History Literature / PetalsOnTheWind

* CockFight: In a {{downplayed|trope}}, [[PlayedForLaughs comedic]], and unusually innocent version, Paul and Chris vie for the position of Cathy's next husband by being good stepfathers to her son Jory and buying him lots of stuffed animals.
* ColdBloodedTorture: As tortures go, it's pretty light, but [[spoiler: Cathy finally does get to inflict some physical pain on the now-senile and disabled grandmother]]. She is a bit horrified by herself for it.

* SanitySlippage: Corrine becomes increasingly unstable as all the secrets finally spill out and catch up to her. The extent is unclear, as while she alternates between rational actions, like destroying evidence, to the highly irrational, such as admitting to the arson plot while addressing Chris as her dead husband.

* SayingTooMuch: Cathy is so worried over the possibility of her and Chris' sexual encounter resulting in offspring that, when the rumor that her vaginal procedure was actually an abortion (of Paul's child) comes up, she's focused entirely on the ''abortion'' aspect and demands the truth from Paul. [[DelayedReaction They argue for a minute]] before realizing her genuine doubts of a pre-Paul pregnancy mean ''Chris'' would have been the father. Luckily Paul recognizes the twisted nature of their lives at that point and doesn't judge.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Cathy believes her mother is only feigning insanity at the end of the novel to avoid being convicted for her murder of Cory. Whether this is actually the case or not is never confirmed: There are points during the climax where she's clearly become extremely unstable (addressing Chris as her long-dead husband while incriminating herself for poisoning their children), but also acts fairly rationally (DestroyingTheEvidence, getting the witness to her confessions killed). It ''seems'' that realizing she's finally lost the trust and been rejected by her most beloved child is what drives her off the deep end, but even that might have been an act.

* TheScapegoat: Corrine. While Corrine is legitimately at the root of many of her children's current issues, Cathy also performs some serious mental gymnastics to blame her for ''anything and everything'' that goes wrong with their lives. One example is that Cathy blames Corrine for her attraction to Chris, since she locked them in an attic, setting up the SituationalSexuality and ASharedSuffering that bonded them together. But at the end, when Cathy and Chris get married, Cathy flips this around and says it's Corrine's fault she ''didn't'' see they were endgame for so long, because Corrine once told her, "Marry a man with dark, dark eyes, Cathy. Dark eyes feel so terribly intense about everything."

** Many people deride this book for shoddy writing, not seeming to realize the story is being told from the perspective of a screwed-up and deeply traumatized woman. Cathy's actions aren't always justifiable--but she portrays them as justified. She portrays men as enraptured with her beauty and falling in love with her instantly--but she seems to solely attract abusive scumbags. She portrays Chris as obsessed with her and constantly making unwanted advances towards her--but often "finds herself" kissing Chris, weeps when he leaves after a visit, and stares at him so often ''several'' other people comment on it, making it clear she has her own lingering feelings for him too.

* PlatonicCoparenting: Both Chris and Paul are happy to co-parent Cathy's dons. Amusingly, Jory, who had always been insecure over not having a dad, is ecstatic to have "two daddies", but his classmates don't understand when he tells them. "Maybe I don't tell it right."
-->'''Chris:''': "I'm sure you don't tell it right."

* HasTwoMommies: Jory, who had always been insecure over not having a dad, is ecstatic to have "two daddies" (Paul and Chris), but his classmates don't understand when he tells them. "Maybe I don't tell it right."

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Cathy believes her mother is only feigning insanity at the end of the novel to avoid being convicted for her murder of Cory. Whether this is actually the case or not is never confirmed.

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: There are quite a few affairs, and--while it's not quite clear where the ''book'' falls on this mortally--the ''characters'' take multiple stances.

* DudeMagnet: Cathy has four love interests in the course of this book. However, it's subtly {{deconstructed|Trope}}. ''Not a one of them'' are classically good partner material -- for example, ''all four'' raped a woman a some point. The fact that Cathy is consistently pulling the attention of ''these'' guys is not a flex, it's not a sign of how hot or enigmatic she is. It's the BirdsOfAFeather principle: Cathy consistently attracts the attention of messed up men because she herself is messed up.

