Virginia Andrews, who lived in Norfolk, Virginia, studied art at college and during the sixties worked as a fashion illustrator, commercial artist, and later a portrait painter.

Her first novel, 'Flowers in the Attic', was based on a true story and became an immediate bestseller on publication in 1979, receiving tremendous acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic and being adapted for the big screen. It was followed by more books about the Dollanganger family, 'Petals on the Wind', 'If There be Thorns', 'Seeds of Yesterday', and a prequel to 'Flowers in the Attic', 'Garden of Shadows'. In addition to these novels, she is also the author of 'My Sweet Audrina' and the Casteel family saga: 'Heaven', 'Dark Angel', 'Fallen Hearts', 'Gates of Paradise' and 'Web of Dreams', all set in Virginia Andrews ' home country, West Virginia, and in Boston.

Virginia Andrews died in 1986, and left a considerable amount of unpublished material.