V.C. Andrews Books in Order (Flowers in the Attic, Ruby, Audrina, Heaven…)
Born Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 – December 19, 1986), V.C. Andrews was an American author mixing gothic horror with family saga who made her name with Flowers in the Attic, published in 1979, and which became an instant success. After that, she published a new novel each year until her death. She wrote under the names: Virginia Andrews, V. Andrews, Virginia C. Andrews & V.C. Endrius.
Flowers in the Attic wasn’t V.C. Andrews’s first book as she wrote the science-fiction novel Gods of Green Mountain before, but the story was unpublished during her lifetime (it was released in e-book in 2004). V.C. Andrews wrote stories revolving around family secrets and forbidden love, rags-to-riches stories filled with incestuous relationships, rapes, false pregnancies, Wicked grandmothers, rags-to-riches stories, twins, and much more.
After her death from breast cancer in 1986, her family hired a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, to finish the manuscripts she had started, Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts. As it has been argued successfully that Virginia Andrews’s name was a valuable commercial asset, Andrew Neiderman has since then continued to write books under her name. So take into account that most of the books published after 1986 have been written by Neiderman.
How to read the V.C. Andrews’ Series in Order?
The Dollanganger Family Series in Order
The story of a dysfunctional family from Virginia. They were the ideal middle-class family living in Gladstone, Pennsylvania until the father’s death changed everything. Corrine Dollaganger, the mother, decides to return to her parents’ home, where she must conceal the children in the mansion’s attic for a short time. However, as the days progress into weeks and weeks into months, the siblings encounter horrific atrocities and the horrifying realization that they may not be allowed to leave the attic after all. For more details, go to The Dollanganger Family Series reading order.
- Flowers In The Attic (1979)
- Petals on the Wind (1980)
- If There Be Thorns (1981)
- Seeds of Yesterday (1984)
- Garden of Shadows (1986) (by V. C. Andrews and Andrew Neiderman)
The Diaries Series, spin-off to the Dollanganger Saga (By Andrew Neiderman)
- Christopher’s Diary: Secrets of Foxworth (2014)
- Christopher’s Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger (2015)
- Christopher’s Diary: Secret Brother (2015)
The Attic series (By Andrew Neiderman)
- Beneath the Attic (2019)
- Out of the Attic (2020)
- Shadows of Foxworth (2020)
The Audrina Series
The idea of her sister hovered above them all. Audrina fiercely desired to be as good as her sister. She knew her father could not love her as he loved that other girl, for her sister was so special, so perfect-and dead. Upstairs in a locked room awaited her sister’s clothes and dolls, her animals and games-and her sacred rocking chair. Now Audrina will rock and rock and rock to reclaim all of her gone sister’s special gifts. And then finally she’ll learn the secrets everyone else knows but her.
- My Sweet Audrina (1982)
- Whitefern (2016) (written by Andrew Neiderman)
The Casteel Family Series in Order
The story of the Casteel family, the least regarded of all the families living in the poverty-stricken foothills of the mountains of West Virginia. Despite that, Heaven Leigh Casteel was still the smartest girl in the backwoods and determined to redeem her family name. However, her dreams become deferred the day her stepmother flees and her selfish father Luke sells her and her four siblings to different families. Heaven is sent to live in the home of Luke’s deranged ex-lover, Kitty, who torments Heaven as Kitty’s husband, Cal lures Heaven into a forbidden relationship while she fights to reunite her siblings. For more details, go to The Casteel Family Series reading order.
- Heaven (1985)
- Dark Angel (1986)
- Fallen Hearts (1988) (started by Andrews, finished by Neiderman)
- Gates of Paradise (1989)
- Web of Dreams (1990) – Prequel to the first book.
The Cutler Family Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. The Cutler series retraces the dark history of the Cutler, Booth, and Longchamp families. The story begins by telling us the twisted tale of Dawn Longchamp, whose entire world crumbles after the sudden death of her mother. For more details, go to The Cutler Series reading order.