** Julia, thanks to whatever happened to her as a child.
-->'''Paul:''' I talked to her mother about our problem, and her mother hinted at some dark secret in Julia's past, a cousin of hers who'd done something to Julia when she was only four. I never learned just what he'd done, but whatever it was, it spoiled sex forever for my wife.

*** During a D&C procedure, the embryo or fetus is ''dismembered''. It results in a bloody mess of sometimes-visually-identifiable body parts, but not an intact specimen like the one Paul has preserved in a jar. If VC Anderews knew this, Paul could've put Cathy's accusations to rest by telling her so.

* AwfulWeddedLife: Paul and Julia. She hated sex and rebuffed all his attempts at helping her get over her fears, resulting in their only sex life being when he would force himself on her. After they had their son, she cut him off, and the marriage was apparently not very good outside of the bedroom either, worsening even more once she found out about his adultery--"She stopped speaking to me at all, unless Scotty was around"--culminating in her killing their son and herself to get back at him.

* ParalyzingFearOfSexuality: Julia, thanks to whatever happened to her as a child.

-->Oh, golly-lolly! I used my little-girl exclamation of delight, of surprise, of dismay or frustration, though I had better and more accurate words at my disposal now.

* DudeMagnet: Cathy has four love interests in the course of this book. However, it's subtly {{deconstructed|Trope}}. Not a one of the four of them are classically good partner material -- for example, ''all four'' of them raped a woman a some point. The fact that Cathy is consistently pulling the attention of these guys is not a flex, it's not a sign of how hot or enigmatic she is. It's the BirdsOfAFeather principle: Cathy consistently attracts the attention of messed up men because she herself is messed up.

* HolierThanThou: It's unclear if Alex is ''actually'' like this, but Carrie fears he will be.

** Paul admits to raping his first wife because she was too beautiful for him to resist. When she (quite rightly) tells him he's never to touch her again, he uses the same logic to explain away his numerous extramarital affairs. Finally, he is unable to resist the beautiful now-17-year-old Cathy, even though he has legally adopted her.

* FeminineWomenCanCook: Played with. Cathy is always fighting against expectations of her to be a stereotypical {{housewife}}. When Paul asks if she can cook, she responds that they didn't even have a toaster for three years. She then goes on to say when she's a famous ballerina she will hire someone to do the cooking and cleaning.

* FeminineWomenCanCook: Played with. Cathy is always fighting against expectations of her to be a stereotypical HouseWife. When Paul asks if she can cook, she responds that they didn't even have a toaster for three years. She then goes on to say when she's a famous ballerina she will hire someone to do the cooking and cleaning.

* RemarryingForYourKids: DownplayedTrope. Cathy wants a husband for ''herself'' for all the usual reasons--love, support, companionship, sex, etc--but she ''also'' wants a father for her son Jory, and this is a factor she considers in her suitors. And to their credit, Paul, Chris, and Bart are all pretty good to her son.

-->'''Madame Zolta:''' You will wither away and die!
-->'''Cathy:''' You're a fool if you think that! I can live my life without dancing, and happily too--''so go to hell, Madame Zolta!''
-->'''Madame Zolta:''' ''[suddenly smiles]'' Ah… you have spirit. I was wondering if you did. Tell me to go to hell, it is nice to hear. […] I only needed to know what you are made of. A dancer without fire is no dancer at all.

** Paul was unfaithful to his wife and [[spoiler:raped her, eventually driving her to drown his son and almost kill herself]].

* DiedOnTheirBirthday: Julia kills Scotty on his 3rd birthday as part of a MurderSuicide.

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Julia murders Scotty on his birthday. Later, Cathy discovers she's pregnant with Julian and Bart's children shortly before each man is killed.

* TheyDo: After a decade and a half of WillTheyOrWontThey, Chris and Cathy get married (not legally, but practically) and co-parent her kids.

* DeadGuyJunior:
** {{Portmanteau}}: Julian + Cory = Jory
** Bart is named for his father as well.
* DeathBySex: Trampy Yolanda dies in the car accident that crippled Julian, not long after taunting Cathy about how she has replaced her in their bed. The womanizing Julian dies too, although that's suicide due to despondency over his injuries.

