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A Guide to Early V.C. Andrews Heroines
If you have been paying attention to the Lifetime network recently (and why wouldn’t you??), you will see how much the network seems to love pumping out movies based on V.C. Andrews books. They’ve already got the Dollanganger series and My Sweet Audrina under their belt, and now they’re approaching the Casteel series in what appears to be a pretty awkward and strange way according to Lifetime’s own marketing.
When I was sixth grade, I picked up my first V.C. Andrews book, the oft forgotten Dawn of the Cutler series. Who was this girl who had an amazing talent, who was so beautiful she stopped people in their tracks without knowing why? What I didn’t know then was that she was almost every heroine in the V.C. Andrews universe, at least up until about 2000 when I stopped caring.
The Dollanganger Series
Obviously, Cathy Leigh Dollanganger-Marquet-Sheffield-Dollanganger is the main character in this series, and she is the classic prototype of a V.C. Andrews heroine.
Skilled in the arts? Check. She’s a passionate and talented ballet dancer.
Strikingly attractive? Check. Duh, she’s a Dollanganger with soft features and porcelain doll skin.
Traumatic background? Well, if your dad dying, your grandma locking you in an attic for years, and then…
