r/VCAndrews

Let’s discuss “Dreams Come True” and the generically named chapter “Gathering Shadows” (seems every VCA book has a chapter title with “gathering” or “shadows” in it.)

 

Designs created using content and tools available on Canva.  Synopsis from my WordPress blog.

Much Ado About Nothing – Tuesday Teatimes

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Cathy and Chris’s trauma bond is alive and well as they take a walk through Central Park. Cathy wants to keep Chris’s visit quiet, but Chris is like, “F— Julian,” and starts getting all high and mighty for someone who not-so-secretly wants to bone his younger sibling. 

Cathy’s fifteen-year-old sister, on the other hand, is one of Julian’s favorite people in the world! Apparently, Julian has a liking for girls Carrie’s age. Cathy thinks this might be a red flag but, ultimately, she shrugs it off. So long as he promises not to touch her sister (pinkie swear!), and so long as he keeps giving Cathy the occasional ego (and career) boost, whatever. It is what it is.

Months later, Cathy and Julian are vacationing in Barcelona so that they can learn how to put a little Spanish spice into their dancing. (For a second, V.C. Andrews got confused and thought she was writing the screenplay for a ’90s dance movie.) Somehow, Chris’s graduation invite finds them all the way in Spain.  Chris is graduating at the top of his class and expects his sister to be there to cheer him on.  Otherwise, he’ll become petulant like a two-year-old and refuse to accept his diploma.  Way to emotionally blackmail Cathy into risking the ire of her unstable husband, who we know is going to throw a fit at the idea of flying all the way out to wherever it is Chris went to med school.

Cathy tells Julian it’s plain lunacy to miss her brother’s special day.  She tells him their childhood was “no picnic” and that he just doesn’t understand. She should just bite the bullet already and tell him her mother was also her first cousin and that she and Chris are super siblings – siblings who have powered-up, like in some video game.  She should pull a Zack Morris, like that time he tried to gross out Kelly’s younger sister and make her think he was a nerd.  Just because it backfired on Zack, that doesn’t mean it will backfire on Cathy.  This is a completely different situation.  It’s worth a shot!

On second thought, maybe it’s best not to poke the bear . . .

The more Cathy pleads to go to Chris’s graduation, the angrier Julian gets. And that night, he r *pes her. So much for Julian having that one thing about him that made him stand out from the crowd. 

The next morning, Cathy drugs him and then hops a flight.

For graduation, Chris doesn't want a Red Ryder BB g u n. He wants a John Cuff Side Pillar Microscope. So Cathy buys him one. And yes, it actually works!

So Cathy ends up spending “a few days” in Clairmont.  I’m not sure how long “a few days” is.  Three days?  A week?  An indeterminate amount of time that she absolutely does not have available to her, but she clearly just wants to delay the inevitable.

More unwanted touching from Chris.  Her brother has a new fantasy, and that’s to run away with Cathy and buy a tour boat.  He’ll bring along a first-aid kit since he still wants to be a doctor. And fine! They can bring along Carrie too. Happy?

Cathy goes to visit Madame Marisha, who’s currently teaching a class of stupid kids.  That’s not nice, Cathy!  We don’t call kids names just because we’re jealous of their youth and ambition.

While having a talk with Cathy, Madame Marisha makes a ton of excuses for her son, basically telling her daughter-in-law a whole lot of what she already knows about Julian’s childhood.

None of what she says about him is new information!  Yet Cathy acts like, OMG, I now understand Julian so much more!  He’s so much like me!  I hate my mother, he hates his father!  I totally have never thought this very thing before in an earlier chapter.  This is the first time this has ever crossed my mind. 

So Cathy, after learning much ado about nothing, decides to return home so that she can have a talk with her husband. Chris insists on accompanying Cathy because he doesn’t trust his sister alone with the guy for some reason.

To make a long story short, Cathy crashes Julian and Yolanda’s rehearsal. And Julian crashes down on Cathy’s toes in front of a live audience.

