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Garden of Shadows (Dollanganger #5)

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 13,212 ratings · 216 reviews

Before terror flowered in the attic there was a young girl. An innocent, hopeful girl...

When young Olivia arrives at Foxworth Hall, she thinks her marriage to handsome Malcolm will bring the joy she has longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filled with festering desires and forbidden passions, a stain of jealous obsession begins to spread—an evil that will threaten her ch...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published November 28th 1990 by Pocket (first published January 1st 1987)

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Aug 15, 2007 Neva rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ever wonder why Cathy's grandmother was such a bitch? No? Well, I did. Apparently, so did VC Andrews. It turns out, it was because she was so damn tall, wore her hair pulled back sternly, and was so serious! Oh, and because her husband cheated on her with his stepmother. And then he killed his father, and impregnated his stepmother who gets PUT IN THE ATTIC. Geez, they just stuck everyone up there. So does that make him his...stepsister's father? Well, anyway, the stepmother has a daughter who i...more

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Jun 20, 2007 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rights_of_passage-books, borrowed

The first and most important of the Andrews series. Felt oh so wrong while reading it and yet no girl of my generation could put them down! I enjoyed every page of every book.

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Mar 09, 2010 Amy Demarco rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Like just about everyone else reviewing the Dollanganger Series, I read these books in High School (Late 80s early 90s). I am embarrassed to admit it now but I was very obsessed with the series. Garden of Shadows is the prequel, the Grandmother's story. In my opinion was the best written. It was also the trashiest, but isn't that kind of the point?

I did feel sorry for Olivia in the beginning mostly because Malcolm is purely evil and she hasn't got a friend in the world. The other upper society w...more Like just about everyone else reviewing the Dollanganger Series, I read these books in High School (Late 80s early 90s). I am embarrassed to admit it now but I was very obsessed with the series. Garden of Shadows is the prequel, the Grandmother's story. In my opinion was the best written. It was also the trashiest, but isn't that kind of the point?

I did feel sorry for Olivia in the beginning mostly because Malcolm is purely evil and she hasn't got a friend in the world. The other upper society women laugh at her behind her back. It's the 1920's flapper era and Olivia is a bit behind the times. She also likes wearing only plain grey dresses. Talk about stingy... Anyway Malcolm had multiple affairs, married her for her money (even though he had his own), sleeps in a seperate bedroom and only comes in to rape Olivia.... at least two times since they have two sons together. Mal and Joel. That and Malcolm has mom issues. His mom abandonned him and he married Olivia basically because she isn't beautiful and nothing like his mom. Apparantly Olivia is a big red headed ogre.

Malcolm's dad comes home to live with them. His name is Garland and he is a total pervert. He married Alicia who is only 16 (where is this girl's mother?) and Malcolm becomes obsessed with his new step mom. Alicia is pregnant, very beautiful and I can't stress how many times we have to read about her rich chestnut hair and blue eyes (considering this is VC Andrews, I am a bit surprised Alicia is brunette - she seems to have a thing for blondes). She is also really ditsy and bubbly. This annoys Olivia to death. So this is about where I start hating Olivia because she gets kind of nasty and jealous. For one she tried to kill her when she wanted to check out the attic. Nice. Oh and she also spies on them having sex. Ewww...

Moving forward. Garland dies, I think Malcolm killed him but it was only implied. Olivia found the three of them in the bedroom and Malcolm and Garland were arguing. After Malcolm's dad dies, Alicia goes crazy and Malcolm takes advantage of her and gets her pregnant. Olivia and Malcolm are determined to keep the baby and send Alicia away. Olivia does what comes natural to her and sticks Alicia up in the attic while she pretends she is the one pregnant. She takes care of Alicia's little boy Chris telling him that mom had to go away for a little while. Once Alicia has her baby, she takes her son and flees. She had a little girl (Corrine) that Olivia and Malcolm raise as their own.

The years go by, Corrine grows up to be very beautiful and so incrediby conceited and selfish you just want to smack her. Mal dies in a motorcycle crash, Joel runs off to begin his music career but got lost on some mountain I think...Everyone is sad. Olivia's cousin John Amos comes to live with them and it is the worst idea ever. This guy is crazier than Malcolm and Olivia put together and gives them even crazier ideas.

