FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, TV Movie
The book that is seared into the minds of thousands of adolescents, V. C. Andrews’ 1979 novel, Flowers in the Attic (S&S) is being adapted into a Lifetime movie. Ellen Burstyn is set to play the evil grandmother who abuses her four grandchildren hidden in the attic of her mansion. Heather Graham will play the childrens’ mother.
The book’s themes of incest and child abuse may be difficult to translate into a Lifetime movie. In the L.A. Times, book critic Carolyn Kellogg begins her story, “Maybe there’s still time to stop this crazy thing.”
The book was already adapted as a movie in 1987 with Louise Fletcher as the grandmother. It was universally regarded as a flop. If the new version is successful, there are plenty of opportunities for sequels; the Dollanganger Series continued with Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. Since her death in 1986, Andrews’ estate has issued more than seventy novels under her name, with new titles arriving each year.