Flowers in the Attic / Petals on the Wind / If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday / Garden of Shadows

I was under the impression I was paying for the whole series of 5 books. I only received the pictured book which was Petals in the Wind which is the second in the series I believe. Received full refund and was allowed to keep the book.

The one liner above this sentence is what immediately caught my attention at the bookstore a few months ago.
Okay, so let me get this straight:
Within "FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC", you meet the most perfect heroine you'd ever expect. Her name is Cathy. Her mother is a selfish, elusively beautiful woman with many terrible secrets that should have forever been locked away, or else let go of, if that was possible. And because of Corrine's (her mother) conceited, selfish ways she led her children up to a malicious attic where they had nothing to embrace but the dusty darkness....and each other....(THAT'S RIGHT!)
In "Petals on the Wind", they barely managed to escape the certain fate that one of their siblings had never recovered from, and because of their shameful past and shattered innocence, the children were swept into the loving arms of a parent that dared to love them a thousand more breaths then Corrine ever did! Yet that still didn't stop the past from continuing its dark legacy in the Dollangangers' lives....
In "If There Be Thorns", the evil past grew despite Cathy and Chris's attempts to stop it, and in the final haunting novel of the Dollanganger Series, "Seeds of Yesterday", the past is monstrous in its enraged fury, leading to an unescapable path for the Dollangangers, unless their family finally banishes the evil forever...if that's possible....
And now, when I have regretfully finished the last book of the series, I was fortunate to come across a copy at a bookstore (whenever I go to a bookstore, they're either sold out or they don't have it) of the prelude to this shocking series.
And as I picked this book up, I turned the pages, one after another, bought it, and read it at home.
I loved it. Is just as devastating, emotional, and as remorseful as hell. This was disturbing, stunning, and beautifully put together. Yet, I am confused by many thoughts that won't go away in my mind.
Olivia ("THE Grandmother") was given such a harsh life, one that was greatly portraited in this novel, but how can her stories contradict Corrine's and Corrine's contradict her mother's?
It's very confusing, and though the questions will never be answered, I loved this book.

If you've read the Dollanganger series, you probably remember that the grandmother character in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC had serious issues. But how did she get that way? Aren't you curious?

GARDEN OF SHADOWS is about a girl named Olivia. Tall and plain, she's been raised her whole life as the son her father wanted but never got. Beneath that homely brow of hers is a sharpened mind, and an almost heartbreaking desire to be loved and adored. She's absolutely thrilled when she finds out she's to marry a protege of her father's: the dashing and debonair Malcolm. He seems to like the fact that she's not like other woman, and proposes to her early on. But things are not what they seem, and happiness is elusive.

***WARNING: SPOILERS***

This is one of those books that, like the first two in the series, actually had me setting the volume aside, taking a deep breath, and thinking to myself, "WOW, THAT WAS SO MESSED UP." Over the course of the novel, we see Olivia, maddened with jealousy, betrayal, and impotent rage, slowly lose her desire to please and be loved; instead, she becomes cruel and controlling, using fear to influence where she failed at charm.

And oh, her husband, let's not forget about Malcolm. He never got over his mother leaving him when he was a child, and it's given him a severe complex about women. When his wife still loved him, he flirted with other, prettier women in front of her eyes and let them mock her without saying a word. When his father remarries Alicia, and Malcolm lays eyes on the stepmother who is the spitting image of his own beloved mother in her prime, he sneaks into her room at night and rapes her for months. When she becomes pregnant, Olivia locks her away in the attic and Alicia eventually goes mad.

Then there's Corinne and Christopher, the two who started the Dollanganger legacy...

I'm honestly shocked that this is marked as young adult on Goodreads. Maybe it's because so many people managed to get their hands on these volumes as children and teens, and the parents were none the wiser because of the innocent (but creepy) looking covers and titles. They're tawdry, and full of abuse, incest, sex, and corruption, and people being murdered or tormented.

That said, as a Gothic novel for adults, it's quite compelling. Andrews has a unique and adaptable style, which she manages to tailor for each of her narrating characters while also keeping true to her own style. She's excellent at foreshadowing and providing just enough drama to keep readers turning the pages without every overwhelming them. They're atmospheric and trashy, but not dumb in the slightest. I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series I've read, even if they're a bit much.