One day Alicia sends a letter to Olivia and Malcolm asking them to take care of Chris since she is dying. Chris comes to live with them, he is an adult now and gorgeous. They tell Corrine he is her half uncle when he is really her half brother. V.C Andrews loves incest, so wouldn't you just know it they fall in love. Olivia catches them in the act, they are now both disinherited. They run off. Malcolm has a heart attack, lives but is very sick now and can't walk anymore.

The end of the story is pretty much the beginning of Flowers in the Attic. Corrine coming back to live at home with her four "Dresdon Doll" children. I guess we all know what happens next. Kind of cool to see that from Olivia's point of view...

So I guess after this I am supposed to pity Olivia but that only lasted for a couple chapters. It really was the most creative I thought and I did like it just as much as I liked Flowers in the Attic. Didn't like the other books in the series very much. If you haven't read the series read Garden of Shadows first.

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Mar 26, 2012 Mayra rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found the book somewhat more heart-wrenching than the others, but I seriously did not figure out who Olivia was until the middle, and then it all started to come together. Although some details are inconsistent with those from the other books, it was really interesting to see how it all began. Even though I think Alicia was supposed to annoy you a little, I kind of liked her, and I found her a really pitiful character too, especially when Garland died and she was at the mercy of Malcolm.
I did...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Cecilia Solis-sublette added it

Shelves: horror-supernatural

It has been a long while since I finished a book of this length in less than 2 nights. I remember, now, the appeal of V.C. Andrews. Yes, her plots are a little unrealistic and yes, her characters can seem a little falt but both are just fun reading for the beach or whatever. This novel is like reading a good Lifetime movie. Back to the novel itself. _Garden of Shadows_ is fun in its own right but even more fun if you are familiar with _Flowers in the Attic_ as GOS is its prequel and everyone lov...more It has been a long while since I finished a book of this length in less than 2 nights. I remember, now, the appeal of V.C. Andrews. Yes, her plots are a little unrealistic and yes, her characters can seem a little falt but both are just fun reading for the beach or whatever. This novel is like reading a good Lifetime movie. Back to the novel itself. _Garden of Shadows_ is fun in its own right but even more fun if you are familiar with _Flowers in the Attic_ as GOS is its prequel and everyone loves prequels. Here, we get to see how that horrible, stern grandmother - played by Louise Fletcher in the movie - comes to be the austere woman she is. It gives pause for the reader to remember that not all cruel women have always been cruel. Rather, there has been incidents in their lives that have made them the way they are. Knowing what Olivia will become, we are introduced to her as a young girl - a girl with hopes and dreams and visions of love. She is robbed of all and becomes trapped in a loveless marriage to a faithless husband. As the novel progresses, we begin to see how a woman with great intelligence and potential begins to use her gifts towards bad instead of good - warping herself into the hateful grandmother and homicidal grandmother we meet in _Flowers in the Attic_. Corrine, however, remains a mystery. In _Flowers in the Attic_ we meet a woman who is incapable of standing up to her mother and, instead, uses her mother's actions as an excuse to rid herself of her children and move on with the life she left behind as a beautiful socialite. In my reading, Corrine was the real villain of _Flowers in the Attic_. In this novel, we don't really get a taste for how Corrine could have succombed to such a fate. Yes, she was spoiled as a girl; yes, she was haughty and a brat; yes, she felt in love with her half uncle that turned out to be her closer than half-brother. But, to abandon her children to the attic? That sociopathic leaning in Corrine just isn't seen in this novel at all. It would have been better, in my opinion, if we had seen a hint of it here. Perhaps if we had seen evidence that she loved her father for only what he would give her; perhaps if we had seen her show cruelty towards Christopher for failing to give into one of her whims. But, no. In Corrine, we see a rather beautiful and perfect woman - nothing of the monster she becomes in the follow up novel. So, while this novel was a delightful read, it did have its character flaws. But...what a ride. If you've got a day to spare and wouldn't mind some fluff that requires very little thought, why the heck not?(less)

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Dec 20, 2011 sj rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: trashy-tuesday

(Full Review and more on Trashy Tuesday here: http://wp.me/p1Zgyz-8o )

