Popular Paperback Novelist V.C. Andrews Dies of Cancer

Popular novelist V.C. Andrews, who sold millions of books about adolescent and family problems against a tableau of horror and suspense, is dead of cancer, her publisher said.

Miss Andrews, who kept her age a secret, was believed to be in her late 40s or early 50s when she died Friday, said Liz Hartman, a spokeswoman for Pocket Books in New York.

Miss Andrews’ seven novels, published almost exclusively as mass market paperbacks, sold more than 30 million copies, Hartman said. Miss Andrews wrote “Flowers in the Attic,” “Petals on the Wind,” “If There Be Thorns” and “Seeds of Yesterday,” all of which detailed the saga of the Dollanganger family.

Her “My Sweet Audrina” stood on its own, without a family theme. Miss Andrews also wrote “Heaven” and “Dark Angel,” which chronicled the fictional adventures of the Casteel family. “Dark Angel,” published in November, was a No. 1 best-seller on The New York Times list, Hartman said.

For the last three years, Hartman said, Miss Andrews has written the No. 1 best-selling original paperback novel of the year.

She said Miss Andrews’ first book, “Flowers in the Attic,” published in 1979, became a best seller and will be her first novel to be adapted for a motion picture, to be released by New World Pictures in March, 1987.

She was writing up until her death, Hartman said.

Miss Andrews is survived by her mother, Lillian Andrews, with whom she lived. She also leaves two brothers.