Flowers in the Attic, part 9 - or "Oedipus is lucky he can't read any of this"

Hey, trying to do this more frequently so I don't lose focus on this goddamn book.

Last chapter, we saw the elaborate Christmas party Corrine's parents throw every year and Cathy and Chris got to hide in a cupboard and spy on part of it.

Then Chris gets the brilliant idea to go sneak around the house while their door is unlocked.

Okay off we go then.


We see the repercussions of this choice immediately, as Cathy is woken up by her mother shaking the bejesus out of her while she's sleeping and yelling in her face. Corrine demands to know where Chris is, because - of course - it's been hours and he's still not back in the room yet. Cathy doesn't know what to say and is pretty much just cowering on her bed. She finally answers, trusting that she can tell her mother the truth. It doesn't go well and Corrine starts pacing and says "Damn" a bunch of times.

 - side note: do people actually say "Damn, damn, damn!" when they're upset?

Corrine says she'll never let either of them out of that room ever again no matter the circumstances, which I'm sure is exactly what Cathy wants to hear.

' "You both gave me your word-and you broke it! How can I trust either one of you now? And I thought I could. I thought you loved me, that you would never betray me!" '

Alright, I don't normally make jokes like this - but this woman needs to get on some fucking lithium and get on it now. I guess we see where her daughters picked up the habit of going from zero to sixty in three seconds flat.

As anticipated, Cathy's not crazy about her mother confirming that she's going to keep them locked in one bedroom for the rest of their lives. When Corrine turns to storm out of the room like a Disney villain, Cathy talks more about her dress and points out that Corrine's perfume smells too nice and doesn't match her bad mood. I'm paraphrasing but that's what she said. I don't get it either.

Chris comes back right as Corrine is about to leave and as soon as she sees him, it's his turn to get the bejesus smacked out of him.

It's super effective! 

After quite literally slapping him twice, hard enough to leave red marks on both sides of his face (and I just remembered that Corrine's wearing a bunch of diamond rings - the fuck, lady!) Corrine threatens that if he ever does this again she'll whip not only him, but also throw Cathy in there for good measure.
Hey Corrine, you're starting to act like your parents.
Are you okay with that?

She snaps out of it a second later and starts frantically apologizing to Chris and hugging and kissing him, probably because she knows if Chris isn't on her side, she's fucked.

'Kiss, kiss, kiss, finger his hair, stroke his cheek, draw his head against her soft, swelling breasts, and let him drown in the sensuality of being cuddled close to that creamy flesh that must excite even a youth of his tender years.' 

First of all, I hate that this is all one sentence.

Second of all, that is a sentence written from the POV of a twelve year old describing her mother's interactions with her older brother.

Please, please tell me I don't have to explain why I want to throw up every time I have to read this passage.

Corrine apologies, claiming that she's not herself because everything's going her way. This really just makes me wonder why these kids never noticed that their mother is a harpy - but I digress.

She kisses him on the mouth and hugs him some more and asks if the two of them will forgive her. Honestly, she's kind of the one keeping them alive, so it's not like they have a real choice. Instead of thinking about that, Cathy realizes she has "... never felt her cheek against the softness of [Corrine's] breast."

Can you both stop being horny for your mom for at least half a freaking page?

So Chris and Cathy both forgive Corrine because - again- what other option have they got? Once she leaves, Cathy asks about everything Chris saw when he explored the house.

He talks a lot about how beautiful it is and the room full of hunting trophies and a painting of their Grandfather when he was younger, saying the name "Malcom Neal Foxworth" again - and I hate that name more than anything after reading the third book in this series, so typing that actually made me cringe.

Cathy makes him get to the good part and Chris talks about spying on their mother and her sentient mustache, Bart Winslow making out and flirting. Creeping around in the hallway and digressing about wanting to try on a suit of armor, Chris overheard Winslow asking to see "The Swan Bed"

Probably something like this? Both movie adaptations have gotten this wrong, so don't trust either of them.

Not to be confused with the Phantom of the Opera Turkey Bed

Try and tell me it's not a turkey - I dare you!

Apparently Corrine's grandmother (rumored to be a French courtesan, but we'll get to that in a minute) had this massive bed shaped like a swan, and Corrine had always begged to have her furniture. Corrine's father, figuring that she couldn't get any more corrupt than she already is, finally agreed to let her have it.  When asked about it, Corrine said that, of course, her Grandmother hadn't really been a courtesan, the bed of someone like that would have been "burned at night while prayers were said for its redemption." I can't make this shit up.

Chris describes Corrine's whole bedroom in agonizing detail - but I refuse to even bullet point that because it's way too long and I don't care. What we're meant to take away from it, however, is that Corrine is not living in the lifestyle of a woman trying to save money for a small apartment for herself and four children.

He finishes up talking about, while this house is beautiful - definitely more so than their little house in Pennsylvania, it's not pretty or cozy. This is an observation I can understand, and it's actually not a bad thing to have in here, especially comparing what the kids want to what her mother wants. Corrine's used to riches and a big fancy mansion - but that house and those riches feel very hard and cold. The kids, however, wish they were back in their cozy ranch house where they didn't have whatever they wanted and huge piles of money, but had love, warmth and parents that cared about them.

I dunno, it always struck me as pretty good imagery in that respect, but maybe I'm just rehashing the obvious. It's still a nice touch.

Unfortunately, the chapter ends with more of Chris's Oedipus complex when Cathy feels like he's been hiding something and thinks she sees him crying after they turn in for the night. Basically Chris is upset and feeling betrayed because his mother was making out with someone else.

I mean, it could also be he's starting to realize what's really going on with Corrine - how she's been lying to them and her priorities have changed and how he's going to have to face that someday. I'd like to think that's what it's leaning towards, but all of the interactions and language with Chris and Corrine is so gross that it's really a coin-toss.

I'm only doing the one chapter this time because I feel like there was quite a bit to this one, but I'll probably get back to double chapter parts again later. We'll see.