''My Sweet Audrina'' is a 1982
novel by
V. C. Andrews. It was the only stand-alone novel published during Andrews' lifetime and was a number-one best-selling novel in
North America. The story takes place in the
Mid-Atlantic United States during the 1960s and 1970s. The story features diverse subjects, such as
brittle bone disease
Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may be m ...
,
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
,
posttraumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats ...
and
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
, in the haunting setting of a Victorian-era mansion near the fictitious River Lyle.
Plot
Audrina Adare claims she is seven years old when the novel begins, although it is later revealed that Audrina's memory is
unreliable. Audrina lives at Whitefern, a
Victorian-era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
mansion, with her father Damian, her mother Lucietta, her aunt Ellsbeth, and her cousin Vera. The family takes special care to keep Audrina unaware of precise dates, including that of her own birthday – even though Audrina knows that she was born on the ninth of September, she is frequently confused about the exact passage of time, leading Vera to mock her for being
insane. Audrina's father, however, is convinced that Audrina "walks in her own time space". Nine years before Audrina was born, her elder sister – also named Audrina and also born on September 9 – was
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
d and
murdered in the woods on her ninth birthday. Damian tells her stories about his "first and best Audrina" and convinces the younger Audrina that, by a process of
self-hypnosis
Self-hypnosis or auto-hypnosis (as distinct from hetero-hypnosis) is a form, a process, or the result of a self-induced hypnotic state.
Frequently, self-hypnosis is used as a vehicle to enhance the efficacy of self-suggestion; and, in such case ...
(which includes going into the first Audrina's old bedroom and rocking in her rocking chair), she can gain all of her memories and become just as beloved and special as the original Audrina, which is what she wants more than anything else in the world.
Audrina lives in virtual isolation, her only real contact with the outside world being her older cousin, Vera, who despises Audrina. Vera claims that Audrina stole her place in Damian's affection and that the "second and worst" Audrina will never be as special or wonderful as the first and best. Vera, a habitual liar and borderline
nymphomaniac
Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...
, proves early on that she will stop at nothing to steal and destroy anything and everything that Audrina loves. Audrina, conversely, is haunted by dreams of her dead sister's rape and is
terrified of sex and men. Vera has very brittle bones that break easily, and she enjoys playing the convalescent to get Damien's attention or sympathy. Vera takes great pleasure in taunting Audrina and often claims that she is more loved by Damien than Audrina is.
When she is seven, Audrina meets Arden Lowe and his mother Billie, a former ice skater who is now an
amputee
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...
who had lost both her legs. Billie and Arden have moved into the groundkeeper's cottage in the woods where the first Audrina died. Although she fears the woods, Audrina is willing to brave them to see Billie and Arden, and gradually, Damian consents to these visits. Meanwhile, Lucietta is pregnant again. The family calls Mrs. Allismore, a psychic, to come and predict the baby's gender. They are horrified when she predicts the child is neither male nor female, although Vera calmly states that it is fitting that a new "freak" would join the family. On Audrina's ninth birthday, Lucietta (by then six months pregnant) goes into early labor and dies in childbirth. The baby is a girl named Sylvia.
Lucietta was a great pianist, so to keep her memory alive, Audrina takes piano lessons with Vera at Lamar Rensdale's home. More than two years after her birth, Sylvia finally comes home from the hospital, and it is revealed that she is
mentally challenged
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
. Audrina is told by her father to take care of Sylvia. Audrina complains to her piano teacher about not being allowed to go to school. He intervenes and she is finally allowed to attend school, with Ellsbeth begrudgingly agreeing to care for Sylvia. A few years later, Audrina discovers that Lamar and Vera are intimately involved, and Vera is pregnant. When Vera finds out that Audrina knows about the affair, she angrily confronts and fights with her, and Vera has a
miscarriage. The next day, Vera leaves town with Lamar Rensdale. She leaves a note claiming that she is actually Audrina's paternal half-sister, due to an affair that Ellsbeth had with Damian before he met Lucietta. Damian does not deny it and is relieved that Vera has left. Audrina is upset he acted so badly towards his own daughter, but Damian says Vera hates them all and would destroy them, given the chance. Ellsbeth agrees.
Time passes, and shortly after she turns eighteen, Audrina discovers that Damian and Ellsbeth are lovers again. However, Ellsbeth threatens to leave Damian because he will not let her go and help Vera, who is alone after Lamar Rensdale committed
suicide. She and Damian seem to have resolved things, but the next morning, Ellsbeth is found dead from a mysterious fall down the stairs.
In the confusion following Ellsbeth's death, Audrina
elopes with Arden, hoping to escape her controlling father, and taking Sylvia with her. Because she is not prepared for sexual intimacy, however, her wedding night is disastrous. When the newlyweds return from their
honeymoon, they find that Damian has won over Arden's mother and invited her to live with them at Whitefern. He offers Arden a job at his company since Arden was unable to find work. Audrina is upset at how her father manipulates events to keep control over her life, and disappointed that Billie has been tricked by Damian into believing he is wonderful and kind. She wants Billie and Arden to be happy, however, so she tries to live peacefully with everyone. Things seem okay until Vera returns. Damian orders her to leave, but Billie is heart-broken by his cold-heartedness and convinces him to let Vera stay. Soon after, Vera tries to seduce Arden.