At last, we've arrived at the final installment in the Dollanganger series! I was talking to Becoming Clicheover chat the other day about how thrilled I was to be able to stop reading VC Andrews, and she said something to the effect of "Oh, but Heaven was such a good book! And what about My Sweet Audrina?" I guess this means I will be revisiting this author at some point in the future, but hopefully not any time soon. There's...more (Full Review and more on Trashy Tuesday here: http://wp.me/p1Zgyz-8o )

At last, we've arrived at the final installment in the Dollanganger series! I was talking to Becoming Cliche over chat the other day about how thrilled I was to be able to stop reading VC Andrews, and she said something to the effect of "Oh, but Heaven was such a good book! And what about My Sweet Audrina?" I guess this means I will be revisiting this author at some point in the future, but hopefully not any time soon. There's only so many incestuous relationships a girl can handle at one time, you know?

I think it's interesting to note here, that this was the first VC Andrews book to be published after her death in 1986. It seems that it has been questioned as to whether this book was actually written partially by her before she died - and completed by the ghost-writer hired by her estate to continue her "legacy" - or whether the ghost-writer in fact wrote the entire thing himself. Interesting. I think I prefer the notion that he composed every future Andrews book with the assistance of a Ouija Board. It makes things more fun for me.

(view spoiler)

[heavy sigh]

Thus concludes the Dollanganger saga. It was fun to write about, but I'm pretty glad I'm done with the craziness for now. Up next on the Trashy Tuesday roster: Cave Pr0n!(less)

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Sep 20, 2011 Kristi Bernard rated it 1 of 5 stars

The beginnings of another tale of woe are spun with the same style and characteristic as previews books by Andrews. Whether it is the beginning or the end of her series it is all the same. The reader is taken back in time where it is discovered why the Olivia character, the grandmother from the sequel “Flowers in the Attic” is so mean and hateful. Learning about her past will allow readers the opportunity to either be sympathetic or loath Olivia just as we all did in the sequel. Andrew weaves a...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews is the final installment of the Dollanganger Family Series. A prequel to Flowers in the Attic, it explains the story behind the grandmother’s harsh ways. Like Flowers in the Attic, Garden of Shadows presents a series of horrifying events that make you want to cringe, yet entices you to read more. We learn how the grandmother, Olivia, met Malcolm and discover their marriage was more of a business arrangement than act of love and commitment. Malcolm makes it known...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Garden of Shadows", the prequel to "Flowers in the Attic", goes back to unchartered territory and succeeds in giving a new twist to the Dollangager saga.
"Garden" is the story of Olivia (the Grandmother) - - a few pages about her upbringing by her loving father, before we are taken right into her "arranged" marriage to Malcolm Foxworth, a good looking young man whom she feels love for, but that quickly turns on her wedding night when she is raped. Olivia comes to find out what a horrible, cruel...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

And it's done. I'm finally free of V.C. Andrews, hooray! I felt wrong leaving the series off without having read the last book, the prequel to Flowers in the Attic.

Boy is this a doozy, and it's not a very good one, either. We have more incest, really perverted old men, megalomaniac fathers, slutty bubbleheaded women, and the towering monstrosity that is Olivia Foxworth, the steely grandmamma that is the main antagonist of most of the series.

Oh Olivia. I don't know how V.C. wanted me to feel sym...more

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Aug 30, 2012 A.L. Waddington rated it 2 of 5 stars

I finally finished Garden of Shadows, the fifth installment in the Dollanganger Family series. I had to get it from our local library. It is a prequel to the entire series and is probably the most disturbing. This novel is told from the evil grandmother, Olivia’s point of view and explains how she became the way she was when she imprisoned her four grandchildren for over three years. I found it very difficult to feel any sorrow for this heartless woman when she had everything in the world except...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Balletdancer202 rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I loved this book! It was awesome and explained everything.

Review now contains SPOILERS

The story starts out with Olivia Winfield and she is tall, plain, and would most likely be a spinster. However, she meets Malcolm Foxworth and he proposes to her. Her wedding doesn't go as planned and Malcolm flirts with all the beautiful socialites and ignores Olivia. Afterwords, he takes her to his home, Foxworth Hall. There, she tries to settle into married life with Malcolm (who doesn't even share a room w...more I loved this book! It was awesome and explained everything.