- Dawn (1990)
- Secrets of the Morning (1991)
- Twilight’s Child (1992)
- Midnight Whispers (1992)
- Darkest Hour (1993) – Prequel to the first book
The Landry Family Series (also known as The Ruby Series)
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Ruby Landry’s story takes place in the Louisiana bayou where she falls madly in love with her boyfriend Paul. However, it isn’t long before she finds out a dark family secret that would change her life forever. The twisted roots of her family tree are brought to the light after she reunites with her estranged father and meets her conniving twin sister. For more details, go to The Landry Family Series reading order.
- Ruby (1994)
- Pearl in the Mist (1994)
- All That Glitters (1995)
- Hidden Jewel (1995)
- Tarnished Gold (1996) – Prequel to the first book.
The Logan Family Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. This twisted family story follows Melody Logan, a young woman from a West Virginia trailer park, who left her home with her mother following her father’s death. She meets her father’s family at Cape Code with whom she now must live and soon has to deal with her relatives’ secrets they all prefer to forget. As often in V.C. Andrews, the books contain incest, super religious family members, and a young girl with absentee/dead parents forced to live somewhere new. For more details, go to The Logan Family Series reading order.
- Melody (1996)
- Heart Song (1997)
- Unfinished Symphony (1997)
- Music in the Night (1998)
- Olivia (1999) – Prequel to the first book.
The Orphans Miniseries
Written by Andrew Neiderman. The story of four teenage girls who meet in a Fear Orphanage, with each book retracing one of the girl’s tragic stories, and the last book to tell their last adventure. For more details, go to The Orphans reading order.
The Wildflowers Miniseries
Written by Andrew Neiderman. All Misty ever wanted was a normal family. But like so many others, Misty’s parents didn’t stay together. Now they use Misty to hurt each other, to deliver tiny cruelties in an endless stream. Misty knows her parents might love her. But Misty has an unspeakable secret that burns in the core of her very being: she hates them. Misty isn’t as alone as she thinks. She’s about to meet three other girls who are just like her — each one with their own dark secrets to share…
- Misty (1999)
- Star (1999)
- Jade (1999)
- Cat (1999)
- Into the Garden (1999)
The Hudson Family Series
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Growing up in the ghettos of Washington, D.C., the cards are stacked against a hardworking dreamer like Rain Arnold. Rain has fought to be the best daughter she can. But Rain can’t suppress the feeling that she has never truly fit in, that she is a stranger in her own world. Then one fateful night, Rain overhears something she shouldn’t: a heartbreaking revelation from the past, a long-buried secret that is about to change her life in ways she never could have imagined. In the blink of an eye, everything Rain has ever known — the family she has loved and the familiar place she has called home is left behind, and Rain is sent to live with total strangers, the wealthy Hudson family. But just as she did not belong to the troubled world she was raised in, Rain is also out of place in this realm of luxury and privilege. With nowhere to turn, Rain finds an escape in the theater, inside the walls of an exclusive private school. But will it be enough to fulfill her heart’s deepest wish — and give her a place to call home?
- Rain (2000)
- Lightning Strikes (2000)
- Eye of the Storm (2000)
- The End of the Rainbow (2001)
- Gathering Clouds (2007, contained within the Rain movie DVD, released on May 29, 2007) – Prequel.
The Shooting Stars Series
Written by Andrew Neiderman. For Cinnamon, dreaming of imaginary worlds and characters is her only escape from her mother’s breakdowns. Her grandmother’s overbearing control. Her family’s turmoil. But Cinnamon is discovering something special about herself, a gift from deep within that sets her apart: a talent for the theater that would finally give her a chance…to truly escape.
- Cinnamon (2001)
- Ice (2001)
- Rose (2001)
- Honey (2001)
- Falling Stars (2001)
The De Beers Family Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. After discovering deep family secrets in her adoptive father’s journal, Willow leaves behind her North Carolina college town and sets out in search of her birth family amid the high-class society of Southern Florida. Using an assumed name and pretending to conduct a study of one of the nation’s wealthiest communities, Willow takes the city by storm and quickly becomes entangled with Thatcher Eaton, a young lawyer who sweeps her off her feet. But as Willow spirals into a passionate love affair and becomes intoxicated with the lifestyle of the rich and famous, the dark truth about her birth family threatens her fancy new life, pushing her to the brink of insanity…
- Willow (2002)
- Wicked Forest (2002)
- Twisted Roots (2002)
- Into the Woods (2003)
- Hidden Leaves (2003)
The Broken Wings Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Three girls from different worlds with one thing in common: They were born to be wild.
