The five worst mothers in literary history

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. One of Somers's five worst mothers in literary history, as shared at B & N Reads:

Corrine and Olivia (Flowers in the Attic, by V.C. Andrews)

The brilliant trick of V.C. Andrews’ novel about incest, greed, and spectacularly bad parenting is that it initially presents Olivia, the grandmother, as the true Monstrous Mother, and Corrine, the mother, as a goodhearted parent who is guilty of incredibly poor decision-making but not true evil…then it slowly turns the tables, not by making the grandmother a better person but by making Corrine the worst person. Poisoning your children slowly (while forcing them to hide in the attic) in order to assure your inheritance is actually more horrible than locking them in closets for days on end. At least Carrie got to attend gym class from time to time.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Flowers in the Attic is among Jeff Somers's top five books featuring runaway parents and Nicole Dieker's top nine books even non-readers will love.

--Marshal Zeringue