Now I kind of want to reread the first two books in the series to see if Olivia's narrative reveals any further clues with the power of hindsight...

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

I recently saw the remake of Flowers in the Attic and was told that there was a book series. The next day I looked on the store and found them for a reasonable price. I was so excited to get them a head of the shipping date. I have not put the book down!!

I always look forward to reading VC Andrews’ books and this was no exception. This is prequel to Flowers in The Attic and how it came to be.. In this installment We meet Olivia who is smart, awkward, very tall and just wants to meet an honest man who loves her for herself and not her family money. She meets Malcolm who she thinks loves her but his is a marriage of convenience. I love the way that Andrews makes you hate certain characters and you don’t want to read anymore , but then you have to keep reading it to see how bad it gets, that is Malcolm in this story for me.
They have 2 sons and a girl who is special to the family and soon jealousy ,obsession and evil comes to the Foxworth Mansion in Virginia..This book starts the horrible curse of the Dollanger Family.. A page turner from the first!!

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 a faithful husband. With the money she had inherited from her father alone she could have left him at any time with her children and made a better life for all of them. Instead she stays in a loveless marriage with a husband who is emotionally abusive to her and her children. Because of the choices she made she ended up lonely and alone.
While this book does explain a lot of why the grandparent’s hatred was so strong, it is sad to think that they took a horrible situation and chose to make it worse. If you have read the first four books then this is a good tie-up for the why’s. It displays the greed of wealth, overindulgence of a selfish child and how some people can never let go of their past to the point that it ruins their future.

(WARNING: SPOILERS ARE ON THE WAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ. FEEL FREE TO COMMENT AFTER READING.
This was a REALLY good book. I have not read a book this good since reading "God don't like Ugly" and that was nearly three years ago. Reading this book really inspired my old love of reading to return. Olivia's description of her journey lends readers the opportunity to travel with her. I read "Flowers in the Attic" but did not get a chance to read the other books.

In the prologue Olivia gave the indication that she knew people judged her harshly about her treatment of her grandchildren. After reading the book you can't help but to see the humanity in Olivia. Despite her husband's affairs, his secondary treatment of her, his humiliation of her, and raping his stepmother leading to the conception of Corrine, Olivia's devotion to him did not waiver. One can't help but to wonder did her love and devotion come later after the stroke or was it there all along? Also I found myself wondering after what Malcolm put her through she should not have mind allowing Corrine's children to be in the house freely...just to spite Malcolm. Even though she was treated as a sub-female she had one serious flaw that was really manifested after being married to Malcolm: envy, borderline hate, for Alicia and any woman like her.

Olivia's treatment and judgment of Alicia was out of line. When people discuss Olivia they often forget about Alicia. She was an overlooked character who played a pivotal role in this book and the other books following. Alicia didn't deserve what happened to her. I cringed when I read the part about her cutting Alicia's hair. I honestly think Olivia enjoyed it because she had made a comment on how she would never have hair soft like Alicia's. I know many readers sympathize with Olivia but this part in the novel really made me look at her in a different light. Alicia tried to befriend Olivia. Alicia wanted to open up to Olivia but her insecurity, envy, and loatheness of Alicia prevented what would have been a meaningful and genuine friendship. Olivia's insecurity led her to covet everything of Alicia's down to her hairbrush. She never had the looks of Alicia but she eventually got her children. Olivia said herself in the novel that she finally had the perfect family consisting of beautiful children, and one of them (Corrine) being the most beautiful baby in that state. She was not able to get this without the help of Alicia's genes. I don't mean to sound condescending but one would have to be analytical of the entire situation to understand where I am coming from.

While talking about the trials of Olivia people often forget about what both Olivia and Malcolm put Alicia through. Malcolm used her because he knew he would be able to produce a beautiful girl with her. Olivia used the situation to her advantage to gain the most beautiful daughter during that time. She didn't adopt Corrine to save face exclusively. Olivia did that to finally gain her dream family. To me it would have been interesting if Alicia's character was more developed. To me her life was harsher than Olivia. The only good thing that came out of her life was her knowing that a man loved and treated her like a princess, something Olivia never had.

