Trivia / Heaven (1985)

• Reality Subtext: Kitty dies of breast cancer. V.C. Andrews herself died of breast cancer in December 1986. Heaven was published near the end of 1985. According to her sister-in-law, Joan, at this point Andrews already knew she had a lump but didn't do anything about it — the same way Kitty handles it.
  Joan: She knew she had a lump on her breast, but would not take care of the situation until she finished the current novel she was working on and also the sequel. By then the cancer had begun to spread.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Ann Patty, Andrews' editor, confirmed that Heaven was based on the story of an unknown woman who was sold by her father when she was young. This woman wrote a manuscript based on her life, but since it was deemed unpublishable, it was given to Andrews as a template, with both Andrews and the woman making notes. However none of the other books in the series are in any way rooted in the woman's life.