History Literature / Heaven1985

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: Luke is a real piece of work, but his parents love him. Part of it is that because he's their younger, and the only child left to them. They have 5 sons incarcerated, and one son who died young due to health issues.

* {{Expy}}: Heaven and Fanny's relationship, at times that of [[Literature/SenseAndSensibility Elinor and Marianne Dashwood]] i.e. the whole FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling trope they play, not to mention that like Marianne, Fanny is [[ParentalFavoritism the favorite]] whereas Heaven ''isn't''. Given that one of the authors Heaven is fond of is Creator/JaneAusten, it probably wasn't that unintentional.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Heaven and Fanny, starting with Heaven's resentment of Fanny's loving relationship with their father, even as he ignores and outright abuses Heaven. It continues as Fanny's reputation at school tars Heaven with the same brush, leaving Heaven to fight off accusations that she's as easy as her sister. Meanwhile, Fanny envies Heaven's ability to win genuine love and tries to seduce Heaven's high school sweetheart away from her.
* GoodStepmother: Sarah is run ragged by poverty and Luke's inconsistency and promiscuity. But the fact that Heaven isn't her own daughter is a non-issue. The only times Sarah takes issue with Heaven, it's when she's mad at life and Heaven just happens to be nearby to absorb her anger. When her AbusiveParent tenancies come out, they land on all the kids equally.

* HappilyMarried: Amidst a sea of dysfunctional and abusive relationships, Annie and Toby have a sweet, loving relationship. Annie urges Heaven to "make sure t'marry t'right one, like I did." Toby is absolutely gutted by her death and is never the same after.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Luke calling Sarah "heartless" for abandoning her children is a little much coming from someone who deserts his family for long periods of time, only occasionally stopping by to leave them some basic necessities and later even ''sells his children'' to fund treatment for his syphilis (which he got because of all the unprotected and adulterous sex he was having with prostitutes)! That's not even going into the fact that Sarah might not have run away if he'd ever supported her or helped her with the kids and the house and ''his'' parents once in a blue moon!

* TheLostLenore: Leigh to Luke. Partially deconstructed in that -- even as enamored with her as he was -- he was still cheating on her with Sarah. Tom is 4 months younger than Heaven, meaning that Sarah was 5 months pregnant when Leigh died. And Leigh and Luke were only together for less than a full year -- she was 14 and 3 days when they met, and she was still 14 when she died. And even for that short of a period, Luke couldn't be faithful.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: SubvertedTrope. On two separate occasions, Fanny aggressively hits on Heaven's boyfriend Logan and Heaven -- clearly insecure and seeking reassurance -- asks Logan what he thinks of Fanny. Madonna-Whore is the obvious contrast to draw between the Casteel sisters, especially in this situation where Heaven pushing him to say something about the two of them and why Heaven is the preferable one. But Logan refuses to criticize Fanny. Both times he simply says that Fanny is great, and Heaven is also great and ''she'' is who he wants.

* ReallyGetsAround: Fanny is already messing around with boys in the cloakroom at 11. Her family has already written her off as a lost cause.

** Heaven and Fanny. Heaven is modest, prideful, and self-sacrificing; Fanny is wanton, attention-seeking, and selfish, and irresponsible. They invariably clash.
** Keith and Our Jane. Keith is the gentle, shy, tender-hearted little brother while Our Jane is brash, affectionate, and a little bit of a show-off. Unlike Fanny and Heaven, however, Keith and Our Jane's relationship is particularly harmonious, to the point that they're described as "heart-felt twins."

* YoungerThanTheyLook: A regular theme as Heaven notes how the hills turn people old before their time, both physically and mentally. A prime example is Heaven's grandmother Annie, who is only in her late 50s but looks far, far older.

* EatTheDog: The children are left alone and starving during a blizzard and Heaven finds herself forced to consider killing one of the family's dogs. She gets as far as picking up the ax and heading out the door before she loses her nerve.

* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: Luke is a real piece of work, but his parents love him. Part of it is that because he's their younger, and the only child left to them. They have 5 sons incarcerated, and one child who died young due to health issues.

* IWasQuiteTheLooker: We never see it, but Heaven says that her Granny was once the most beautiful girl in the Willies.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: SubvertedTrope. On two separate occasions, Fanny aggressively hits on Heaven's boyfriend Logan. Heaven -- clearly insecure and seeking reassurance -- asks Logan what he thinks of Fanny. Some Madonna-Whore thing is the obvious contrast to draw between the Casteel sister, and Heaven is pushing for Logan to say something about the two of them and why Heaven is the preferable one... but Logan refuses to criticize Fanny. Both times he simply says that Fanny is great, and Heaven is also great and ''she'' is who he wants.
-->'''Logan:''' ''[blushes, looks uncomfortable, speaks slowly and cautiously]'' I think she's going to grow up to be an exotic beauty. [...] I think of all the girls I've ever seen, and all the girls I hope to see, the one I see named Heaven Leigh is the one with the potential to be more beautiful than any other. I think this Heaven is exceptionally honest and forthright... so if you don't mind, and I hope you don't, I'd like to walk you home every day from now on.\\

* MajorCharacterMainstreamAccent: Most of the characters speak with a FunetikAksent, except Heaven. The {{Watsonian|VersusDoylist}} reason is that she intentionally speaks as "proper" as she can because she wants a different life for herself.

* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Luke preferred his waifish first wife Leigh to his Amazonian, 6-foot-tall second wife Sarah. But while he's less attracted to Sarah, he still reaps the material benefits of her physical strength.

* ParentalIncest: [[spoiler: After he's sold all the other children, Luke comes to Heaven's bed one night. He starts stroking her hair and it looks like he's about to molest her. She's a DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest for her mother. Heaven is afraid, frozen, and pretending to be asleep. But then -- because this is a tiny cabin without privacy -- Grandpa speaks up, lets Luke know he's awake, and stops him. In the conversation that follows, Luke confirms that ''was'' what he was about to do.]]

* PromotionToParent: Heaven and Tom are the eldest of 5. Between their mostly absentee dad and overworked mom, they're often drafted as secondary parents for the little ones, Keith and Our Jane. When [[spoiler:Sarah leaves]], Heaven remarks, [[spoiler:"How oddly Our Jane and Keith took the absence of Sarah, as if they'd always lived on unstable ground."]]

* RiddleForTheAges: What became of Sarah? [[DrivenToSuicide Did she kill her self]]? Did [[TheBluebeard Luke]] kill her? After finding out that she’s left [[DomesticAbuser Luke]] quite bluntly tells the kids that if he saw her again ''he’d shoot her''. Heaven also mentions that people in the Willies have been known to just "disappear" as far removed from society as they are no one’s going to come looking for them. Did she simply succumb to the elements and pass away from natural causes? Did she make a make a new life for herself somewhere? All that’s ever told is that she left a note for Luke reading: [[TheDogBitesBack Loved ya then, hate ya now]] and that’s she’s "looking for something betta". That’s about it! It’s possible that V.C had intended to address the topic but died before being able to do so.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: What goes down with [[spoiler:Cal]] and Heaven is in some ways a lot like what happened with [[spoiler:Paul]] and Cathy in ''Literature/PetalsOnTheWind''. After parental abandonment, heroine finds herself in a new adoptive home in her mid teens. [[spoiler:Her new adoptive father is into her. He grooms her after some fashion. She feels like she owes him. It gets sexual.]] But it's also different on several counts: [[spoiler:Paul's in his 40s, where Cal's in his 20s. Where Paul really does materially provide for the Dollanganger kids in a huge way, Cal does the bare minimum to look good in contrast with Kitty. While Paul arguably grooms Cathy -- namely sending her siblings away to boarding school to get her alone -- Cal ''unambiguously'' grooms Heaven. While there's some stuff in ''Thorns'' that suggests her viewpoint may shift with age, Cathy mostly views her experience with Paul as a love story. Heaven is fairly clear that hers is unwanted.]]

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: What goes down with Cal and Heaven is in some ways a lot like what happened with Paul and Cathy in ''Literature/PetalsOnTheWind''. After parental abandonment, heroine finds herself in a new adoptive home in her mid teens. [[spoiler:Her new adoptive father is into her. He grooms her after some fashion. She feels like she owes him. It gets sexual. But it's also different on several counts: Paul's in his 40s, where Cal's in his 20s. Where Paul really does materially provide for the Dollanganger kids in a huge way, Cal does the bare minimum to look good in contrast with Kitty. While Paul arguably grooms Cathy -- namely sending her siblings away to boarding school to get her alone -- Cal ''unambiguously'' grooms Heaven. While there's some stuff in ''Thorns'' that suggests her viewpoint may shift with age, Cathy mostly views her experience with Paul as a love story. Heaven is fairly clear that hers is unwanted.]]

* TragicStillbirth: [[spoiler:Sarah's fifth baby is stillborn and deformed. The pregnancy already was pushing Sarah to her breaking point, and the loss of the baby pushes her even further. Afterwards, Luke goes to the doctor and is diagnosed with syphilis. He got it at the brothel and passed it to Sarah. ]]

-->'''Granny:''' What's wrong with ya, girl, what's wrong? Ain't ya done guessed? That girl that yer pa called his angel, she was yer ma!

-->'''Granny:''' An she tried, give Sarah credit fer that. She made ya a good motha, treated ya like ya were her own. Nursed ya, loved ya.

* TheLostLenore: Leigh to Luke. Partially deconstructed in that -- even as enamored with her as he was -- he was still cheating on her with Sarah. Tom is 4 months younger than Heaven, meaning that Sarah was 5 months pregnant when Leigh died.

