“The Woman Beyond the Attic” by Andrew Neiderman - Review

This celebration of the woman who took us to the heights of a secluded attic and the depths of our own dark psyches reveals an intimate portrait of the famously private V.C. Andrews—featuring family photos, personal letters, a partial manuscript for an unpublished novel, and more.

Best known for her internationally, multi-million-copy bestselling novel Flowers in the Attic, Cleo Virginia Andrews lived a fascinating life. Born to modest means, she came of age in the American South during the Great Depression and faced a series of increasingly challenging health issues. Yet, once she rose to international literary fame, she prided herself on her intense privacy.

Now, The Woman Beyond the Attic aims to connect her personal life with the public novels for which she was famous. Based on Virginia’s own letters, and interviews with her dearest family members, her long-term ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman tells Virginia’s full story for the first time.

The Woman Beyond the Attic is perfect for V.C. Andrews fans who pick up every new novel or for fans hoping to return to the favorite novelist of their adolescence. Eye-opening and intimate, The Woman Beyond the Attic is for anyone hoping to learn more about the enigmatic woman behind one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

Since I first picked up a copy of Flowers in the Attic, Virginia Andrews quickly became one of my favourite authors and even inspired my own writing. For about a decade, I’ve read both of her original books and those penned by her ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman - now his latest venture sees him writing her own story.

For years, many details of Virginia’s life had remained shadowed in mystery and unless you’d been on the Complete V.C. Andrews site, not many readers are aware of the writer herself. This is one of the areas where the biography works really well, especially for those just discovering Flowers in the Attic.

With insights from her living relatives, letters and interviews - fans are given more of an insight into the notorious gothic horror novelist. Neiderman’s writing style flows rather nicely and therefore makes this an easy read, I actually finished this book in two days.

This book’s primary focus was on Virginia’s family, her disability, the complex relationship with her mother/caregiver and her ultimately penning and publishing Flowers in the Attic. Furthermore, the biography followed the subsequent success and the first film adaptation. Narratively, this is how the structure of the book was, with some non-linear back and forth at times. However, I was left with more questions than answers, even the author posed some questions - some of which has fans alike still pondering themselves.

Although we got moments where Virginia contributes her own perspective through letters and interviews with family members giving personal insights, I still wanted more. As much as Flowers was pivotal to her career, but I also wanted to read more about the origins and writing process of Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, My Sweet Audrina, Heaven and Dark Angel. What inspired the aftermath of the Attic? What inspired the twisted tales of Audrina or Heaven? How did they differ in terms of creativity or characteristics with her three protagonists? These were also questions I had while reading.

I also think this book should have had contributions from other writers. While having her ghostwriter and the Andrews giving their perspectives gave a personal touch to Virginia's life, it would have been interesting to explore how Virginia’s work inspired and influenced the next generation of authors - Gilliam Flynn, Cassandra Clare, Megan Abbott and Robin Wasserman were all quoted for the 40th anniversary edition of Flowers - and interviews from other writers on Virginia’s writing and style would’ve given great material to analyse.

The biography aspect of this book gave a barely seen glimpse at the human side of Virginia, but I feel like this book would’ve benefited with more input and details about her other novels.

Speaking of other novels, this biography also included an unfinished draft of one of her books - The Obsessed.

The Obsessed is eight chapters and tells the story of Lisa, a talented artist who lives in a coastal town with her reclusive novelist father. After her mother dies in a car crash, Lisa’s father develops an inappropriate obsession with his daughter, especially when she begins to fall in love with a young fisherman - just like her mother, who had an affair with another fisherman before her untimely demise.

Unlike her previous books, this was written in third person. The narrator would often shift between Lisa and Jason, her father. I will admit, this read very much like a first draft - where a writer is still figuring out the characters - and as there’s no other chapters, where this plot was heading is unclear. It’s left to the reader to decide.

In many ways, The Obsessed reminded me of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita - especially with the disturbing perspective of Jason as his narcissistic obsession with Lisa intensifies and he emotionally manipulated her throughout the book.

Lisa as a protagonist definitely needed more development - again, I’m not judging Virginia because her other work has proven her ability and this is an incomplete draft. But Lisa paled in comparison to the likes of Cathy, Heaven and Audrina.

The pacing of the first eight chapters was pretty intense. A lot happened and the melodramatic stakes were high - adulterous wives, sickly protagonists, creepy fathers and brooding fishermen. Yet without a clear protagonist or arc, the conflict between Jason and Lisa began to feel very repetitive as the chapters went on.

However, it was interesting to read different styles of her writing with this novella and her original poems. As a fan, I enjoyed this quick read of one of my favourite author - it left me wanting to read more and there were definitely opportunities for it.

My overall rating for The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story is ★★★.