Chris comes running to his sister’s aid. Good thing he’s a doctor!

 

Let’s discuss “April’s Fool,” “Labyrinth of Lies” and “Too Many Loves to Lose.”

Designs created using content and tools available on Canva.  Synopsis from my blog:

What Do You Wanna Bet Our Girl is a Fire Sign? – Tuesday Teatimes

Now Back to That Pickled Baby and Jerry’s Final Thoughts! – Tuesday Teatimes

Georges Interruptus – Tuesday Teatimes

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Ballet is super hard. 

And stress, apparently, brings out the worst in Julian because all he seems to do lately is yell at Cathy.  Is anyone else around while they’re practicing?  Are the onlookers just gonna stand there and silently watch this woman be verbally abused by her dance partner?  I guess so.  I know there are others present because someone’s providing the piano music.

Later on, a woman stops by to talk to Cathy in her dressing room. Turns out it’s Paul’s older sister, Amanda.  You know, that woman who refuses to visit her younger sibling but has no problem wasting her time and her money knitting him fabulous sweaters for his birthday? A woman of contradictions!

She showers Cathy with shallow praise, while also reminding her that old age will come soon enough and make her undesirable to e p h e b o p h i  l e s like Amanda’s brother. 

And everyone in town sure does love to gossip about the “juvenile delinquents” he invited into his home. You know, the procedure Cathy assumed was just a routine D&C for missed periods?  According to Amanda, she miscarried a pair of conjoined twins.  Amanda assumes the young girl was impregnated by Paul.

Finally, the conversation turns to Paul’s late wife, Julia, who’s apparently not so dead after all.  She survived the ordeal of trying to drown herself and her young son and has been placed in an institution, where she remains to this day.  And Amanda’s got the undated photos to prove it.

During the after party, Cathy gets a little tipsy and finds herself saying yes to Julian’s advances. 

Next thing you know, the two of them are getting married.

***

On tour in London, Cathy has some thoughts on British plumbing/heating (she hates it), and also some thoughts on what it’s like to be tied to her new husband’s hip (she hates that too).

Julian gets suspicious when she doesn’t invite him to join her in the bathroom (did he also grow up in a household where family members went to the bathroom together?), and he wants to know all about her childhood trauma.  She lies and says her parents are dead, which is only half true.  She tells him that she and her siblings were rescued by a “huge fat black lady,” who, I guess, shall remain nameless.  By now, you would think she could refer to Henny by name.

Julian warns her that she should start getting used to looking the other way when he acts up because deep down, he’s really kind of an ahole (isn’t everyone?), and there isn’t much that can be done about it at this late stage.

After their time in London, they travel to Clairmont to visit with Paul and Carrie.

She invites Julian inside for dinner, but the two of them hide their wedding rings.

After the meal, Paul wants to talk with Cathy alone in the gardens.  That should be fine, so long as no one brings along a shovel.  A shovel would be too ominous. He's getting a strange vibe here.

Cathy tells Paul about Amanda’s visit, accusing him of lying to her, which is just about the worst thing in the world he could have done, next to locking her in an attic.  But I suppose the night is still young.

The doctor admits that Julia was in a coma for years, but she did eventually die.  In fact, would you believe she passed just shy of a month after he and Cathy first did the deed?  Gee, that’s interesting timing. 

She asks him about the D&C because you know that’s the one thing weighing most heavily on her mind.  Apparently, Paul has a two-headed fetus in a jar in his office.  Could Paul be macabre enough to keep the deformed baby his adopted daughter miscarried after getting pregnant by her brother? 

Paul says there was no two-headed baby, just a backlog of missed periods, but he doesn’t even care if she did miscarry Chris’s child because he knows Cathy and her brother have a very “special” bond.