And as a result of Olivia's deceit Corrine and Christopher had a bad ending. If someone would have told them the whole truth what eventually happened never would have happened. I guess Olivia figured if she would have told them early on it would have confirmed the fact that they were never hers to begin with and she did not have the prettiest baby in the state after all.

Yeah I know I just gave some harsh reviews about Olivia but it is a fact. When I read a novel I look at the plot at all the angles. Was Malcolm's treatment of her wrong? Absolutely. Malcolm's treatment and disrespect of her led to the Dollanger/Foxworth family curse. He reaped what he sown. They all did. Nonetheless we all can see after reading this novel why Olivia turned into the monster that she did in "Flowers in the Attic". Her daydreams as a girl that turned into a nightmare rocked her to the core. She dreamt of a doll house but in actuality she was none of the characters in the doll house. She looked but couldn't touch because it was all a fantasy. Malcolm, her prince charming, drove her to his haunted castle full of secrets. I was shocked that her cousin John had such a strong influence over her considering the strong minded woman that she was. I will contribute her regard of John to him being the only man besides her father who genuinely cared about her.

Yes she had unlikeable qualities but her good qualities definitely outweighed her bad. Her good qualities fought for dominance over her bad qualities. She lived by God's word the best she knew how. Was her thinking about the children logical? Yes. Was her actions justified? Not really. I say not really because the kids neither did Corrine knew who they truly were. Corrine didn't realize she married her half uncle as well as her half-brother. Olivia should have taken the blame for that. On the other hand the source of the children's conception was immoral and yes Olivia was justified in not allowing them to have full reign of the house. She should have told Corrine to come but the children couldn't come or at least sought some other relatives in Malcolm's family to temporarily adopt them. Anything was better than keeping them locked in the attic. Needless to say Corrine knew she was committing incest because she knew Chris was related to her regardless if she knew it was her brother or not.

Overall I will say Olivia was a good woman who never knew what love was and had dreams but was deeply scarred by events that were inspired by the influence of America's perception of beauty. She was sold a dream but was led to a life of depression and despair.

Again, it was an AWESOME READ! I can't wait to read "Petals in the Wind" and the other sequels. I need to re-read "Flowers in the Attic".

Malcolm was just that bad. He takes this young woman who is on her way to spinstership and attempts to take control of her finances; uses her body as a vessel to carry strong children but then her body fails her and he's through sexually with her then. I only recall him going to Olivia's room twice for relations when he announces why he is there is to only procreate. Olivia is a strong business woman and runs his household the way it should be until Corrinne comes along. Malcolm then usurps Olivia's authority by putting Corrinne's babysitters over her.

In short, Malcolm Foxworth is a monster and no one could ever be as nasty as this maniacal nut! I believe the book is set in the late 1900s when women didn't just pick up and leave when a husband abused them and God knows this man tried Olivia. I stopped feeling so sorry for Sue Ellen after reading what Olivia had to endure. Malcolm gave Olivia his evil all!

Good read, though. 5 stars :)

It's been years since I first read this series and it is still as good as I remember. Everything Olivia went through and the reasons she hardened her heart against Corrine and her children makes so much sense, not that I condone Olivia's actions.

V.C. Andrews was one of the first authors I knew by name and though her books have continued by others, she still remains one of my favorite authors.

What happened in Foxworth Hall before Cathy, Chris, Carrie and Cory moved into the attic? Was Olivia Foxworth always such a monster? Was Malcolm Neil Foxworth that pious, ruthless and ambitious? What about Christopher Sr. and Corrine -- what were they like as kids? All unanswered questions can be found in this prequel to Flowers in the Attic. Set some time in the 1920s, Olivia is a twenty-four-year-old New Englander, a hopeless romantic doomed to spinsterhood. After all, who on earth would marry a six-foot-tall, plain-faced woman? But then Malcolm Neil Foxworth comes along and steals her breath away. He is gorgeous, way out of her league. But he likes her, seems interested in her and what she has to say and likes her independent streak and intelligence. When he proposes marriage, she immediately accepts. Things soon change when she enters Foxworth Hall in Virginia and discovers the monster she's married, a man with a strange obsession with his dead mother and lusts after his father's new young wife. Foxworth Hall strips Olivia of hope, love or sympathy, turning her into a monster just as bad, if not worse than Malcolm.

