Chris Pérez 1995-1998: After Selena, remarriage and fatherhood
Did Chris have children?
Did Chris Perez have children?
In spring 1995 Chris's father-in-law, Abraham found out Yolanda Saldivar, who managed Selena's boutiques and fan club, was embezzling money. They held a meeting in early March where it was rumored they had a sexual relationship, with Saldivar denying she had anything to do with fiscal discrepancies in checks that were found written in her name. Selena tried to repair her friendship with Saldivar despite her father's warnings. On March 30, 1995, Selena and Chris met with Saldivar at a motel to recover missing financial papers for tax purposes. When Selena arrived home she found that Saldivar did not give her the correct documents. She phoned Saldivar, who tried to convince Selena to return to her motel room alone. Chris insisted that it was too late, and he did not want Selena driving alone at night. Selena then agreed to meet with Saldivar the next morning.  On March 31, Selena woke up early to meet Saldivar at the motel where she was staying. She met with Saldivar, who delayed the transfer of papers with a story about having been raped in Mexico. Selena took Saldivar to a local hospital, where doctors found no evidence of rape. When they returned to the motel room, Selena ended their four-year working relationship. As she turned to leave, Saldivar reached into her handbag, pulled out a Taurus Model 85 .38 caliber revolver, pointed it at Selena and pulled the trigger. The bullet entered Selena's right shoulder blade from the back, piercing a major artery running from her heart and exiting from just below her right collarbone. She ran to the motel lobby and collapsed to the floor. As the motel employees gathered round, she named Saldivar as her assailant. Selena was transferred to a nearby hospital, where doctors found the damage irreparable. She was pronounced dead within the hour.  Chris couldn't eat for two days after his wife's murder. In his book he says that when he could not sleep he began abusing alcohol and other drugs, and went into seclusion. Family members noticed he was rapidly losing weight. Chris felt guilty for not protecting Selena from Saldivar.  In 1996, he moved out of his Corpus Christi house and back in with his father in San Antonio. John Garza introduced him to Venessa Villanueva, and after getting to know each other they became a couple in 1998. In 2001 Chris married Villanueva and they had two children, a boy and a girl.  Although it was rumored that Villanueva did not want to divorce, and wanted to try and work things out in their relationship, the couple finally decided their relationship was irreconcilable. They filed for divorce in 2008. Despite getting married again and having two children, Perez has since remained in touch with the Quintanillas following Selena's death. CANNOTANSWER
In 2001 Chris married Villanueva and they had two children, a boy and a girl.
Christopher Gilbert Pérez (born August 14, 1969) is an American guitarist, songwriter and author best known as lead guitarist for the Tejano band Selena y Los Dinos. He married the frontwoman of the group, Selena, on April 2, 1992. Pérez grew up in San Antonio, Texas as one of two children of Gilbert Pérez and Carmen Medina. In 1986, he joined Shelly Lares' band. By the late 1980s, Pérez was respected among Tejano musicians for his guitar skills. This caught A.B. Quintanilla's attention; at the time, Quintanilla was seeking another guitarist for the band he produced, Selena y Los Dinos. Between one and two years after Pérez joined the band, he and Selena began a personal relationship.

Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla, forced them to end their relationship because he felt Pérez's image might damage Selena's career. They ignored his threats to disband the group, and continued their relationship. Quintanilla Jr. fired Pérez from the band, forbidding Selena to go with him.

During the early 1990s, Pérez was arrested for driving under the influence in San Antonio, but was released without charge. Within months of his first arrest, Pérez was involved in a trashed-hotel-room incident; he and two members of Selena y Los Dinos were intoxicated and began wrestling in a room, breaking the door and punching holes in the walls. On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by her former friend and former manager of her boutiques, Yolanda Saldívar. Selena's murder greatly devastated Pérez, who began abusing drugs and alcohol.

Pérez formed the Chris Pérez Band and began writing songs for their debut album. They signed with Hollywood Records and released their first album, Resurrection, which won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album. The band disbanded after their second album, Una Noche Mas (2002), was released.  Pérez continued in the music business and often played with his brother-in-law A.B.'s groups, the Kumbia Kings and the Kumbia All Starz. He left both groups and formed another band (the Chris Pérez Project, which included Puerto Rican singer Angel Ferrer) in 2010. In 2012, Pérez wrote a book about his relationship with Selena, entitled To Selena, with Love.