Later, Audrina (and later Vera) discovers that Billie and Damian have become lovers. Audrina is disgusted and attempts to persuade Billie to leave, saying her father only knows how to ruin the lives of the women he loves. Billie says her father has made her feel like a woman again, and Audrina comes to accept their relationship, but later, Billie (like Ellsbeth) falls down the stairs and dies. Audrina suspects Sylvia might have pushed Billie, as she always liked and wanted the cart that Billie used to get around, but protects Sylvia from accusations by others.
Depressed and disillusioned, Audrina pulls away from Arden and Sylvia. During this time, Vera renews her attempts to seduce Arden, and they become involved. At first, Audrina does not care, but then her love and sexuality is finally awakened, and she tells Arden that she doesn't want to lose him to Vera after losing so many other things. They spend the first happy night of their marriage together. When she awakens at night to check on Sylvia, she goes into the first Audrina's room, and for the first time in many years, sits in the rocking chair. She has some clear visions of the day the first Audrina died, which include Arden being there in the woods and running away. Confused and upset, she returns to her bedroom to confront Arden, but she is pushed down the stairs by an unseen assailant. She survives, but falls into a
coma, during which she can hear and see others but cannot speak or move herself. She overhears that Vera and Arden are lovers again, with Arden distraught and implying that he needs Vera. Vera tries to convince Arden to disconnect Audrina's life-support, saying Audrina will never recover, and she would not want to live like this. With Sylvia's help, Audrina awakens and escapes Vera. Her near-death experience convinces her that she cannot die without learning the secret of the first Audrina.
Audrina is angry with Arden and wants Vera out of the house. She confronts her father and demands he tell her the truth about her older sister's death. Damian relents, confessing that the first Audrina never existed. It was Audrina herself who was gang-raped in the woods. Her father had always told her she was pure and good, and the rape left her so traumatized that she attempted
suicide. In an effort to save Audrina from herself, Damian subjected her to
electro-convulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
, trying to erase her memory of the rape. Seeing his daughter strapped down and subjected to electric shock was too much for Damian, so he tried to heal her himself. Following Damian's lead, the family tried to convince Audrina that she was two years younger than she really was, and that the rape had been committed not against her, but against an older sister who died before she was born. Eventually, the repetition of this story worked, and Audrina believed it, which explains her unreliable memory. Since the family deliberately changed the clocks in the house and ripped off calendar days at random, her sense of time was altered. As Audrina listens to her father's explanation, she remembers seeing Arden there and realizes he witnessed the rape but ran away, fearing Audrina's older and stronger assailants. Audrina realized that Arden knew who she really was all along but kept the secret.
As Damian relays the truth to Audrina, Vera appears in the doorway. Upon seeing Vera, Audrina is flooded with clear memories of the day she was attacked and realizes that Vera was the only other person who knew she would be coming home through the woods that day, and knew how to get to the path. Audrina realizes Vera told the boys where to find her the day she was raped. She accuses Vera of acting out of jealousy. Vera denies being involved, but Damian believes Audrina and lashes out at Vera. Vera's reaction suggests she is guilty, but when Damian curses her, she accuses him of never acknowledging her as his daughter and favoring Audrina over her, even though Vera is more like him. She tells Damian that it is his own fault Audrina was raped. Infuriated, Damian rushes at her. When Vera turns to run, she slips and falls down the stairs, later dying from her injuries.
Heartbroken and betrayed, Audrina decides to take Sylvia and leave Whitefern; she is convinced that nothing can flourish in the house but tragedy. She is willing to leave her father and Arden behind if it means escaping her past and the fate of her mother and Vera. Audrina says her final good-byes, but Sylvia refuses to leave. Her sister's simple words of "home, Audrina, home" end Audrina's desire to take Sylvia away. She tries to leave by herself but decides to stay and replace the painful memories with new ones that will be based on honesty and love. Audrina finally feels like she has become the "first" Audrina she always strived to be.
Characters
Audrina Adelle Adare: Narrator of the story. Daughter of Damian and Lucietta; sister of Sylvia; cousin and half-sister of Vera; in love with Arden. She is unable to remember the first seven years of her life but has psychic visions of her dead sister's life. She is described as sensitive and very beautiful, with violet eyes and long "chameleon" (dirty blonde) hair. Her birthday is September 9, making her a
Virgo
Virgo may refer to:
*Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac
* Virgo (constellation), a constellation
*Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo
*Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy
* Virgo Su ...
.
Damian Jonathan Adare: Father of Vera, Audrina and Sylvia; husband of Lucietta; brother-in-law of Ellsbeth. He is mysterious,
tall, dark and handsome
"Tall, dark, and handsome" is a phrase that refers to an appealing man, often found in romantic fiction aimed at women.
History
The term came to prominent use in the early 1900s and was commonly used in Hollywood during the 1920s to describe Ru ...