She confesses that their one and only time was actually a f’ng nightmare.  And he’s like, Uh . . .sorry you didn’t enjoy it more . . . I guess?  Talk about a buzzkill for this Dr. Paul guy.  But he reassures her that whatever happened, it wasn’t a sin.  It was a very loving act.  That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it!

Thanks for that final thought, Jerry Springer!

He switches topics and starts talking about how exciting it will be to travel with his famous ballerina wife and the other good-looking dancers in her company, all while she’s still crying over memories of her brother r a ping her and also trying to muster up the nerve to confess to him that she’s just jumped into a hasty marriage with an abusive jerk who wants to control every single aspect of her life, and all because, when she was very young and traumatized and needing the best therapy money could buy, a certain doctor decided instead to isolate her from her siblings and buy her lingerie to wear around the house.

She finally tells him that it’s over between the two of them.  He stumbles around like he’s just been shot in the chest before collapsing on a bench.  He makes this big to-do about how he’ll always be triggered by ballet music for the rest of his life, and can she just sit and hold his hand and give him a moment to grieve before he inevitably picks himself up, brushes himself off and moves on with his life?  Can she just do him this one last favor? 

Sure she will. 

Would three minutes be sufficient time? 

OK then.

***

Meanwhile, Georges Rosencoff is on his deathbed.

Marisha forces Julian to say something nice to the dad who has only a minute or two left to live.  She has to physically restrain her son to keep him from running.

Georges has been waiting for this moment so that he can have that final talk with his boy.  He opens his mouth to speak but then dies before he can get his thoughts out. You would think if he was able to force himself to hold on for two weeks, he could have waited a few more minutes before he let go of his tenuous grip on life, but nope.  He totally did that on purpose.

Later on, Marisha has a private talk with Cathy.  She admits that she was never a touchy-feely kind of gal, so Cathy should make up for her motherly deficiencies. 

Carrie’s clearly been watching way too much Investigation Discovery.  She predicts Cathy won’t last long in the dangerous city. And she’s probably been watching lots of TLC as well because she has big plans to get back at her sister for abandoning the family by marrying Paul herself and having six kids!  That’s a lot of kids!  Will Paul live long enough?  And these revenge plans of hers are awfully specific. She’s been giving this predatory marriage arrangement way too much thought!

Paul calms down enough to reassure Cathy that she should never second-guess her marriage to Julian.  She’s just a confused child who doesn’t know what she wants.  Except when she decided to marry Julian because clearly that was the right decision and exactly what she wanted all along! Look at Paul, mainsplaining to Cathy who she loves and who she doesn’t love. 

Don’ t you worry about good old Dr. Paul with his s e x y moustache, he says. He’ll find someone else in no time.  The two of them have a good laugh, and Cathy makes a point to assure the reader that it’s not a forced laugh but an authentic one.  Which means it was probably the most awkwardly forced laugh ever.

To sum up, a middle-aged predator had some fun with the girl he took in, but it’s time to move on.  He’s got smaller fish to fry. 

And as for the girl, she’s going back to New York to be another man’s 24/7 servant.  And possibly never see her brother and guardian again because her new husband doesn’t want her spending time with her exes.

And I think that’s fair.

Here's a synopsis for "Toward the Top," "New York, New York," "A Fighting Chance" and "Winter Dreams." Let's discuss!

From my WordPress blog:

Could Cathy Be on the Verge of Doing Something “Impulsive”? – Tuesday Teatimes

Cathy Takes Manhattan – Tuesday Teatimes

Christmas Stalkings – Tuesday Teatimes

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Look at Cathy.  She’s the best ballerina this town has ever seen. She just got the lead in both Cinderella and The Nutcracker. It’s probably because the dance instructors’ son wants to find her lost glass slipper under his apartment futon. But hey, it’s all about the connections in life!

She feels bad that they’re being financial vampires, sucking Dr. Paul’s money dry, but at least they can count on Carrie to have small-town dreams. Paul hopes his adopted 11-yo will one day shack up with someone local.

