions Julia and we find out that she couldn’t do enough to please Paul, and he drove her to kill their son. She also tells Cathy that the whole town knows about her abortion – a 2-headed embryo with three legs, twins that didn’t separate properly. Now, a D&C is not always an abortive procedure, but yeah, here’s the “monster baby she had dreaded.”
Anyway, Amanda popped by to tell her that she can’t marry Paul. For he’s not a widower like he claimed. Julia is still alive . . . just in an institution. You should marry Julian – you make a great team.
At the after party, Julian is sweet and keeps trying to get Cathy in his bed – he thinks she’s still a virgin. She says one night only and then the next thing we know, she’s marrying him. They go to City Hall in New York, before they fly out to London. She hasn’t told Paul or Chris. But Chris said Julian was better than Paul, so she took the plunge. In fact, she hasn’t tried to talk to Paul at all about Amanda’s story. She thinks of her mother as they fly over the Atlantic, and when she and Julian tumble into bed, she pretends he’s someone else.
Julian is like a barnacle, wanting to know everything about her. She’s cobbled together a story that both parents were killed in an auto accident, and they ran away before they could be separated. Julian asks how intimate she was with Paul, and if she was going to marry him, why did she marry Julian instead? Hmm, it could be you browbeat her into it . . . and she’s impulsive like her mother . . . and her communication skills are shit . . . pick one.
She worries about her impulsivity . . . but no, she’s smart and talented, unlike Momma – this is all her fault, too! Of course it is, honey, you’re completely blameless.
They go back home and Cathy brings Julian with her. Paul and Cathy talk in the garden and he asks why she didn’t come to him after Amanda’s visit. He tells her that yes, Julia WAS still alive and in a long-term care facility in a coma, but is dead now, shortly before he and Cathy started sexin’ it up. Amanda wants to drive him out of town because she wants the house. And he tells her the abortion was a lie, too . . . but, there IS an embryo matching that description in his office, care to explain? A med school joke, he says, then they both stop because Cathy realizes she betrayed the last bit about her and Chris. He says he understands – really? I’m sorry, that’s a no from me.
Anyway, after all this preamble, she tells him she can’t marry him now because she’s Julian’s wife. Julian comes out to comfort her and henny says that Paul is packing to leave. She says she’ll go and take Carrie with her. Why? SHE didn’t do anything. Also, Julian’s father is dying, apparently.
Henny comes to comfort her and shows her a clipping announcing her marriage to Julian. She signs to Cathy that the doc is strong, and he’ll survive disappointment, but Julian might not, so go be with your new husband; everything will work out.
Paul is gracious enough to drive Cathy and Julian to the hospital. Julian see his father right before he dies, then faces off with his mother, saying his father worked him to death, and never treated him like a son.
At the funeral, Madame Marisha (Julian’s mom) begs Cathy to be patient with her son, as his life has been tough, and to hide her flaws, because he thinks she’s perfect.
Chris comes home, mad that Cathy married Julian. NOW he says if it couldn’t be him, it should have been Paul. Julian will destroy you.
And Carrie? She feels betrayed, too, and tells Cathy to go back to New York and dance until she dies. Paul comes back and says he realizes it was always Julian and that’s fine; he’s very mature about it.
Just like Julian is so mature about their relationship – oh, wait, no, he’s not. He says Carrie can visit, but HE’S first in her life now, and she’d best not forget. She believes she can tame him. Aww, you’re so cute when you’re this naïve.
Chris comes to visit Cathy and he’s pissed that Julian is so possessive. Julian says that Chris can’t stay under his roof; Cathy and her brother end up meeting secretly during his visit, and then he doesn’t come back to New York for 3 years.
By contrast, Carrie comes up to spend her 15th summer in New York. By this point, Cathy and Julian have been married for three years; Julian is very pleasant to his sister-in-law. Too pleasant, when he makes comments about her face and figure. Another creep who eyes young girls.
More time passes. Cathy and Julian go to Spain for their 5-year anniversary. Sometimes he still seems like a stranger. While in Barcelona, Cathy receives Chris’ graduation announcement. She timidly broaches the idea of attending the ceremony, which is right before they are to do a TV performance of Giselle. He won’t hear of it. He tries to initiate sex and she rebuffs him, then says she’s going anyway. He says he’s her ruler, then starts in again with her, while she just lays there. This turns into an argument about whether she can go, and Cathy lets loose about her knowledge of his penchant for young girls. He uses her roughly then threatens to tie her to the bed and hide her passport so she can’t leave.