Early life 
Christopher Pérez was born on August 14, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas to Gilbert Pérez, a computer programmer, and Carmen Medina. He is of Mexican-American ancestry. Perez's parents divorced in 1974, when he was four years old. His mother remarried in 1978.

Pérez learned to play the French horn in middle school and joined his school's concert band with his mother's support. He decided to teach himself to play electric guitar despite his mother's disapproval due to the negative stereotypes associated with the rock-and-roll world. Pérez's favorite musicians were Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Kiss, the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden.  He also grew to admire Ricky Martin during the 1990s. Many of his guitar solos are inspired by Carlos Santana.

Pérez wanted to run away to Los Angeles, California to start a rock band when he was seventeen. At the time he shared an apartment with his father and worked at a library. Pérez was asked by Tony Lares to join his cousin Shelly Lares' band in 1986. Lares told Pérez that Shelly performed Tejano music—a mixture of traditional Mexican folk music, polkas and country music sung in Spanish or English. Pérez disliked Tejano music and wrote in To Selena, With Love that he joined Shelly's band with "foot-dragging resistance" because this job paid more than working at the library. He became Shelly's musical director after Tony left the group,  and co-wrote three songs for Shelly's debut album in 1989.  His guitar playing received a positive reception from the band and its fans. Around this time he also formed a rock band with two friends and planned to leave Shelly's band.

Career

1989–1995: Selena y Los Dinos and legal problems 
Roger Garcia, lead guitarist for Selena y Los Dinos, married and left the music business in 1989. The group's bassist, A.B. Quintanilla III, had heard good things about Pérez from other Tejano groups. He and other band members went to watch Pérez rehearse with Shelly. Quintanilla invited Chris to one of Selena's performances, and asked if he was interested in playing with Selena y Los Dinos. Pérez accepted, basing his decision on Los Dinos's sound, which was more "hip and sophisticated" than other Tejano bands, and he hoped to learn more about musical arrangement from A.B.,  whose work he admired.

Pérez auditioned for the group's manager, A.B.'s father Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. Abraham initially disliked Pérez's rocker image and insisted that he change his appearance for the band. The elder Quintanilla feared that allowing Pérez in the group might affect his daughter Selena's "perfect image" and ruin her career. A.B. convinced his father to accept Pérez, and encouraged Pérez to explore different musical genres and mold their sounds to his own tastes. He and A.B became close friends occasionally collaborated on writing songs for Selena's next recording. Pérez, like Selena, knew little Spanish, and lead keyboardist Ricky Vela tutored him.

In November 1990, Pérez was arrested for driving under the influence and speeding in San Antonio, Texas. A police officer became involved in an altercation with his cousin, and Pérez came to his cousin's aid. After the brawl, police handcuffed Pérez and his cousin, but freed their friend, telling him to "run, don't walk" and to "not even turn around". When Pérez was booked, police reported that they initiated a high-speed chase and were following his car. Pérez reported that the officers were lying, but decided not to pursue the matter because it would be "[his] word against theirs." He was released without charges, but told Selena and Abraham about his run-in with the police. They appreciated being informed and this helped gain their trust.

Several months after his arrest, he was sharing a hotel room with two road crew members of Selena y Los Dinos when the two brothers, who were intoxicated, began wrestling. Pérez was also drunk and joined in the rough horseplay. One brother knocked the door off its hinges, and holes in the wall were found inside the room. Pérez decided to sleep at home instead of at the hotel. Abraham fired the brothers from the band the next morning, but to Pérez's surprise, Abraham accepted his apology and he was allowed to remain in the band. While Selena initially ended their relationship over the incident, she later forgave him.