Review now contains SPOILERS

The story starts out with Olivia Winfield and she is tall, plain, and would most likely be a spinster. However, she meets Malcolm Foxworth and he proposes to her. Her wedding doesn't go as planned and Malcolm flirts with all the beautiful socialites and ignores Olivia. Afterwords, he takes her to his home, Foxworth Hall. There, she tries to settle into married life with Malcolm (who doesn't even share a room with her) but it doesn't work out. One night, Olivia discovers the "Swan Room" and Malcolm finds her. He explains that the room is a shrine to his mother, Corinne, who left him when he was five due to having an affair. That same night, Malcolm comes into Olivia's room and demands a son. Olivia complies, but Malcolm screams out his mother's name (to Olivia's embarrassment)and Olivia is heartbroken. Nine months later, Olivia births Malcolm Foxworth jr. (Called Mal to differentiate him from his father). Later, Malcolm demands a girl, but unfortunately, she gives birth to Joel later. Malcolm later ignores the boys and is heartbroken that he can't have a daughter to raise.

Later, Malcolm's father, Garland comes home to Foxworth Hall, with his sixteen year old wife, Alicia, who is pregnant. Alicia is a kind woman and tries to be friends with Olivia, but Olivia rejects. She notices that Garland and Alicia are in love, unlike her marriage to Malcolm. Later, Alicia births a son, whom she names Christopher.
After Christopher is born, Malcolm begins trying to advance on Alicia, who rejects him again and again. One night, when Christopher is three, Garland catches Malcolm trying to advance on his wife, and a fight ensues. Garland dies in the fight. Alicia is horrified and falls depressed. Malcolm uses this against her, and one night, Alicia confesses to Olivia that she is pregnant with Malcolm's child, due to him still wanting a daughter. Olivia is angered and slowly begins to harden into the grandmother from Flowers in the Attic. Alicia is forced into the attic and hide for the duration of her pregnancy, while Olivia will fake her pregnancy. She makes it appear like Alicia has left, and when Alicia is hiding in the attic, she grows close to Christopher. Nine months later, Alicia gives birth to a daughter, whom Malcolm names Corinne, after his mother. After Corinne is born, Alicia takes Christopher away and leaves.

Malcolm ignores the boys and Olivia and focuses on raising Corinne. She grows into a beautiful and spoiled young girl, who begins using her brothers to do her bidding. However, Mal dies in a motorcycle accident, and Joel dies in an avalanche.
When Corinne is fifteen, Christopher comes to Foxworth Hall, due to Olivia receiving a letter from Alicia, who is dying of breast cancer, pleading with Olivia to put him through medical school, which she accepts. When Corinne and Christopher meet, they fall in love, but no one suspects, as they all love Christopher. Later, when Christopher gets an acceptance letter to Harvard, Olivia sees it and rushes to tell him, but, to her horror, she catches Christopher and Corinne making love. She tells Malcolm, who disinherits them. He later has a stroke and heart attack, and is confined to a wheelchair.

Years later, Corinne writes to Olivia, explaining that Christopher is dead due to a car accident. She tells her mother that she has had four children with him: Christopher jr, 14, Catherine "Cathy", 12, and Cory and Carrie, 5. She begs her mother to let them come to Foxworth Hall. Olivia agrees, on the condition that the children must be locked away. Corinne agrees to this, due to wanting to inherit Malcolm's fortune, as he is dying. The five of them arrive in darkness, and the children are settled into the same room Alicia was in years before. Olivia tells of her wishes to hide the children away forever. The book ends with the sentence: "I locked the door behind me." (less)

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Jun 19, 2011 Kolleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: strange-but-good

Well, I have to admit I wasn't too excited about reading this book. It is a prequel, and usually those aren't too great, and by this point I was a little bit over the Dollangangers. But, upon finishing this book I came to three conclusions:

1.) This was one of the better books in the series.

2.) Although this is a prequel, and some suggest to read it first, please read it last. It has a shocker of an ending that makes the whole series worth it.