- Broken Wings (2003)
- Midnight Flight (2003)
The Gemini Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Celeste and her twin brother, Noble, are as close as can be — until a tragic accident takes Noble’s life. It’s a loss that pushes their mother, a woman obsessed with New Age superstitions, over the edge…. Desperate to keep her son “alive,” Celeste’s mother forces her to cut her hair, wear boys’ clothes, and take on Noble’s identity. Celeste has virtually disappeared — until a handsome boy moves in next door, and Celeste will risk her mother’s wrath to let herself come back to life.
- Celeste (2004)
- Black Cat (2004)
- Child of Darkness (2005)
The Shadows Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Her older sister Brenda was tall, athletic, competitive, and sure of herself. But April Taylor was short, sensitive, and overweight — and she couldn’t bounce back from their father’s cutting criticisms the way Brenda did. April didn’t know why their once-loving dad had become a coldhearted monster, but she was sure it had something to do with her. And she could see how his cruel behavior was tearing away at her gentle mother. But a glimmer of happiness returns when Brenda brings home her college roommate: beautiful, bewitching Celia. And April wonders if she might not be so different from Brenda after all…
- April Shadows (2005)
- Girl in the Shadows (2006)
The Early Spring Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Living with her parents and brother in her Grandmother Emma’s enormous mansion, Jordan March tries to be a good girl and follow her grandmother’s strict rules. But one day, without warning, Jordan’s body begins to change, and everyone notices her in a way that seems dark, dangerous and threatening. Suddenly, the March family secrets are unleashed, and Jordan is ashamed and afraid that her soft curves are somehow unwelcome. Now Grandmother Emma sets out to make Jordan pay for her family’s past mistakes, sending her world spinning wildly out of control.
- Broken Flower (2006)
- Scattered Leaves (2007)
The Secrets Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. In the dust and shadows of the attic, they shared everything — fanciful stories, high school crushes, plans for the future, dreams to travel the world. For Karen, the attic is her escape from the reality of her stepfather’s unwanted attention. Together in the eaves of a house with its own murderous history, the best friends concoct a scheme that will put Karen’s stepfather in his place. It wasn’t supposed to turn deadly. But in the attic Karen shares one more secret with her best friend — a secret to take to the grave…
- Secrets in the Attic (2007)
- Secrets in the Shadows (2008)
The Delia Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. After her parents are killed in a road accident, Delia Yebarra’s life is turned upside-down. At fifteen, she leaves the rural Mexican village where she grew up to embark on a new life in America. Arriving at her wealthy Aunt Isabella’s huge estate in Palm Springs, California, should be a dream come true for a simple country girl like Delia – so why does it feel like a nightmare?
- Delia’s Crossing (2008)
- Delia’s Heart (2008)
- Delia’s Gift (2009)
The Heavenstone Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. The Heavenstone sisters live with their mother and father in a grand old mansion in bluegrass Kentucky. Semantha, the younger and prettier one, is afraid of so many things- darkness, strange noises, mysterious whispers in the night. But nothing frightens her more than her sister, Cassie. When tragedy strikes like a lightning bolt from heaven, Semantha’s life becomes a living hell.
- Heavenstone Secrets (2009)
- Secret Whispers (2010)
The Kindred Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. One night, with the sound of a young man’s scream, high school senior Lorelei discovers that her stern but loving father, who adopted Lorelei and her sisters as infants, is no ordinary man. He has raised his beautiful girls for one purpose: to lure young men into their world of shadows. Like her sisters, Lorelei has been trained in the art of seduction and warned never to fall in love. But when she meets a handsome and charming classmate, she boldly defies her family and follows her heart-even if love is a poison. . . .