Relationship with Selena 
In 1989 Pérez and A.B. wrote Selena's Coca-Cola commercial jingle. After the company accepted the lyrics and Selena filmed the commercial, A.B. treated the band to a vacation in Acapulco, Mexico. During the trip Pérez realized he was attracted to Selena although he had a girlfriend in San Antonio. Pérez thought it best for both of them if he tried to distance himself from her, but found it difficult and decided to try building a relationship with her. They expressed their feelings for each other at a Pizza Hut restaurant, and shortly afterwards became a couple. They hid their relationship from her father out of fear that Abraham would try to break them up. This stressed Selena, who did not want to hide her feelings.

Suzette ended up reporting the relationship to Abraham, who took Pérez off the bus and informed him that it was over. The couple continued their relationship secretly despite Abraham's disapproval. Selena took hope from the fact that her mother Marcella approved of their courtship, until one day when Abraham stopped the tour bus and went to the back where Pérez and Selena were sitting. He shouted that their relationship was over and Selena screamed back at him. Pérez tried to calm them both down, but joined in the argument after Abraham insulted him by calling him a "cancer in my family." Finally Abraham threatened to disband the group if they did not break up. Intimidated, Selena and Pérez backed off. Abraham fired him from the band and prevented Selena from running off with him, leaving Selena both extremely devastated and heartbroken.

After Pérez was fired from the band, he moved back in with his father and began playing music wherever he could. He wrote that "free of that nerve-racking situation with her father and the other members of Los Dinos, I started enjoying my life again." Selena, however, suffered from their separation and the two tried to keep in touch while she was touring. On the morning of April 2, 1992, Selena pounded on his hotel-room door. She forced her way in and began to cry, saying she could not go on without him. Selena wanted to get married that day, but Pérez argued it was not the right thing to do at the moment. Selena insisted her father would never accept their relationship, and would not attend any wedding they planned. Pérez agreed and they eloped in Nueces County, Texas.

Selena was sure her father would leave them alone if they were married, and they could be together openly. They planned to keep the elopement a secret until she found the right moment to reveal her marriage, but the media announced their elopement over the radio within hours of the marriage ceremony. Selena's family tried to track her down. Abraham did not take the news well, and alienated himself for a time. Selena and Pérez moved into an apartment in Corpus Christi until Abraham approached them, apologized, accepted the marriage and Pérez back into the band.

Pérez became a fully accepted member of the Quintanilla family after the marriage, and Abraham asked Pérez to write songs for a rock band he was managing after he opened a recording studio, Q-Productions, in late 1993. That collaboration resulted in a posthumous recording for Selena when the lead vocalist for that rock group, Nando "Guerro" Dominguez, went to Selena's house to begin a recording. Pérez was ending the recording session several hours later when Selena asked to record Dominguez's demo. Her version of the song was unreleased until 2004, when it was added to her posthumous compilation album Momentos Intimos as "Puede Ser". A.B. wrote "Ya No", the last recording for Selena's studio album Amor Prohibido (1994). He wanted to turn it into a rock song and asked for Pérez's assistance.

1995–1998: After Selena, remarriage and fatherhood 

In spring 1995, Abraham found out that Yolanda Saldívar, who managed Selena's boutiques and fan club, was embezzling money. They held a meeting in early March, with Saldívar denying she had anything to do with fiscal discrepancies in checks that were found written in her name. Selena tried to repair her friendship with Saldívar despite her father's warnings. On March 30, 1995, Selena and Pérez met with Saldívar at a motel to recover missing financial papers for tax purposes. When Selena and Pérez arrived home she found that Saldivar did not give her the correct documents. She phoned Saldívar, who tried to convince Selena to return to her motel room alone. Pérez insisted that it was too late, and he did not want Selena driving alone at night. Selena then agreed to meet with Saldivar the next morning.

On March 31, Selena woke up early to meet Saldívar at the motel where she was staying. She met with Saldívar, who delayed the transfer of papers with a story about having been raped in Mexico. Selena took Saldívar to a local hospital, where doctors found no evidence of rape. When they returned to the motel room, Selena ended their four-year working relationship. As Selena turned to leave, Saldívar reached into her purse, pulled out a Taurus Model 85 .38 caliber revolver, pointed it at Selena and pulled the trigger. The bullet entered Selena's right shoulder blade from the back, piercing a major artery running from her heart and exiting from just below her right collarbone. She ran to the motel lobby and collapsed to the floor. As the motel employees gathered round, she named Saldívar as her assailant. Selena was transferred to a nearby hospital, where doctors found the damage irreparable. She was pronounced dead within the hour.