-->'''Granny:''' He was betta then, chile Heaven--even if ya don't believe it. Why, in t'days when yer angel ma were alive he'd set out fer work early each mornin, drivin his old pickup truck down t'Winnerrow where he was learnin all about carpentry an how t'build houses an such. He used t'come home full of nice talk about buildin us all a new house down in t'valley, an when he had that house, he were gonna work t'land, raise cows, pigs, an horses...

-->'''Granny:''' Ya jus make sure t'marry t'right one, like I did, that's all. An wait till yer old enough t'have good sense. Say fifteen.

** Heaven feels unloved by Luke, and desperately craves to be loved by him. At one point she fantasizes about reaching out and touching his cheek. At another point [[spoiler:he comes to her bed at night and starts stroking her hair and it ''really'' looks like he's about to molest her. And then -- because this is a tiny cabin without privacy -- Grandpa speaks up, lets Luke know he's awake, and stops him. In the conversation that follows, Luke confirms that ''was'' what he was about to do.]]

* PromotionToParent: Heaven and Tom are the eldest of 5. Between their mostly absentee dad and overworked mom, they're often drafted as secondary parents for the younger ones. When [[spoiler:Sarah leaves]], Heaven remarks, [[spoiler:"How oddly Our Jane and Keith took the absence of Sarah, as if they'd always lived on unstable ground."]]

''Heaven'' is a novel by Creator/VCAndrews first published in 1985. The first in ''Literature/TheCasteelSeries''.

** Siblings Tom and Heaven both gush about how attractive the other is. Tom states that if Heaven weren't his sister, he'd marry her. It's also a SubvertedTrope -- when both Sarah and Luke are gone and they're alone, {{Promoted to Parent}}s for their younger siblings under disastrous circumstances, worried about survival, leaning heavily on each other and on the brink of emotionally imploding, it's heavily reminiscent of ''Literature/FlowersInTheAttic'' and it seems like it might go the same way that series did. Then it doesn't.

* GoodStepmother: Sarah is run ragged by poverty and Luke's inconsistency and promiscuity. But the fact that Heaven isn't her own daughter is a non-issue. The only times Sarah takes issue with Heaven, it's when she's mad at life and Heaven just happens to be nearby to absorb her anger.

** In contrast, Luke's favorite is Fanny, who he dotes on. Fanny's oversexed ways when she's not even yet a teen suggests the possibility [[PromiscuityAfterRape she was sexually abused]]. And Fanny ''does'' explicitly draw a connection between Pa and her boyfriends:

* MoralityChain: Granny says Leigh made Luke want to be a better man.
-->'''Granny:''' He was betta then, chile Heaven--even if ya don't believe it. Why, in t'days when yer angel ma were alive he'd set out fer work early each mornin, drivin his old pickup truck down t'Winnerrow where he was leamin all about carpentry an how t'build houses an such. He used t'come home full of nice talk about buildin us all a new house down in t'valley, an when he had that house, he were gonna work t'land, raise cows, pigs, an horses...

* TeenPregnancy: Completely ubiquitous in the hills. Leigh and Sarah both married Luke at 14. 16 is considered an OldMaid.

** Heaven feels unloved by Luke, and desperately craves to be loved by him. At one point she fantasizes about reaching out and touching his cheek. At another point [[spoiler:he comes to her bed at night and starts stroking her hair and it ''really'' looks like he's about to molest her. And then -- because this is a tiny cabin without privacy -- Grandpa speaks up, lets Luke know he's awake, and stops him. In the conversation that follows, Luke confirms that's what he was about to do.]]
** In contrast, Luke's favorite is Fanny, who he dotes on. Fanny's oversexed ways when she's not even yet a teen suggests the possibility [[PromiscuityAfterRape she was sexually abused]]. And Fanny ''does'' explicitly draw a connection between the two in her dialogue.

** Siblings Tom and Heaven both gushing about how attractive the other is. Tom states that if Heaven weren't his sister, he'd marry her.

** Heaven feels unloved by Luke, and desperately craves to be loved by him. At one point she fantasizes about reaching out and touching his cheek.

* WrongNameOutburst: Sarah recounts one time Luke called her "Angel" during sex -- while Leigh was still alive and he was cheating on her!

* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:Sarah's fifth child was stillborn]].

* GoodStepmother:

** In contrast, Luke's favorite is Fanny, who he dotes on.

* MissingMom: Heaven's biological mother Leigh died in the backstory, and then her stepmother Sarah runs off after delivering a stillborn child.

* PromotionToParent: Heaven and Tom

* TheLostLenore: Leigh to Luke. Partially deconstructed in that -- even as enamored with her as he was -- he was still cheating on her with Sarah, even before she died.