Maybe she’ll keep it real local, like under Paul’s roof . . . Let's hope not.

Now Cathy is off to New York, and it’s time for her to hug and make out with her brother as they say their goodbyes in the airport. Why is Julian looking at Paul and Chris so funny? Doesn’t he ever hug and make out with his family when they part ways? Probably. I bet that’s the real reason why he wants to get Cathy on that plane to NY and as far away from her predatory relatives as possible.

Chris is afraid Cathy will act impulsively if he’s not around to closely monitor her behavior. “Impulsive”?  What would ever give him the idea his sister would ever do anything “impulsive”?

On the plane ride to New York, good ole Jule promises he will always look out for her. Starting tomorrow. Because he kind of forgot to tell her ahead of time that Madame Zolta is more handsy than a 3-yo at a petting zoo.

Julian admits to having unrequited feelings for Cathy, and Zolta agrees to accept the girl into her company for that reason alone. She figures there’s nothing that will drive up ticket sales quite like seeing a young man, on stage, pining after a young woman who wants nothing to do with him.

Cathy shares a cramped apartment with two young women. Her roommate Yolanda is loud, doesn’t think much of wearing clothes and can’t stop bragging about everything, and everyone, she’s done. 

Julian’s roommates are Alexis Tarrell and Michael Michelle.  Michael Michelle?  He might as well have been called Michael Michael.  Why not Peter Pierre or John Jean? 

Zolta is insufferable.  She demands Cathy cut her hair.  Good luck with that!  She goes on tirades about that modern music all the young people are listening to.  Probably while they’re partying on her lawn as well.  Cathy doesn’t suffer tyrants gladly, and she gives Madame a piece of her mind.  As a result, she gains the old woman’s respect.

Cathy eventually gets to play the leads of both Clara and Aurora.  Madame convinces a television producer to broadcast their production of The Nutcracker on TV. 

Cathy’s family comes to see her perform with Julian in Sleeping Beauty.  That night, Paul asks Cathy to marry him.  Their happiness is only sullied by the thought of having to announce to Cathy’s brother that his legal guardian will soon become his brother-in-law.  Wait a minute.  Does that also make Cathy his mother? 

These family relationships just keep getting weirder and weirder.

One evening, Cathy and Julian get into an argument because she doesn’t love him. Why doesn’t she love him? Gee, I wonder why she can’t stand this jerk?  Anyway, this leads to him taking her on a wild ride and nearly causing her to crash through the windshield. He ultimately abandons her in the city with no way to get home.  It’s kinda like that scene in Clueless. Remember when Elton abandons Cher in the valley? Only Cathy doesn’t get held up and ruin an expensive dress.  And she has no money and, since this is the early ’60s, no phone. At least Julian didn't make her listen to a Cranberries CD before kicking her out the door.

She tricks a cab driver into driving her back to her place.

She has to borrow the cab fare from her roomie Yolanda, who is determined to make her pay a steep price in return.  Yolanda wants Cathy’s brother.  Cathy’s like, Oh h e ll no, not my Chrissy boy! This escalates to the point where Cathy punches her roommate in the nose. And is surprised when “Yolly” bleeds. She could have sworn she’d just tapped her! Apparently, there’s a delicate way to punch someone . . .

Cathy gets a new apartment.

Julian slams his fist against her door one morning, threatening to bust it down. Turns out he’s got good news! They’re going to London!

So Cathy will be home for the holidays, and she’s so excited to spend quality time with Paul.  Forget that older brother and little sister of hers.  It’s Paul she can’t wait to see.

If Cory were alive, I think she would have been anxious to see him too. Cory and Paul. Those are the only two family members Cathy needs!