The ebb and flow in Garden of Shadows are amazing. We are shown how twisted Malcolm is and how Olivia descends into an apathetic person. We find out exactly what occurs at Foxworth Hall and the events that lead to the forbidden love between Corrine and Christopher, and it is far worse than we could have imagined. Yes, the possibility was hinted often, even as far as back as in Flowers in the Attic, but the revelation is nevertheless disturbing. (I won't say what it is so I won't supply spoilers. But I'm sure that fans of this series know what I mean.) The room with the attic has always played a major role in the stories, and is used as a prison long before the Dollaganger children moved in. To my surprise, Olivia is a sympathetic character, or at least starts out that way. You understand why she becomes the way she does; it even explains her hatred and envy toward Corrine. She's actually far less annoying than Cathy. Amazing how the villain turns out to be more likable than the victim in this case. Garden of Shadows is the best book since Flowers in the Attic. Petals on the Wind was good, but everything fell apart in If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday. There was too much storyline, too many different last names and mixed parentage to keep up with. V.C. Andrews's ghostwriter revived the series with a bang. Don't be put off with the fact that this book was ghostwritten. If possible, the person who wrote this book was better at story and character development than the actual creator of the series.

REVIEW: Although released in 1987: V.C Andrews' "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" is actually a prequel to her landmark gothic potboiler "FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC". In that book we are introduced to the cursed Dollanganger family: husband Christopher, wife Corrine; and their four blonde-haired, blue-eyed children Christopher, Cathy, Carrie, and Cory. Their nightmare stay at Foxworth Hall is dutifully chronicled by author Andrews. But with "SHADOWS" she creates an absolutely riveting novel that sucks you into her world and the world of Olivia Foxworth (the hard-as-nails "instrument of God" grandmother who will eventually imprison those kids in the old attic at Foxworth Hall). Here we get to meet Olivia as a young girl; and then as a young lady who is unbearably tall, awkward, and plain (and bereft of hope that any man would take a sincere interest in her as a bride). But because of her father's insistence on business school and in helping him in the office: Olivia's appeal as a wife catches the attention of Malcolm Neal Foxworth who is looking for an intelligent woman who can "appreciate the pursuit of economic success and grow gracefully with it." And so Olivia and Malcolm marry: but the marriage is nothing like Olivia's schoolgirl dreams of living happily-ever-after with "Prince Charming". And as she learns more and more about Malcolm's past (and his twisted psychological preoccupation with his own mother): a terrible pall of evil hangs over the vast beauty of Foxworth Hall which seems to affect everyone that comes to stay there. With "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" V.C. Andrews earns her namesake as one of America's most popular fiction authors. She has an easy-going yet bewitching style that shines like gold in this particular book, her similies are exquisite and acute, and her reputation for creating vibrant characters is readily apparent here. All of which helps to make "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" a masterfully crafted work that far exceeds the "soap opera" nature of its gothic trappings.

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews is the prequel to the Flowers in the Attic saga, written in the perspective of the Dollanganger children’s grandmother. Olivia Winfield becomes mistress of Foxworth Hall when she marries Malcolm, a young, handsome, intelligent business man. But the future she has agreed to does not turn out to be the life size version of her beautiful dollhouse. Corruption and deceit seem to thrive in the vast halls of the mansion, and although she plays the cards she is dealt, cheaters sit at the table alongside her making the game much more difficult. Through it all, Olivia must sift through the broken dreams and shredded dignity to piece together a life and family worthy of the name of Foxworth. There’s always two sides to every story; this is Olivia Winfield Foxworth’s.