Next morning, of course, he blames her for his being such a shit excuse for a human. She says she doesn’t mind about the young girls “if they don’t mind.” Hey, Cathy, ever hear about informed consent? She makes him breakfast, drugs his coffee, then looks for her passport. She leaves a note, then flies to North Carolina to watch Chris accept his medical degree. She thinks that Julian should be there. And, of course, Momma, who is in London now.
Paul has hired Carrie to be his secretary, and she seems happy. Cathy got Chris a microscope their father promised him when he became a doctor. Later, Chris tells Cathy that while he dated some likable girls, he has loved no one but her. And once again, she entreats him to forget her.
Back at home, they do this dance again. He calls her a tease, but not in those words, and also says she is the same as Momma in some ways. Then, Cathy reads in the paper that she’s being replaced in Giselle due to illness. To make matters worse, Cathy surmises she might be pregnant.
She visits Madame, who urges her to go back to Julian; she also tells Cathy more of Julian’s background. And she realizes she loves him. And apparently, he also has a death wish.
Chris comes with her to New York for protection. Her old roommate is dancing with Julian as a stand-in and everything is wrong. Cathy goes backstage and gets into a practice outfit. She and Julian argue in whispers while they dance perfectly. Until he jumps on her toes in an effort to crush them. So sexy.
Julian broke several of her toes, so she may not be able to dance again. He also wrecked their apartment. Chris takes care of her and they talk about their past. He insists on staying even when Julian returns, and then he put the moves on her in the meantime. In her drug-induced fog she thinks it’s Julian at first. Then she tries to stop him and he says that she feels the same as he does, the usual story.
She tells him she’s pregnant and intends to have the baby with Julian, to atone for the ways she’s failed him. WHAT? Because she never said she loved him. Chris, appalled, leaves.
Cathy sleeps and has a sex dream about Bart, which coincides with the telephone ringing. It’s the hospital. Julian was in an auto accident. He’s in critical condition, many broken bones, including his neck. He’s mean and won’t hear her outpourings of love, or the fact that she’s having his baby.
The next morning, Cathy finds him dead; he nicked scissors from the nurse’s pocket and cut his IV, presumably because he overheard the doctors say he’d never dance again. Cathy goes back to Clairmont for her pregnancy. And, of course, her thoughts drift back to revenge and Momma. Cathy, at some point you have to take responsibility for your actions . . .
With Julian out of the picture, Paul and Chris are once again vying for her affections. She cuddles with Paul; Chris brings her ice cream. Paul says something needs to be done about Chris.
Cathy has a son and names him Julian Janus, but will call him Jory – for Julian plus Cory.
Chris wants them to get their own place. Carrie graduates high school, and just wants someone to love her. Cathy is in such a pickle with two men who want her. Chris takes a course at Mayo Clinic but wants her to come with him. He is crazy, even saying that he wishes they were still locked up together so they’d only have each other. He leaves and Cathy is headed for Paul, but then Momma comes back to town, and she sets her revenge plan in motion.
First, she works for Madame to make some money and get her own place. Then she sends several letters to her mother, seeking one million dollars. No response arrives, so she pays a visit to Bart, who recognizes her from her performances that he was originally dragged to by his wife. She asks for legal advice on Julian’s insurance policy and uses all her feminine wiles, and then gets a bit bitchy, which, of course, intrigues him and makes him more interested in her case. Bart gets her the settlement and invites her to dinner. She fights with Madame, who tells her that she ruins everyone who touches her life.
She goes out with Bart, and finds out the grandmother is unwell; she had two strokes. This resolves her to move to Virginia near Foxworth Hall. She takes Carrie with her. Paul hopes she’ll be happy and if she wants him, she knows where he’ll be.
Cathy buys a house and the local ballet school. Carrie has a date. Paul comes for a visit and has sex with Cathy, and hopes he still fits into her life. Chris calls and tells her not to go through with whatever she’s planning.
Carrie has a boyfriend, and Chris is almost done with his course at Mayo Clinic, and intends to move in with them. Carrie’s boyfriend asks her to marry him, but he wants to be a minister. And this gets her thinking about the grandmother, and perfection, and the lies about their family. She also confesses that she and Julian did something sexual together once. And she liked it, so she’s evil and Alex wouldn’t want her anyway.
