Garden of Shadows (Dollanganger, Book 5)

V.C. ANDREWS

Synopsis from back cover: Long before terror flowered in the attic, thin, spinsterish Olivia came to Virginia as Malcolm Foxworth's bride. At last, with her tall handsome husband, she would find the joy she had waited for, longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filed with hidden rooms and festering desires, a stain of jealous obsession begins to spread...an evil that will threaten her children, two lovely boys and one very special, beautiful girl. For within one innocent child, a shocking secret lives...a secret that will taint the proud Foxworth name, and haunt all their lives forever!

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Pocket Books, 1987.

How acquired: Acquired through BookCrossing.

My thoughts: After having read all the books in the Dollanganger saga, some enjoyable, some forgettable, I looked forward to going back in time with this prequel to see how the Grandmother came to be the cold formidable woman who would hide her grandchildren away in an attic. And while it's certainly not great literature, it is a quick and engrossing story.

We meet Olivia just prior to her first meeting with Malcolm, living with her father and taking care of his accounts, longing for love but despairing of her plain looks and tall stature that turns off would be suitors. Malcolm coming into her life seems like a dream come true, as he looks past all the outside trappings and is interested in the real Olivia. After a very quick courtship, they marry and he takes her to Foxworth Hall. Little does she know – though she quickly finds out-- he has no actual interest in her as a person, but just wanted a wife to run his home and give him lots of children.

V.C. Andrews apparently only had one voice to write in, as Olivia's narration is just like Cathy's in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. Olivia and Cathy are very different characters of course, as Cathy was beautiful and beloved and well aware of it. But it still felt like reading Cathy again at times. And teenage Corrine is very reminiscent of Cathy's adopted daughter Cindy in later books.

But if you just go with everything that happens, it's quite an adequate story to while away an afternoon with. 

Seeds of Yesterday (Dollanganger, Book 4)

V.C. Andrews

Synopsis from Goodreads: The final, haunting novel in the extraordinary story that has enthralled millions!

The horror began with Flowers in the Attic, the terrifying tale of four innocent children locked away from the world by a cruel mother.

The shocking fury continued with Petals on the Wind and If There Be Thorns. Now V.C. Andrews has created the last dark chapter in the strange, chilling tale of passion and peril that has captivated millions of readers around the world.

Cathy and Chris, entwined with the evil that haunts their children, living with the fearful spectre of Foxworth Hall, are awaiting the final, shuddering climax... prisoners of a past they cannot escape.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Pocket Books, 1984.

How acquired: Through BookCrossing.

First line: And so it came to pass the summer when I was fifty-two and Chris was fifty-four that our mother's promise of riches, made long ago when I was twelve and Chris was fourteen, was at last realized.

My thoughts: And so it came to pass, the winter when I was mesmerized by the two previous books in this series, the back cover copy's promise of a last dark chapter in a strange, chilling tale of passion and peril was delivered, but it was neither strange or chilling, being instead a bad convoluted mess.

Bart has reached the age of twenty-five and gotten his inheritance from his grandmother, or rather part of it, because unbeknownst to him her will only gave him a paltry five hundred thousand dollars annually, with the bulk left in trust under Chris' guidance until Bart turns thirty-five. So now the family, joined by Uncle Joel who had been presumed long dead, have all moved to Foxworth Hall, where Bart reigns as master of hearth and home, letting Joel influence him with talk of God and sinners, constantly berating Cathy for her incestuous relationship with with her brother that ruined his childhood, doing his best to ignore Chris, lusting after his brother's wife, possibly causing Jory's career ending injury, and tormenting Cindy so she keeps flying away in a huff.

And none of the other characters are any better. Except Jory, who maintains dignity and grace throughout. Chris is away working much of the time and oblivious to what's going on around him. Cindy is a spoiled selfish wanton brat who desperately needs a good spanking. Melodie is a weak spineless wet noodle. And Cathy – god, Cathy has turned into a self-righteous wimp, judging everyone around her then leaping to their defense, sneaking around spying on others, cowing down constantly trying to appease Bart and make him happy when she should've just given up on this son and gone to Hawaii with Chris.