Pérez could not eat for two days after his wife's murder. In his book he says that when he could not sleep he began abusing alcohol and other drugs, and went into seclusion. Family members noticed he was rapidly losing weight. Chris felt guilty for not protecting Selena from Saldívar.

In 1996, he moved out of his Corpus Christi house and back in with his father in San Antonio. John Garza introduced him to Venessa Villanueva, and after getting to know each other they became a couple in 1998. In 2001, Pérez married Villanueva and they had two children, a boy Noah and a girl Cassie.

Although it was rumored that Villanueva did not want to divorce, and wanted to try and work things out in their relationship, the couple finally decided their relationship was irreconcilable. They filed for divorce in 2008. Despite getting married again and having 2 children, Pérez has since remained in touch with the Quintanillas following Selena's death.

1999–2010: Chris Pérez Band, Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz 

Pérez's friend, John Garza moved in with him six months after Selena's death. They began writing music, which Pérez found healing. In 1998 he formed a rock band with Garza, Rudy Martinez (former member of La Mafia) on bass, former Selena y Los Dinos keyboardist Joe Ojeda and Jesse Esquivel on drums. The band's name (the Chris Pérez Band) was chosen by Garza, Martinez, Ojeda and Esquivel. Chris preferred the name Cinco Souls, but the other band members wanted to utilize his "reluctant celebrity." The band was signed to Hollywood Records, and went to A&M Studios (now Henson Studios) in Los Angeles to begin recording their debut album. Pérez wrote the song "Best I Can" to explore his feelings about losing Selena and his struggle to continue without her. The song was not planned for the album, for fear that listeners would think he included the track for commercial reasons, but Hollywood Records and the band convinced him to include it on the album after hearing the demo.

"Another Day" (about devotion to Selena) was included on the album. Ojeda wrote "Solo Tu", a romantic ballad which Pérez changed into a rock song. Resurrection was released on May 18, 1999, and won the 2000 Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. The record company released two promotional singles (one English and one Spanish: the title track and the ballad "Por Que Tu Fuiste") to radio stations with intent to appeal to both audiences. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the album was "upbeat and danceable, the lyrics speak almost uniformly of loss, anger, violence and abandonment". The Chris Pérez Band was the opening act for Mexican band Mana. In March 2000, Pérez began preparing for his second studio album; On April 16, the band released its second and final album, Una Noche Más, before breaking up. Pérez joined his brother-in-law A.B.'s band, the Kumbia All Starz, in 2006 and left it in 2010 to form his own band. On April 7, 2005, Los Dinos reunited at the Selena ¡VIVE! tribute concert.

2010–present: The Chris Pérez Project, To Selena, With Love, Blue Mariachi Productions 
In 2010, Pérez formed a new group (the Chris Pérez Project) with Puerto Rican singer Angel Ferrer, releasing "Todo es Diferente".

In March 2012 Pérez published To Selena, With Love, which described their relationship and struggles. He had been reluctant to write the book, saying that fans asked him to write it. He did not seek the approval of the Quintanilla family to write To Selena, With Love and did not disclose the project in fear of their reaction. He approached Abraham after the book was finished. Abraham approved of it. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pérez said writing To Selena, With Love helped him "move forward". The book was praised by critics and fans. To Selena, With Love dispelled the rumor that Selena was pregnant when she died (which had appeared in media reports after her death).

In November 2016, Pérez announced that a made-for-television miniseries would be made from his book. This prompted Abraham to file a lawsuit against him since it violated an estate properties agreement originally signed between him and the family two months after Selena’s death in 1995. The lawsuit also sparked a bitter dispute between the family and Pérez, who in September 2020, went on Instagram and publicly accused the Quintanilla family of erasing his legacy with Selena. Suzette posted a rebuttal shortly thereafter and Perez later apologized. The case was settled in September 2021.

In August 2021 Pérez's label Blue Mariachi Productions signed its first act, ZEUS. El Mero Necio alias Carlton Zeus.