, a ruthless businessman and overprotective father. He hates Vera, loves Audrina and is ambivalent towards Sylvia. He fears growing old or losing his power. Women love him. Men want to be him.
Lucietta Lana Whitefern Adare: Mother of Audrina and Sylvia; wife of Damian; younger sister of Ellsbeth. Her nickname is Lucky. She is a gifted pianist who gave up a career to marry Damian. She has a heart condition, making her pregnancy with Sylvia one of high risk. She sometimes overindulges in chocolate,
bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
and flirting but means well.
Sylvia Adare: Youngest daughter of Damian and Lucietta; sister of Audrina; half-sister and cousin of Vera. She is born prematurely and mentally disabled. Audrina is the only person who is able to successfully communicate with her. She is described as being very beautiful, with long "chestnut" (brown) hair and aquamarine eyes.
Ellsbeth Whitefern: Mother of Vera; older sister of Lucietta; aunt of Audrina and Sylvia. Her nickname is Ellie. A former schoolteacher, she used to date Damian but he dumped her when she became pregnant with Vera, not believing he was the father, and married Lucietta.
Vera Adare: Daughter of Ellsbeth and Damian; cousin and half-sister of Audrina and Sylvia; lover of Lamar. Vera is described contrarily as conniving and mean yet delicate and vulnerable to injuries. She has
osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may b ...
(Brittle Bone Disease). She has long "apricot" (red) hair, pale skin and dark eyes. She is Audrina's rival, first for Damian's attention, then Arden's. Her birthday is November 12, making her a
Scorpio.
Mrs. Allismore: A "
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...
" hired, then fired, by Damian.
Mercy Marie: Missing and presumed dead, she was Lucietta's best friend. Lucietta and Ellsbeth get drunk and "channel" her spirit during their weekly Tuesday Teatimes.
Arden Nelson Lowe: Only son of Billie Lowe; in love with Audrina. He wants to become an architect but ends up working for Damian. He has dark brown hair and amber eyes and is buff. He is a noble but gullible man who lets Audrina down when she needs him most. Therefore, he must ultimately win her back.
Billie Lowe: Mother of Arden. She resembles
Elizabeth Taylor. She was an Olympic figure skating champion who lost both of her legs after getting
gangrene as a complication from untreated diabetes. She is a friendly, positive person to be around. She becomes a mother figure to Audrina.
Lamar Rensdale: Audrina's and Vera's piano teacher. He helps Audrina by convincing her aunt to allow her to go to school. Unfortunately, he becomes involved in an affair with
underage
In law, a minor is someone under a certain age, usually the age of majority, which demarcates an underage individual from legal adulthood. The age of majority depends upon jurisdiction and application, but it is commonly 18. ''Minor'' may also ...
Vera, resulting in an unwanted pregnancy.
Trivia
* The Norwegian band
Ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
recorded a song called "Audrina, My Sweet"
on their album ''
Proxima Centauri'' in tribute to the book.
* V. C. Andrews drew inspiration for Vera's injuries and the four falls down the stairs from her own fall down a school staircase and subsequent health problems.
* This book can be seen in the photograph found that possibly documents the abduction of
Tara Calico
Tara Leigh Calico (born February 28, 1969) is an American woman who disappeared near her home in Belen, New Mexico, on September 20, 1988. She is widely believed to have been kidnapped. In July 1989, a Polaroid photo of an unidentified young ...
.
*
Sydney band
Toys Went Berserk
Toys Went Berserk were an Australian post-punk outfit that formed in late 1985. They released two studio albums, ''The Smiler with a Knife'' (1989) and ''Sensory'' (1990), before disbanding in early 1992. They subsequently reformed in 1998, 20 ...
wrote and recorded their first song Audrina in 1986 for their debut album Pieces, a double 12" vinyl recorded and mixed in late 1986 and released in May 1987.
Adaptations
* In late 2015, it was announced ''My Sweet Audrina'' would be adapted into a
Lifetime film, starring
India Eisley
India Joy Eisley (born October 29, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Ashley Juergens in the ABC Family television series ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'', Eve in the 2012 film '' Underworld: Awakening'', Saw ...
,
William Mosley,
Seth Isaac Johnson
Seth Isaac Johnson (born July 10, 2000) is a Canadian actor who also has a Behavioral NeuroScience Degree with distinction from UBC. He is most recently known in the recurring role of Eugene in Season 2 of the hit series Firefly Lane. Early in his ...
. It aired on January 9, 2016.
Sequel
* In October 2015 in an interview Andrew Neiderman (the Ghostwriter) announced that he was writing a sequel to ''My Sweet Audrina'', titled ''Whitefern''. This was met with a mixed and mostly unfavorable reaction from V. C. Andrews' core fans. The sequel was released by Pocket Books July 26, 2016.
References
External links
The Complete V.C. Andrews
{{V. C. Andrews
American horror novels
1982 American novels
American novels adapted into films
American young adult novels
American novels adapted into television shows
Novels about rape
Novels about post-traumatic stress disorder