3.) And lastly, you have to read it to finally underst...more Well, I have to admit I wasn't too excited about reading this book. It is a prequel, and usually those aren't too great, and by this point I was a little bit over the Dollangangers. But, upon finishing this book I came to three conclusions:

1.) This was one of the better books in the series.

2.) Although this is a prequel, and some suggest to read it first, please read it last. It has a shocker of an ending that makes the whole series worth it.

3.) And lastly, you have to read it to finally understand all of what just happened in the previous books. What the hell!

This book is told from the grandmother's viewpoint and follows her courtship and marriage with Malcalm. They have children, and Malcolm becomes a real douche bag and cheats on her with his stepmother (oh, yes there is incest all around, and it only gets worse!). During this affair, or let's be honest, rape of his stepmother, she conceives a child named Corrine. She already has an older child named Christopher, and things start falling into place. Grandmother raises Corrine as her own to cover up the affair, and never lets anyone know that Christopher and Corrine are actually brother and sister rather than uncle and niece. Confusing, yes, but once it sinks in these books take on a whole new meaning.

Poor Corrine and Christopher who started the endless cycle of sin that wove its way throughout generations of children to come after, all because of a secret that was kept from them because of a mother's shame. And after all, we learn that although Malcolm is a sleazeball, he had room in his heart for Corrine and her children after all, but it was Grandma that refused to let them in, jealous of Malcalm's love for his daughter, forcing them to spend their days locked in the attic. Ahhhh, it all makes sense now.

There were times I felt sorry for Olivia (aka Grandma) because she really was dealt a shitty hand of cards, but she didn't have the strength to overcome it, but rather became a spiteful bitch. Overall, I enjoyed this series and would recommend it to anyone who likes things a little bit on the strange side.

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Mar 20, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-fiction

Good stuff! An interesting look back into the crazy that bred the Dollanganger psychodrama. It was frighteningly easy to sympathise with Olivia during most of the book, especially in the beginning. As a youngster she was actually much more relatable and likeable than Corinne and Cathy as an adult; bookish, steadfast, insecure and intelligent. It's sad what happened to her when she married Malcolm. She did not deserve any of that.

As usual we have the ghostly spectre of the religious bigot hanging...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Savannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

So... Years after I read this series.. I still can't quite forget it. To say I remember it because it changed my life and the writing was superb would be a lie. I can't forget it because it is probably the most twisted, melodramatic, tale of insanity I've ever let myself get enveloped in. Albeit, I was a teenager when I read the series, but still I start thinking about it and I can't seem to stop.
I loved Flowers in the Attic and the prequel to it: Garden of Shadows. The rest I really could've d...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I began reading this series, I enjoyed the first two books, but by the third and fourth, I began to question why I was still reading them. I didn't have very high hopes when I began to read "Garden of Shadows," but this book restored my faith in the series and I don't feel the series would have been adequately completed without this book. "GoS" takes us back to the very beginning, giving a little insight as to why Olivia is such a religious bitch and why she treats her grandchildren the way...more

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Apr 19, 2009 travelmel rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-my-teens

Thanksfully I can say that I had finally had my fill of these characters by the time this book came around. I have a feeling most people did as this was the last in the series - I think. Also, I was 3-4 yrs older by this time, that might have made a difference.

QUOTE FROM JESSICA:
I can't (for me: shouldn't) rate these books, because giving a bad rating would be a lie -- I was crazy about them when I read them -- but giving them a good rating would be misleading because it would lead you to belie...more

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Mar 01, 2009 Gaby rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 11th-grade-advisory

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 29, 2011 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: mature young adult readers

Shelves: teens, favorites

Though I know that Garden of Shadows is the last in the series, I decided to read it first, since it is the first in terms of chronology. I'd only seen bits and pieces of the movie rendition of Flowers in the Attic, but I do remember being intrigued by the story. So, when this book popped up at the library I volunteer at, I decided why not finally get into the series?

I knew ahead of time that there were some dark and disturbing themes in this series -- rape, incest, and so on -- but I still foun...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Melinda Grooms rated it 4 of 5 stars

Last book of the series and it doesn't fail to deliver. A prequel to Flowers in the Attic, the book changes perspective and shows things from the grandmother's point of view. We learn that the grandmother, Olivia, met the grandfather and discover their marriage was more of a business arrangement for him, but she had hopes it of being more.