Personality and musical influences 
According to The Dallas Morning News, Hollywood.com, Justice for Selena, They Died Too Young and Selena: Como La Flor, Pérez is a shy person. He was the antithesis of Abraham Quintanilla's "clean-cut, nice kids" in his early career as a guitarist for Selena y Los Dinos, a rebellious rocker and a "long-haired tough guy". In an interview with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, he admitted discomfort at being an entertainer. Until the release of his book, he had kept quiet about his personal life and shied away from media attention. Carlos Valdez, the District Attorney who prosecuted Yolanda Saldívar, described Pérez as "shy and uncomfortable when in the spotlight", and this was echoed by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. His inability to talk about himself when interviewed was also discussed in Valdez' book. Valdez said the music business was not work for Pérez, who enjoyed being a guitarist and called it his "reason for [his] existence".   Valdez considers him "honest, sincere, and someone who could be trusted and believed [in]."

Leila Cobo of Billboard magazine believed his musical styles included contemporary cumbia music, reminiscent of music produced by A.B., R&B, rap and funk music. Chuck Taylor, a Billboard editor, called The Chris Pérez Project debut album a "lot of classic rock elements". David Cazares of the Sun Sentinel called Pérez' debut album "average rock" music. The San Antonio Express-News said that Resurrection was a fusion of "pop rock grooves and Tejano soul". Pérez is known for tapping into Latin genres, such as cumbia and Latin rock.

In the 1997 biopic-film, Selena, Pérez was portrayed by Jon Seda while actor Jesse Posey portrayed him in Selena: The Series.

Discography 

Selena y Los Dinos
 Ven Conmigo (1990)
 Entre a Mi Mundo (1992)
 Selena Live! (1993)
 Amor Prohibido (1994)
 Dreaming of You (1995)

Chris Pérez Band
 Resurrection (1999)
 Una Noche Más (2002)

Kumbia Kings
 Amor, Familia y Respeto (1999)
 Shhh! (2001)
 All Mixed Up: Los Remixes (2002)
 4 (2003)
 Los Remixes 2.0 (2004)
 Fuego (2004)
 Kumbia Kings Live (2006)

Kumbia All Starz
 Ayer Fue Kumbia Kings, Hoy Es Kumbia All Starz (2006)
 Planeta Kumbia (2008)
 La Vida de un Genio (2010)

Published works 
To Selena, With Love (2012)

References

Bibliography

External links 

 
 
 
 Chris Perez on Grammy Awards
 
 Chris Pérez at VH1.com

1969 births
20th-century American writers
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American writers
American musicians of Mexican descent
American male singers
American male guitarists
American rock guitarists
American rock songwriters
American male songwriters
American male writers
Capitol Records artists
Cumbia musicians
Grammy Award winners
Guitarists from Texas
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Hollywood Records artists
Kumbia All Starz members
Kumbia Kings members
Living people
Lead guitarists
People from Corpus Christi, Texas
Musicians from San Antonio
Rock en Español musicians
Singers from Texas
Selena y Los Dinos members
Songwriters from Texas
Tejano pop musicians
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first-person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over forty million copies world-wide.

Plot
In 1957, the Dollanganger family—father Christopher, mother Corinne, 14-year-old Chris, 12-year-old Cathy, and 5-year-old twins Carrie and Cory—lives an idyllic life in Gladstone, Pennsylvania, until Christopher is killed in a car accident, leaving Corinne deep in debt with no means to support her children.

On the verge of their home being foreclosed, Corinne reveals to the children that as a young woman, her marriage to Christopher so offended her multimillionaire father Malcolm Foxworth that he disinherited her. Now the elderly Malcolm is dying of heart disease, and Corinne intends to return to her childhood home of Foxworth Hall in Virginia to win back her father's affection in time to be reinstated into his will. Because Malcolm is unaware that Corinne had children by her marriage to Christopher, the children must hide in a secluded upstairs room of the enormous Foxworth Hall until Corinne can break the news to her father. She assures the children that they will only be in the room for a few days.