** When Cathy starts bleeding and is rushed to the hospital, when she gets D & C (dilation and curettage). At the time it's said to be missed periods that clotted. Later, Amanda claims it was an abortion and that there was an embryo. It's not, but it could have been a miscarriage--the procedure is the same, to remove any leftover material that can cause an infection. Given the timing, this would've been her baby with Chris via attic sex. The embryo is said to be "two-headed embryo with three legs--twins who didn't separate properly." ConjoinedTwins are a random chance event, not caused by any genetic factor, but still this brings to mind all of Cathy's fears about misformed incest babies.

* TheScapegoat: Corrine. While Corrine is legitimately at the root of many of her children's current issues, Cathy also performs some serious mental gymnastics to blame her for ''anything and everything'' that goes wrong with their lives.
** See InsaneTrollLogic above for one example.
** Another of the more outlandish examples is that Cathy blames Corrine for her attraction to Chris, since she locked them in an attic, setting up the SituationalSexuality and ASharedSuffering that bonded them together. But at the end, when Cathy and Chris get married, Cathy flips this around and says it's Corrine's fault she ''didn't'' see they were endgame for so long, because Corrine once told her, "Marry a man with dark, dark eyes, Cathy. Dark eyes feel so terribly intense about everything."

* FeminineWomenCook : Played with. Cathy is always fighting against expectations of her to be a stereotypical HouseWife. When Paul asks if she can cook, she responds that they didn't even have a toaster for three years. She then goes on to say when she's a famous ballerina she will hire someone to do the cooking and cleaning.

* ImaginaryFriend[=/=]PeerlessLoveInterest: Cathy has an imaginary lover in the attic: a dark-haired man who dances with her. She personifies this imagined lover with all of the men she goes after. Julian most of all: they have amazing onstage chemistry, and when they dance together it's like dancing with her attic dancer. But even Chris--who is blond and a poor dancer--gets calls her attic lover when humming a ballet tune and Cathy is feeling sappy about him.
-->'''Cathy:''' I used to [dance] in the attic, and always just ahead a dark-haired man danced with me. We never touched, though we tried to. I never saw his face, though I wanted to. I said his name once, but when I woke up I couldn't remember what it was. So, I guess I'm really in love with ''him'', whoever he is. Every time I see a man with dark hair who moves gracefully I suspect he's the one.

** When Cathy starts bleeding and is rushed to the hospital, when she gets D & C (dilation and curettage). At the time it's said to be missed periods that clotted. Later, Amanda claims it was an abortion and that there was an embryo. It's not, but it could have been a ''miscarriage''--the procedure is the same, to remove any leftover material that can cause an infection. Given the timing, this would've been her baby with Chris via attic sex. The embryo is said to be "two-headed embryo with three legs--twins who didn't separate properly." ConjoinedTwins are a random chance event, not caused by any genetic factor, but still this brings to mind all of Cathy's fears about misformed incest babies.
-->'''Chris:''' It's short for a procedure in which a woman is dilated, and an instrument called a curette is used to scrape waste material from the lining of the uterus. Those missed periods of yours must have clotted and then broke free. ''[HeldGaze]'' That's all it was, Cathy… ''all'', nothing else.

*** The plausibly of missed periods clotting has been debated amongst fans for years. ''Can'' missed or delayed periods cause sudden bleeding later on? There isn't a clear consensus, but various personal anecdotes seem to indicate that it ''is'' more plausible than it might initially appear.

* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Cathy and Chris have a lot of {{Held Gaze}}s, and other people notice.

--->'''Carrie:''' I'm not dumb, Cathy. I know you and Chris look at each other in the way Alex and I look at each other

** Cathy’s medical emergency during her audition
*** During D&C, the embryo or fetus is dismembered, torn apart. D&C results in a bloody mess of body parts, not an intact specimen that it would make sense to put in a jar and preserve. If VC Anderews knew this, Paul could've put Cathy's accusations to rest by telling her this.
*** The plausibly of missed periods clotting has been debated amongst fans for years. ''Can'' missed or delayed periods cause sudden bleeding later on? There isn’t a clear consensus, but various personal stories seem to indicate that it ''is'' more plausible than it might initially appear.

* FirstGirlWins: Chris eventually outlives all of Cathy’s other love interests, [[spoiler:and becomes her third husband]].

* MayDecemberRomance: Cathy and Paul hook up when she's 17 and he's 42. He specifically refers to them as "April and September." These slightly closer months are more true of their actual ages, and they’re also their birth months respectively.