Once married we learn that Corrine - the mother - is not Olivia's biological daughter and is actually Christopher's (her husband) half sister and half niece....more

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Jun 07, 2012 Sezin Koehler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-monsters-2-research, american-monsters-3-research, american-monsters-future-research, american-monsters-marilyn-research, crime, horror, tales-of-survivors

What VC Andrews has done with this book is quite brilliant: She's gone to the beginning of the Flowers in the Attic saga and told how things started from the perspective of the grandmother we come to hate in the other books. I feel a bit torn up inside because once seeing things from her perspective -- a far more measured and understandable one that what we've seen in the other installments of this tragedy -- it puts an entirely new spin on this horrific tale.

To get the maximum effect of eerie...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Lynnette rated it 1 of 5 stars

Absolutely detest this book!!! I was really getting into VC Andrews and the way she really makes you care about her characters. However, all i could feel was pity, shame, sadness, and despair for the main character and her "family". Every time this woman and her family seemed to have a turn of good fortune or any happy moment, then a huge storm of ugliness would come explode them into the misery of their existence. My gosh. It was terrible. I couldn't put it down and stop reading because I kept...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

This was a very interesting addition to the series. Everything told from the grandmother's point of view! She gets into a very unhappy marriage, her husband has incredibly weird fantasies about his mother who abandoned him, he beds his father's second wife, and fathers a child. This might be the most twisted of all the books in this particular series, and it's compelling. I'll admit, every time I've read Flowers in the Attic I suspected that the mother was more to blame than the grandmother. Cor...more

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Feb 25, 2012 April Rose Mossow rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just love how V.C. Andrews delves into her characters deepest buried demons, and explains what brought them to become who they are. I don't fault Olivia as much as I did when reading FitA. I still think she should have opened up to he children though. Also, They focus too much on the old testament in these books. Peoples love for god was out of fear not love. Had they kept faith in mind and left gods wrath aside it would have turned out differently, I think. But then again, the read would not...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, horror, v-c-andrews, pg-13, crack

I think it's hard to spend 4 books hating on a character and then going back in the 5th and trying to work up some boo-hoo for the character you have been hating on for so long. Plus I wasn't 13 when I read this one so it made it alot harder to read.

I feel like someone should have stepped in at some point and nudged the ghost-writers for V.C. Andrews and told them that humping relatives is actually kinda looked down upon. Of course the formula works - The estate of V.C. Andrews is still pumping...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Meg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mgt-s-2012

Like most “girls” my age I read "Flowers in the Attic" when it came out in 1979. We couldn’t get enough; I went on to read the 2nd, 3rd and 4th books, although I don’t remember enjoying anything after the 2nd book. So I never even noticed when this book, the fifth in the series, and the prequel came out. But I am so glad I came across this! It had great tie-ins to the first book, reading them 30+ years apart I couldn’t believe how many details I remembered from the first book. This book answered...more

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May 11, 2013 Iolanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the most twisted out of every book throughout the series!
It follows the beginning of Flowers, coming from the Grandmother: Olivia's perspective. There are flaws in this book but the plot was so enthralling that I didn't mind at all. I was instantly feeling sympathy for Olivia, she was forced into a life she never dreamed possible and it all turned for the worst.
Corrine and Christopher's relationship was a little underdeveloped and nowhere near as edgy as Cathy and Chris's. Somehow, I fe...more

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Aug 07, 2007 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: twisted

Takes you back to the beginning and makes the Dollanganger story even MORE twisted...

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Oct 27, 2007 KJP rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this series in my preteen-early teen years and just loved it...

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Sep 27, 2007 Victoria Neely rated it 4 of 5 stars

Now you know what started it. I recommend you read this first.

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About V.C. Andrews

Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The An...more Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.

While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.

Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.

After William Andrews died in the late 1960's, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.

Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.

Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the best-seller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.

Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times best-seller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many best-seller lists within its first two weeks.

Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.

Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels--Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts--were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by Andrews herself.

Her novels were so successful that after her death her estate hired a ghost writer Andrew Neiderman, to write more stories to be published under her name.(less)

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Garden of Shadows (Dollanganger #5)

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