It didn't take long for me to know how the book would end. Not the Epilogue, but the last chapter. It was truly the only way this book could possibly end.

And...don't scroll down if you don't want to see a small spoiler...

I totally could not buy Bart's sudden redemption. At all. 

If There Be Thorns (Dollanganger, Book 3)

V.C. ANDREWS

Synopsis from back cover: Fourteen-year-old Jory was so handsome, so gentle. And Bart had such a dazzling imagination for a nine year old.

Then the lights came on in the abandoned house next door. Soon the Old Lady in Black was there, watching their home with prying eyes, guarded by her strange old butler. Soon the shrouded woman had Bart over for cookies and ice cream and asked him to call her "Grandmother."

And soon Bart's transformation began...

A transformation that sprang from "the book of secrets" the gaunt old butler had given him... a transformation fed by the hint of terrible things about his mother and father... a transformation that led him into shocking acts of violence, self-destruction and perversity.

And now while this little boy trembles on the edge of madness, his anguished parents, his helpless brother, an obsessed old woman and the vengeful, powerful butler await the climax to a horror that flowered in an attic long ago, a horror whose thorns are still wet with blood, still tipped with fire....

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, published by Pocket Book, 1981.

How acquired: I've had this book in my personal collection for about twenty years. No idea how I acquired it.

First line: In the late evening when the shadows were long, I sat quiet and unmoving near one of Paul's marble statues.

My thoughts: My only real complaints about PETALS ON THE WIND were:

...the dialogue is clunky and unrealistic, and I can't imagine a world where people cry out the (sometimes lengthy) speeches these characters are saddled with. And there is much overuse of exclamation points...

So I'm pleased to report that neither of those problems assailed me while reading IF THERE BE THORNS. The one page prologue is narrated by Cathy, wherein she tells us this is her sons' stories. After that the chapters alternate between fourteen year old Jory, Cathy's sensitive ballet loving son with first husband Julian, and ten year old Bart, her clumsy awkward son with her mother's second husband, also called Bart. Cathy and Chris are now living together as husband and wife, and the boys believe their step-father is the younger brother of Cathy's second husband, Paul.

When an old lady, always shrouded head to toe in black, moves into the mansion next door with her elderly butler, Jory and Bart are disappointed to lose their playground, especially since no children move in. But she and her butler soon weave a spell over Bart – the old lady encourages him to call her Grandma and plies him with sweets and toys and a dog and much love and attention, while the butler tells him stories about his real father and his great-grandfather. At first Bart thinks the stories are just that, made up lies, but as he reads Malcolm Foxworth's journal, he seems turn into an old man himself, convinced that his mother is a sinner and must be saved from hell fire.

After the first two chapters, which are titled “Jory” and “Bart”, you can tell almost immediately which brother is narrating as the author gives them distinctive voices.

As Cathy and Chris helplessly watch their secret life start to unravel and the repercussions visited on their sons, the tension amps up and up, so that during the last third of the book I was almost holding my breath at times. With the focus on the boys rather than Chris and Cathy, this entry in the series feels less like a “guilty pleasure”, and not quite as trashy as the first two books. A mesmerizing read that I raced through.

Here's my review of Book 1 in the series, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC.

Petals On The Wind (Dollanganger, Book 2)

V.C. ANDREWS

Synopsis from inside jacket flap: Chris, Cathy and Carrie have escaped the attic prison and set off with money scavenged from the Grandmother's mansion. Two teenagers and an eight-year-old who haven't seen the outdoors for over three years, determined to stay together, determined to survive.

And they are fortunate. They are taken in by a lonely, kindly doctor, who readily shares with them his home, his love, his fortune. But even as the three children build bright new lives, the dark horrors of the attic haunt them. Cathy is reminded daily by the way her brother watches her, by the way Carrie's tiny, tiny body does not grow. And Cathy is also reminded of the other child, who didn't survive the long years in the attic. Then she thinks of her mother, of her mother's brutal betrayal of those who loved and needed her most. And she vows vengeance.