Cathy tries to assuage all her fears, but Cathy is just as tortured by the past, so . . . . She tells Carrie to not tell Alex about any of this.
A few days later, Carrie looks ill. She asks to keep Jory with her for the day. Cathy teaches class and Bart comes to her studio, bearing one of her blackmail letters. He gives her his business card and tells her he has questions for her. When Cathy gets home, Carrie is very ill – she sent Jory to the neighbor’s. Carrie goes to the hospital, and they can’t figure out the cause of her illness. Paul comes up to be with them. Chris comes back from his trip early. Cathy knows it’s arsenic and shows Chris a letter from Carrie’s diary, the gist of which is: she’s been unhappy for a long time, and without family, she would have died long ago; she loved Julian, for he never made her feel like a freak; and she knew all along how Cory had died. Cathy also found a bottle of rat poison and package of donuts in the closet. Cathy is fixated on Carrie’s words: “Now I believe.”
Before Carrie dies, she tells Cathy that she saw Momma on the street and was coldly rebuffed, which cemented to Carrie the notion that they were evil and unholy. And then she sees Cory and Daddy, and she’s dead. Now, this one IS Momma’s fault – even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Chris once again tells Cathy to forgive and forget. But she can’t. And as they leave the cemetery, Cathy swears she sees a woman that looks like Momma, veiled and hiding behind a tree.
After Carrie’s death, Paul pleads for Cathy to come back with him, but she has unfinished business to attend to. Which starts with planning an “accidental” meeting with Bart. He eventually runs into her. They talk about Carrie; dear old Momma cried over the obituary but won’t answer questions. Well, neither will Cathy. Each time Bart prods her, she says, Ask your wife. This is a shitty way to play, Cathy. She eventually tells him that Corinne is her half-aunt. And then he’s flirty and takes her for a ride and then a walk in the woods. He reveals a little bit about his life in Foxworth Hall, where he would sometimes hear beautiful music overhead.
Then he tries to put the moves on her, but she resists – this, of course, is the payment he was seeking, not the two hundred dollars she sent him.
Chris comes for a visit and tries to get Cathy to say yes to him staying on weekends he has off-duty. He also tells her to stay away from Bart, for he’s a dangerous man, but Cathy will do what she will.
Cathy runs into Bart again while jogging, they banter, and she also discovers that Grandmother’s strokes left her incapable of speaking anymore, nor able to get from place to place without assistance. Momma is at some sort of fat farm, and he’s lonely, so Cathy invites him to dinner.
They have dinner and banter, she cries, then sends him away, or tries to. But he forces
himself on her and says he’ll be back tomorrow. He sends her 3 dozen roses, “one for every night you’ll have my heart.” She rebuffs him at the post office, so he sends her a rose necklace, too. He comes over again and she gives him a cold hot dog and beans, and she’s dressed a bit frumpy. He still bones her, though.
Momma is on her way back, but Cathy and Bart still plan to meet. Cathy pays a visit to Foxworth Hall, using the old key that Chris had made for their escape. She pays a visit to the grandmother, now pitiful-looking – shrunken, balding, unable to speak. But her mind is still sharp, and she stares, terrified at the switch Cathy taps on her palm while she talks. She pirouettes around and talks about their history, and how much she hates her, then yells in her face. She lifts the hospital jacket to expose the grandmother’s naked body, turns her over, and thwacks the switch on the Grandmother’s ass, whereupon the old woman pisses herself. Cathy feels terrible and cleans her up, but the Grandmother’s look tells her that she is a coward. So Cathy drops some melted wax into what’s left of her hair, and sees Grandmother cry a little.
Bart keeps coming over, and Cathy realizes that she’s fallen in love with him. She runs into Momma in the post office and despite their attempts to ignore each other, Jory talks to her, as only children can.
Cathy gets pregnant by Bart, and he’s furious, but also wants a son. She tells him he’ll have to get a divorce or she’ll take his son away.
She goes to have a dress made that looks just like Momma’s from that Christmas party long ago, and then has her hair cut and styled like then, too. She invites Chris to visit but he says he won’t come near her while she’s still toying with Bart. Henny is very ill, but no time for that now. Cathy has a date with Foxworth Hall.