Chris gives Cathy a locket with the world’s tiniest diamond on it.  He tells her he paid for it by waiting tables.  As opposed to what?  Burglarizing wealthy mothers?  He’s done that too.  But those days are in the past.  He’s respectable now.  He hands her a note to go with the gift— a sophomoric little rhyme that ends with a flimsy promise to keep things brotherly.  If he continues writing maudlin, insincere poems like that, Cathy might just ruin her mascara!

Paul gives Cathy a fur coat.   Expensive furs remind Cathy of death.  Not so much dead animals.  More like the fact that her own mother tried to poison them all so that she could afford coats like this.  Paul also buys a color TV for the whole family.  Cathy doesn’t say it, but I’m sure that must also remind her of Momma and their first Christmas in the attic.  Paul sure is great at picking out the most thoughtful, sentimental gifts for his loved ones.

Chris spends the holiday sulking because he’s not the number one man in his sister’s life anymore.  Cathy wants him to move on but, deep down, she hopes he never does.  And I’m sure she’s thinking about how fantastic he looks in that new shirt, tie and blue sweater she gave him.

Cathy does more spying on Corrine when she spots her in town. Apparently, this woman has soft, white pillows to rest her head on comfortably at night and perhaps even a white noise machine to send her into peaceful dreams. That’s how little she seems to care about the children she’s lost.

Cathy and Chris have a fight. Paul, Carrie and Henny are probably listening in, just outside the door because Cathy sure ain’t whispering.

Chris threatens to tell Paul their dirty little secret.  Cathy actually believes he has too much integrity to stoop to that level.  Apparently, there’s a bar in h ell that rests right below r a p ing his sister in the first place, and that’s telling their guardian all about it.  But it doesn’t matter, she says, because Paul already knows everything anyway, and he doesn’t care. 

In fact, it probably kind of turns the doctor on.

***Designs created using content and tools available through Canva.***

Let’s discuss “Owl on the Roof,” “Momma’s Shadow,” “A Birthday Gift” and “Foxworth Hall, from the Outside” 

From my WordPress blog:

All the Girls are Laughing at Carrie – Tuesday Teatimes

Big Game Hunting – Tuesday Teatimes

The Real Reason Why Paul Invested in a Bedroom TV for Henny? – Tuesday Teatimes

Worth Millions but Too Cheap to Spring for the Angel Monument – Tuesday Teatimes

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So, we need to talk about Carrie for a minute.  Cathy’s gonna tell you all about her little sister’s troubles, but first she’s gonna get out her tissues. This poor third grader is really going through it at the private school where Paul sent her, possibly so that he could be alone with her older sister.

Cathy admits she has pieced together this tale from talking to Carrie and other third parties.  That’s good because hearsay from third parties is probably more reliable than anything coming from Cathy herself.

The Miss Emily Dean Calhoun’s School for Properly Bred Young Ladies holds certain values above all others, such as being ultra-feminine and submissive.  Certainly not traits that our protagonist admires, though she is a fan of the school’s outward appearance.

Carrie’s “roomy,” Sissy Towers, is a red-headed, green-eyed demon child.  Bottom line, Sissy and some of the other students taunt Carrie. Miss Dewhurst ultimately punishes the girls with demerits.  At first, Miss Dewhurst shows compassion toward Carrie, but Carrie has severe PTSD, requiring sedation — or perhaps airtime on Jerry Springer if this was the ’90s — and so, Carrie loses her weekend family visit as well.  Cathy thinks this is bs because no way could her little Carrie have done anything worthy of such a punishment.  How quickly she forgets what her little sister is like when you spend more than a minute and a half with her in a stressful situation.

Paul and Chris side with Miss Dewhurst because they’re men!

Carrie, meanwhile, is in a bedroom all by herself. 

A dozen girls come into Carrie’s room, wearing white nightgowns and pillowcases on their heads.  They’re carrying candles like they’re part of some demonic sorority in a ’90s TV movie.

When Cathy finds out from Miss Dewhurst that Carrie didn’t show up at the chapel for Sunday service, she immediately goes into a panic.