- Daughter of Darkness (2010)
- Daughter of Light (2012)
The March Family Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Living on the streets and selling knickknacks with her destitute mother, Sasha Porter dreams of someday having a normal life, with a real house and family. But she never thought a devastating tragedy would bring her those very things.
- Family Storms (2011)
- Cloudburst (2011)
The Forbidden Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Emmie Wilcox was only six when her older sister, Roxy, was thrown out of their New York City apartment. Their stern father’s military-style rules left no room for rebellion, and Roxy was as defiant as Emmie is compliant. Two sisters, total opposites-yet Emmie is secretly obsessed with the mystery surrounding Roxy: What had she done? Where is she now? And is there a hidden side to Emmie that resembles Roxy’s spiteful nature?
- The Forbidden Sister (2013)
- The Forbidden Heart (2013)
- Roxy’s Story (2013)
The Mirror Sisters Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. As identical twins, their mother insists that everything about them be identical: their clothes, their toys, their friends . . . the number of letters in their names, Haylee Blossom Fitzgerald and Kaylee Blossom Fitzgerald. If one gets a hug, the other must too. If one gets punished, the other must be too. When the girls attend a real high school they find little ways to highlight the differences between them. But when Haylee runs headfirst into the dating scene, both sisters are thrust into a world their mother never prepared them for-causing one twin to pursue the ultimate independence. The one difference between the two girls may spell the difference between life… and a fate worse than death.
- The Mirror Sisters (2016)
- Broken Glass (2017)
- Shattered Memories (2017)
The Girls of Spindrift Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. The four Girls of Spindrift novellas together form a spinoff to Bittersweet Dreams. The story follows highly intelligent teenage girls who struggle to survive a specialized high school and find their place in a world that doesn’t understand them.
- Bittersweet Dreams (2015)
Spin-off
The House of Secrets Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. The grand, gothic Wyndemere House is a labyrinth, containing as many secrets as it does corners obscured in shadow. Home to the Davenports, a wealthy and distinguished family, Fern Corey and her mother have lived there as servants for Fern’s entire young life. Despite their difference in station, Fern and Dr. Davenport’s son, Ryder, have always been extremely close. Which was never a problem… until they came of age. An intimate encounter following a high school prom brings the pair near-tragic consequences, and the forces of fate, arrogance, and class prejudice gather to crush their warm relationship. Still, the real threat to their happiness is something no one can control: the past, and the unspoken truths that lurk there.
- House of Secrets (2018)
- Echoes in the Walls (2018)
- Whispering Hearts (2020)
The Umbrella Series in Order
Written by Andrew Neiderman. Left on a train platform in an unfamiliar village, little Saffron Faith Anders is certain her father will return shortly, just like he promised. She holds out hope even as the hours pass and the station grows dark. Soon enough, Saffron finds herself at the mercy of a mysterious woman who is not quite what she seems…
- The Umbrella Lady (2021)
- Out of the Rain (2021)
The Eden Series
Written by Andrew Neiderman. When former teacher Paula Eden adopts Faith and Trevor, she is astounded by their natural intelligence and decides to homeschool them to nurture their brilliance. But as the years go on, Faith and Trevor itch for more independence…
- Eden’s Children (2022)
- Little Paula (2023)
Other works
By V.C. Andrews
- Gods of Green Mountain (1972) – a science fiction novel only available in e-book.
- The Obsessed (2022)- excerpt released as part of Neiderman’s biography of Andrews, The Woman Beyond the Attic.
By Andrew Neiderman
- Into the Darkness (2012)
- Capturing Angels (2012)
- The Unwelcomed Child (2014)
- Sage’s Eyes (2016)
- The Silhouette Girl (2019)
- Becoming My Sister (2022)
Short stories (by Andrew Neiderman and inspired by Andrews’s artwork)
Those two short stories were free and available at VC Andrews’s official fansite which ended on April 11, 2021.
- Cage of Love (2001)
- The Little Psychic (2001)
If you like this complete V.C. Andrews reading order, you may also want to check out Danielle Steel. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.