Cathy lets herself in and slips into her mother’s bedroom to help herself to some jewelry to complete her look. It’s still too early to make her entrance so she visits the attic. Everything is just as they’d left it, of course, for who would come up here?
Cathy takes her place at the top of the staircase at midnight. Then she introduces herself to all of the guests. Bart deflects and applauds her performance. He dances with her so they can argue in whispers. He doesn’t believe her, but as she presses on, doubt creeps into his voice. She has so many details that she couldn’t possibly know otherwise, but he can’t believe his wife would try to kill her own children.
This causes Cathy to once again announce to the assembled crowd that she IS Corrine’s daughter and how she locked them upstairs. Corinne finally speaks and says she doesn’t know this woman, but she’s barely keeping it together.
Bart takes them both back to the library. Cathy wishes for Chris. In the library, the grandmother is waiting in a wheelchair. Of course, Corinne still lies and then Cathy brings out copies of their birth certificates, which causes Corinne to cave and admit that Cathy is her daughter.
Corinne’s side of the story – she wanted Bart, but with four children and no money, what could she do? She wanted it ALL – she was OWED that money! Oh, you poor kids think you had it rough, but her father blackmailed her every day! For he knew about the kids; he had detectives keep tabs on his daughter after she left home. He colluded with his wife to have them return, and keep the kids locked up forever! Who could she turn to? He tortured her every day! And Cathy always at her, asking when, and why? How long? No matter how many gifts she gave her! As for the poison, she just wanted to make them a little bit sick, so she could spirit them away to a hospital and come back and report them as dead; she found a way to get them out!
Cathy says, Your father was dead before the donuts starting coming.
That’s because John, the butler, knew about the kids, too, and he was to ensure they stayed upstairs until they died. Her father made him swear to it. She keeps twisting her hands in that way Cathy knows she’s lying.
She asks about Cory. Corinne says he died before she could get to the hospital so she threw his body in a ravine and covered it with leaves.
No, says Cathy, this is also a lie. Cathy found a closet near the attic and it smells an awful lot like death . . .
Suddenly, the door opens – it’s Chris! Momma talks to him, but like he’s Chris Sr., not her son. Then she screams and runs out.
Chris has come to fetch her back to Clairmont. Bart asks for some verification of Cathy’s story, and then he asks to go with them.
Before any of them can leave, however, the house is suddenly full of smoke. Bart rushes away, looking for Corinne. She gets out but then says her mother is still stuck inside the house and Bart goes back inside the mansion. Corinne screams at her daughter, and then speaks as if they’re all still back in the attic. Cathy thinks she’s finally broken, and they take Corinne away in a straightjacket. Bart and the grandmother are dead.
Foxworth Hall is ruined. It appears that Momma started the fire. Henny had a stroke and Paul had a heart attack; that’s why Chris came to get Cathy. Cathy thinks that she’s evil and everything, EVERYTHING, is her fault.
Time passes; Cathy married Paul and named her son after Bart. They’ve been together three years, and now Paul says she should stop playing nursemaid to him and go be with someone else.
That someone else? Her brother.
And then Paul dies. Cathy blames herself – now responsible for the deaths of three men.
Paul leaves everything to her; she sells the house to Amanda for a very high price, and then she, Chris, and the boys pack up and head for a new life in California. The boys call Chris Daddy. They travel East every year to visit friends, pay respects at cemeteries, and go to see Momma in the institution. Cathy is pretty sure her insanity is a farce to escape a prison cell.
Cathy gets fuzzy sometimes – she can’t remember doing this, but there are two twin beds in the attic now . . . and she bought a picnic hamper like the one they used to get food in . . .
But she loves her boys, and she’d never do anything to hurt them. She’s just trying to do the best she can.
[break]
Since this has run a bit too long, I don’t really have much in the way of commentary. Except to say that I read the synopsis of the recent movie, and apparently, it’s not much like the book at all. I haven’t really watched any of the movies, but if that is something people would request, I am not opposed to doing a comparison show.
Well, that’s the show. If you liked this episode, please like, subscribe, review, or whatever option your podcast aggregator has available. The Forgotten Library is available on the following platforms: Anchor, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts, PodBean, RadioPublic, Stitcher, and TuneIn. There’s also a Twitter account now @forgottenlibra1. Show suggestions are always welcome. Until next time, I’m Nikki Gee, your intrepid library haunter.