Although this is a prequel, it came out after the Flowers in the Attic books and I suggest they be read out of order as well (that is, only if you haven’t read any of them yet. These are not recent writings so a majority of avid readers will probably already have come across these titles either in passing or fully read). Part of the fun of the four books is not completely understanding why it is all happening. Should you read Garden of Shadows first, all of the questions that are created in the saga will already be answered preventing readers from being completely immersed in this thrilling tale. And it really is thrilling. While reading the prequel I found myself jumping back and forth to the other books piecing together the clues and family trees, creating maps and Venn diagrams, and then stepping back to look at the overall picture and just thinking (sorry there is not a more eloquent way of describing my feelings) ooohhhhhhhmmmmyyyyyggggoooosssshhhh! It was sheer brilliance. So much so that it reminded me of the way I felt the first time I read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (that is the highest of compliments as that series is so unbelievably near and dear to me, no words could possibly encompass my love, devotion, and adoration to those books and that author. Getting excited just thinking about it). Similar to the seventh and final HP book, Garden of Shadows filled in all the blanks, completing the circle to create a story that will leave you reeling. It still astonishes me how someone’s mind can work in a way to create all of those characters, relationships, lies, and mysteries and then keep them straight long enough to bring it all together in the end. Just, wow.

5/5 Stars: Garden of Shadows
5/5 Stars: Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If there be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday

I was under the impression I was paying for the whole series of 5 books. I only received the pictured book which was Petals in the Wind which is the second in the series I believe. Received full refund and was allowed to keep the book.

If you've read the Dollanganger series, you probably remember that the grandmother character in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC had serious issues. But how did she get that way? Aren't you curious?

GARDEN OF SHADOWS is about a girl named Olivia. Tall and plain, she's been raised her whole life as the son her father wanted but never got. Beneath that homely brow of hers is a sharpened mind, and an almost heartbreaking desire to be loved and adored. She's absolutely thrilled when she finds out she's to marry a protege of her father's: the dashing and debonair Malcolm. He seems to like the fact that she's not like other woman, and proposes to her early on. But things are not what they seem, and happiness is elusive.

***WARNING: SPOILERS***

This is one of those books that, like the first two in the series, actually had me setting the volume aside, taking a deep breath, and thinking to myself, "WOW, THAT WAS SO MESSED UP." Over the course of the novel, we see Olivia, maddened with jealousy, betrayal, and impotent rage, slowly lose her desire to please and be loved; instead, she becomes cruel and controlling, using fear to influence where she failed at charm.

And oh, her husband, let's not forget about Malcolm. He never got over his mother leaving him when he was a child, and it's given him a severe complex about women. When his wife still loved him, he flirted with other, prettier women in front of her eyes and let them mock her without saying a word. When his father remarries Alicia, and Malcolm lays eyes on the stepmother who is the spitting image of his own beloved mother in her prime, he sneaks into her room at night and rapes her for months. When she becomes pregnant, Olivia locks her away in the attic and Alicia eventually goes mad.

Then there's Corinne and Christopher, the two who started the Dollanganger legacy...

I'm honestly shocked that this is marked as young adult on Goodreads. Maybe it's because so many people managed to get their hands on these volumes as children and teens, and the parents were none the wiser because of the innocent (but creepy) looking covers and titles. They're tawdry, and full of abuse, incest, sex, and corruption, and people being murdered or tormented.

That said, as a Gothic novel for adults, it's quite compelling. Andrews has a unique and adaptable style, which she manages to tailor for each of her narrating characters while also keeping true to her own style. She's excellent at foreshadowing and providing just enough drama to keep readers turning the pages without every overwhelming them. They're atmospheric and trashy, but not dumb in the slightest. I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series I've read, even if they're a bit much.

Now I kind of want to reread the first two books in the series to see if Olivia's narrative reveals any further clues with the power of hindsight...

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

I always look forward to reading VC Andrews’ books and this was no exception. This is prequel to Flowers in The Attic and how it came to be.. In this installment We meet Olivia who is smart, awkward, very tall and just wants to meet an honest man who loves her for herself and not her family money. She meets Malcolm who she thinks loves her but his is a marriage of convenience. I love the way that Andrews makes you hate certain characters and you don’t want to read anymore , but then you have to keep reading it to see how bad it gets, that is Malcolm in this story for me.
They have 2 sons and a girl who is special to the family and soon jealousy ,obsession and evil comes to the Foxworth Mansion in Virginia..This book starts the horrible curse of the Dollanger Family.. A page turner from the first!!