Once at the school, Dr. Paul, Chris and Cathy throw their weight around. Cathy eventually locates an injured Carrie, and they take her home. She’ll be going to public school from now on.

Cathy knows who to blame for all their problems. She sends another letter to Momma and comes up with passive-aggressive names for all of Corrine’s unwanted children, like “the praying-to-grow-taller doll” (do dolls pray? I know they can probably chant) and “the dead doll.”

About eighteen months have gone by since they escaped the attic, and everything seems to be falling into place for Cathy. She and her siblings were taken in by a kindly stranger on that very first Sunday, and ever since, it’s been a whirlwind of shopping sprees, precious holiday memories and professional ballet lessons with aspirations of eventually moving to New York. Furthermore, Cathy will be graduating high school in January, and she’s really stoked about that.

Carrie is ten and too old for dolls.  Says who?  Mr. and Mrs. Parkins and little Clara are her only friends.  She talks to them and, I presume, they talk back. 

Cathy condemns Momma to h e ll some more.  She sends her additional letters, and because Momma never responds, she assumes she must not be getting them.  Apparently, the idea of Momma trashing the correspondence without a second thought is too far out of character to even consider.

Cathy is collecting articles and photos of Momma in a scrapbook, like some serial killer. But she doesn’t have the guts to confront her mother just yet.

Cathy plans a birthday dinner for Paul, featuring a super inconvenient Creole jambalaya that she never intends to prepare again.

Everyone admires Cathy as she descends the stairs in a flattering dress, like she’s some plain Jane who got out the blush on prom night. Her stairway descent also foreshadows a moment that will come later on, near the end of the book. But we’ll get back to that!

Hours tick by with no sign of Paul.

Apparently, the doctor has been attending a two-week medical convention.  When he finally arrives home, it is 10 pm.  Cathy is mad that he ruined her little surprise and, also, made her have flashbacks of Daddy.  She’s ready to s h o o t him dead and hire the lawyer from Chicago to get her off. But she tells the reader that she cares about the doctor too much to do that. Is that the only reason he narrowly escapes being wheeled out the front door in a body bag? Knowing Cathy, probably.

Everyone else has left by this point, so it’s just Cathy and Paul at the dinner table.

Cathy gives Paul a piece of homemade artwork (and no, it’s not an ashtray she made in Ceramics). 

But wait, there’s still more to come . . . (pun fully intended).

Dr. Paul eventually lures the teen out into the garden for a little midnight stroll.  He calls her Cath-er-ine, just like her brother does.  What do you wanna bet he’s heard Chris say that to his sister before and is manipulatively mirroring the young man?   

So bottom line, he kisses her. And then she kisses him back. And he’s like, No! But then, he’s like, Oh yeah. . . .

Cathy and Paul have to hide their affair from the housekeeper and Chris.  Cathy suspects Carrie is too distracted by some little trauma of the day, or else just too stupid, to know what’s going on right under her nose.

So for Christmas, Cathy wants to return to Virginia and try to locate her little brother’s grave.  

Paul agrees to take Cathy to her family’s home, which she is disappointed to see hasn’t been burned to the ground (give it time, Cathy). And because Paul’s a doctor, she’s sure the hospital will just hand over all kinds of privileged patient information to him. And even though they don’t know what name Momma admitted Cory under, or even if she took him to a hospital in the first place, she’s sure it will all work out.

Cathy is horrified to learn that there is no record of a child Cory’s age having been taken to the hospital in the fall of 1960, nor is there a record of him being given a proper Christian send-off. Momma lied! The horror of that woman is beyond words.

So Cathy comforts herself by getting naked in the shower with her legal guardian.

Dr. Paul reassures her that a seventeen-year-old taking showers with a middle-aged father figure is all part of God’s plan. (For the record, I’m here to tell you it’s absolutely not, but since when has a fictional character ever listened to me?)

***Designs created using content and tools available on Canva.***