At Foxworth Hall, Corinne's mother (called only "the grandmother") locks the children into a bedroom connected to the house's large attic. The grandmother forces Corinne to reveal the reason for her disinheritance was that Christopher was Malcolm's younger half-brother, and thus Corinne's half-uncle, and that the children are the products of incest. The grandmother believes the children are "the Devil's spawn" and is obsessed with the idea of incest, forbidding all contact between opposite sexes, while prohibiting the children from making noise or opening the room's windows. Only in the attic are they free to play.

Cathy and Chris attempt to make the best of the situation by decorating the attic with paper flowers to create an imaginary garden for the twins. The grandmother comes every morning with a picnic basket filled with the day's food and interrogates the children about their modesty and piety, questions the children are too innocent to fully understand. Initially their mother visits multiple times per day, bringing toys and gifts, but over time, her visits grow sporadic. After months have passed, Cathy and Chris confront her, as she promised they would be freed in only a few days. Corinne finally confesses that they must remain in the room until their grandfather dies.

A year later, Cathy and Chris have both entered puberty, while the twins are stunted from inadequate nutrition and lack of sunlight. With no other outlets, Cathy and Chris develop a romantic and sexual attraction toward each other, though they do their best to deny their feelings. The grandmother catches Chris staring at a half-dressed Cathy and punishes the children by cutting off their food supply for over two weeks, while the children pray their mother will reappear in time to save them. On the verge of starvation, Cathy and Chris decide to escape with the twins to find help. Before they can go through with the plan, the grandmother begins bringing food again, including a rare treat of powdered sugar doughnuts. Soon afterwards, all the children begin to complain of constant minor illness.

Another year passes. After an absence of several months, Corinne visits the children, explaining that she had been on a European honeymoon with her new husband, Bart Winslow. Cathy and Chris are furious, but fear Corinne will abandon them permanently if they confront her.

Realizing that the twins' health is declining, Chris and Cathy decide to escape. Chris creates a wooden skeleton key. Over the next several months, he and Cathy take turns slipping downstairs to their mother's suite to steal cash and jewelry to fund their lives outside. One night, Cathy discovers her sleeping stepfather and kisses him. When Chris learns of the kiss, he rapes Cathy in a fit of jealousy and rage. Afterwards, he is overcome with remorse, while Cathy feels guilty and conflicted about the act due to her love for Chris.

Cory becomes deathly ill. Cathy begs Corinne to take him to a hospital, but Corinne hesitates. Cathy, enraged, tells her that if she does not act to save Cory's life, Cathy will reveal their existence to the grandfather. Corinne finally takes Cory away, but returns the following morning to inform the children that Cory died of pneumonia. The children are devastated, with Cathy left wondering if Cory's death is God's punishment for her sexual encounter with Chris.

Chris resumes stealing from their mother's rooms, only to discover Corinne and Bart have left Foxworth Hall permanently. Eavesdropping on the servants, Chris learns their grandfather died a year ago and that the grandmother has been leaving food contaminated with rat poison in the attic due to a "mouse infestation." Chris connects this with the doughnuts they are being fed and realizes Cory died of arsenic poisoning.

The three remaining children finally leave Foxworth Hall to catch a train to Florida. At the station, Chris reveals he discovered Corinne's inheritance is conditional upon her having no children from her first marriage, and she, rather than the grandmother, was the one who most likely poisoned them. Chris and Cathy decide against contacting the authorities as their main concern is to stay together, but Cathy vows that one day she will make Corinne pay for her crimes.