While Chris pursues his dream of becoming a doctor, even while Cathy becomes a successful ballerina, she dedicates herself to her plans for revenge. And as her plans become obsession, Cathy risks everything to pay her mother back, and to show her what it's like to suffer at the hands of the one you love most.

Stats for my copy: Hardback, published by Simon and Schuster, 1980.

How acquired: Through Book Mooch.

First line: How young we were the day we escaped.

My thoughts: I reread FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it more than I anticipated, so I don't know why I waited so long to continue the series, other than that I just have so many series to catch up on and so many books to read.

PETALS ON THE WIND picks up immediately after Cathy, Chris and Carrie escape from the Grandmother's mansion, where they board a bus headed to Florida. But Carrie is unwell, complaining of a stomach ache and throwing up. They meet Henny on the bus, who takes them home with her and introduces them to the doctor who she keeps house for. Paul takes the siblings into his home and into his heart, giving them a stable place to live and the semblance of a normal life.

But Cathy aches for revenge. Chris goes off to medical school, and Carrie is enrolled at a private school nearby. Cathy is accepted as a student at a ballet studio while also attending high school. And while Julian, the son of the instructors, falls madly in love with her, as does Paul, despite the many years that separate them in age, she makes plans to move near her mother and seduce her husband.

Despite the melodrama, some (but not all) of the narration is beautifully written, descriptive and evocative, yet the dialogue is clunky and unrealistic, and I can't imagine a world where people cry out the (sometimes lengthy) speeches these characters are saddled with. And there is much overuse of exclamation points, as in this paragraph:

“Right! You bet I'll take you home!” he spat at me as I crouched near the passenger door he had locked. He shot me a fierce, distraught look then bore down hard on the gas pedal! We sped down all those rain-slick streets, and every so often he'd glance my way to see how I was enjoying the terrifying ride! He laughed, wild and crazy, then braked so fast I was flung forward so my forehead struck the windshield! Blood trickled from the cut. Next he snatched the purse from my lap, leaned to unlock my door, then he shoved me out into the pouring rain!

Seriously! Way too many!

Cathy is not a particularly likable character, despite the fact that all the males of the species seem to fall all over themselves around her. And the love Chris harbors for her should've been mega creepy, but I just felt sorry for him and half the time was rooting for him over Paul (a kind and compassionate man) and Julian (a selfish arrogant prick).

In the end, while it's not great literature, it is very compelling, and as soon as I'd read the last page I immediately started the next book, IF THERE BE THORNS.  

Flowers In The Attic

V.C. ANDREWS

My sister and our friends and I all devoured these books when they were first published, which has been eons ago. Despite the many years that have passed, the story was still pretty fresh in my mind when I picked it up to reread, and I kept anticipating scenes coming up.

Our narrator is Cathy, age twelve when the story begins. Her brother Christopher is fourteen, and the twins, Carrie and Corrie, are five. They live a happy, idyllic life with their beloved parents. Then one day their lives are shattered when their father is killed in a car accident.

Corinne, their mother, takes them to her childhood home, where she has told them they are going to live with her parents. However, when she was young, she angered her father, and he disowned her. Now she must ingratiate herself to him to earn his forgiveness and get him to love her again, and put her back in his will. He is very ill and will die any day now. She tells her children this is their only hope for the future, as she has no skills and cannot possibly support them on her own.

When they arrive in the dead of night, their grandmother meets them and ushers them quickly through the house to a room on the top floor, where the children find themselves locked in and left alone. Thus begins their lives as the Flowers in the Attic. The grandmother brings them food every morning. Their mother visits often, bringing gifts and telling them stories about her exploits in secretarial school, and her attempts to get her grandfather to love her again. Then she comes less often. The children, especially Cathy and Chris, grow older, begin to mature into young adults. Sexually aware young adults.

The book is a compelling and quick read, and was much better written than I expected or remembered. Twisted, incestuous, and yet highly enjoyable.

(I received this book through BookCrossing).