Characters

 Catherine Leigh "Cathy" Dollanganger: The protagonist and narrator of the novel. Cathy is the second child and older daughter of Christopher and Corinne. She becomes an accomplished ballerina and later a novelist. During their time in the attic, she becomes romantically attracted to Chris, her brother.
 Christopher Garland "Chris" Dollanganger, Jr.: Older son and oldest child of Christopher and Corinne. Chris is the older brother of Cathy, Cory, and Carrie. He is an over-achiever and later becomes a doctor. During their time in the attic, he becomes sexually attracted to Cathy.
 Cory Dollanganger: Twin brother of Carrie and younger brother of Cathy and Chris. The "quiet one" of the twins, Cory is introverted but musically talented.  He becomes ill during their time in the attic and dies from arsenic poisoning at the hands of his mother.
 Carrie Dollanganger: Twin sister to Cory and the younger sister of Cathy and Chris. Prior to Cory's death, she is an extraverted girly girl, but after Cory dies, she refuses to speak for months.
 Corinne Dollanganger (née Foxworth): Mother of Chris, Cathy, Cory, and Carrie and widow of Christopher Dollanganger. Eventually becomes an antagonist in the story when she tries to kill her children in order to gain her father's inheritance. She marries her father's attorney, Bart Winslow, later on and loses interest in her children and late husband.
Bartholomew "Bart" Winslow: Second husband of Corrine. He is a trophy husband and marries her, thinking that she does not have any children. Cathy is shocked to discover that he is eight years younger than Corinne.
 Olivia Foxworth (née Winfield): Wife of Malcolm Foxworth. Grandmother of the Dollanganger children. Cousin of John Amos. Olivia and Malcolm are co-antagonists in this book.
 Malcolm Neal Foxworth: Father of Corinne and grandfather of the Dollanganger children. Husband of Olivia. He is described both as having a heart condition and as heartless. He dies during the story, though Chris and Cathy do not learn this until the end. He was also the older half-brother of the children's father.
 Christopher Dollanganger, Sr.: Corinne's first husband; father of the children. He was Malcolm's younger half-brother, making him Corinne's half-uncle. He is described as a wonderful father who could not bear to be separated from his children for longer than five days. He is killed in a car accident on his birthday at the beginning of the book.
 John Amos: A butler to the Foxworth family. Olivia's cousin.  Chris overhears horrible information from him during one of Chris' expeditions to steal from his mother.

Awards
In 1993, Flowers in the Attic was awarded the Secondary BILBY Award. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's 200 "best-loved novels."

Adaptations
In 1987, the book was adapted into a film of the same name starring Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant, Kristy Swanson, and Jeb Stuart Adams and directed by Jeffrey Bloom.

A second adaptation was released on January 18, 2014, on the Lifetime network starring Heather Graham as Corrine and Ellen Burstyn as the Grandmother, with Kiernan Shipka as Cathy, Mason Dye as Christopher, and directed by Deborah Chow. The film received mixed reviews, but critics praised Ellen Burstyn's performance.

The book was adapted into a stage play by V. C. Andrews's ghost writer, Andrew Neiderman, in the form of an e-book and was published by Pocket Star. The stage play was released in October 2014 and is 80 pages in length. In August 2015 the stage play received its world premiere production in New Orleans, Louisiana. The play, which received positive reviews, was produced by See 'Em On Stage: A Production Company and was directed by Christopher Bentivegna.

Controversy
The depiction of incest between an adolescent brother and sister in the novel has led to its being banned in certain areas at different times. Chariho High School in Rhode Island removed it because it contained "offensive passages concerning incest and sexual intercourse." In 1994, it was removed from the Oconee County, Georgia school libraries due to "the filthiness of the material."

In her original pitch letter to her publisher, Andrews claimed that the story being the novel was "not truly fiction," leading to long-standing rumors that the novel may have been based on true events. For many years, there was no evidence to support this claim, and the book was passed off as fiction. Nonetheless, the official V. C. Andrews website claims to have contacted one of Andrews' relatives. This unidentified relative claimed Flowers in the Attic was loosely based on a faintly similar account. While at the "University of Virginia hospital for treatment...she developed a crush on her young doctor. He and his siblings had been locked away in the attic for over 6 years to preserve the family wealth."

References

1979 American novels
American gothic novels
Novels by V. C. Andrews
American young adult novels
American novels adapted into films
Novels set in Virginia
BILBY Award-winning works
Child abuse in fiction
Incest in fiction
1979 debut novels
First-person narrative novels Chris Oxlade (born 1961) is an author, editor and illustrator of children's information books. He has written over 200 titles.

According to data from the Public Lending Right, Oxlade was the 100th most borrowed children's author from UK public libraries in 2011-2012.

References

External links

 Chris Oxlade's website

1961 births
Living people
Children's non-fiction writers
English children's writers