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 a faithful husband. With the money she had inherited from her father alone she could have left him at any time with her children and made a better life for all of them. Instead she stays in a loveless marriage with a husband who is emotionally abusive to her and her children. Because of the choices she made she ended up lonely and alone.
While this book does explain a lot of why the grandparent’s hatred was so strong, it is sad to think that they took a horrible situation and chose to make it worse. If you have read the first four books then this is a good tie-up for the why’s. It displays the greed of wealth, overindulgence of a selfish child and how some people can never let go of their past to the point that it ruins their future.

(WARNING: SPOILERS ARE ON THE WAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ. FEEL FREE TO COMMENT AFTER READING.
This was a REALLY good book. I have not read a book this good since reading "God don't like Ugly" and that was nearly three years ago. Reading this book really inspired my old love of reading to return. Olivia's description of her journey lends readers the opportunity to travel with her. I read "Flowers in the Attic" but did not get a chance to read the other books.

In the prologue Olivia gave the indication that she knew people judged her harshly about her treatment of her grandchildren. After reading the book you can't help but to see the humanity in Olivia. Despite her husband's affairs, his secondary treatment of her, his humiliation of her, and raping his stepmother leading to the conception of Corrine, Olivia's devotion to him did not waiver. One can't help but to wonder did her love and devotion come later after the stroke or was it there all along? Also I found myself wondering after what Malcolm put her through she should not have mind allowing Corrine's children to be in the house freely...just to spite Malcolm. Even though she was treated as a sub-female she had one serious flaw that was really manifested after being married to Malcolm: envy, borderline hate, for Alicia and any woman like her.

Olivia's treatment and judgment of Alicia was out of line. When people discuss Olivia they often forget about Alicia. She was an overlooked character who played a pivotal role in this book and the other books following. Alicia didn't deserve what happened to her. I cringed when I read the part about her cutting Alicia's hair. I honestly think Olivia enjoyed it because she had made a comment on how she would never have hair soft like Alicia's. I know many readers sympathize with Olivia but this part in the novel really made me look at her in a different light. Alicia tried to befriend Olivia. Alicia wanted to open up to Olivia but her insecurity, envy, and loatheness of Alicia prevented what would have been a meaningful and genuine friendship. Olivia's insecurity led her to covet everything of Alicia's down to her hairbrush. She never had the looks of Alicia but she eventually got her children. Olivia said herself in the novel that she finally had the perfect family consisting of beautiful children, and one of them (Corrine) being the most beautiful baby in that state. She was not able to get this without the help of Alicia's genes. I don't mean to sound condescending but one would have to be analytical of the entire situation to understand where I am coming from.

While talking about the trials of Olivia people often forget about what both Olivia and Malcolm put Alicia through. Malcolm used her because he knew he would be able to produce a beautiful girl with her. Olivia used the situation to her advantage to gain the most beautiful daughter during that time. She didn't adopt Corrine to save face exclusively. Olivia did that to finally gain her dream family. To me it would have been interesting if Alicia's character was more developed. To me her life was harsher than Olivia. The only good thing that came out of her life was her knowing that a man loved and treated her like a princess, something Olivia never had.

And as a result of Olivia's deceit Corrine and Christopher had a bad ending. If someone would have told them the whole truth what eventually happened never would have happened. I guess Olivia figured if she would have told them early on it would have confirmed the fact that they were never hers to begin with and she did not have the prettiest baby in the state after all.

Yeah I know I just gave some harsh reviews about Olivia but it is a fact. When I read a novel I look at the plot at all the angles. Was Malcolm's treatment of her wrong? Absolutely. Malcolm's treatment and disrespect of her led to the Dollanger/Foxworth family curse. He reaped what he sown. They all did. Nonetheless we all can see after reading this novel why Olivia turned into the monster that she did in "Flowers in the Attic". Her daydreams as a girl that turned into a nightmare rocked her to the core. She dreamt of a doll house but in actuality she was none of the characters in the doll house. She looked but couldn't touch because it was all a fantasy. Malcolm, her prince charming, drove her to his haunted castle full of secrets. I was shocked that her cousin John had such a strong influence over her considering the strong minded woman that she was. I will contribute her regard of John to him being the only man besides her father who genuinely cared about her.

Yes she had unlikeable qualities but her good qualities definitely outweighed her bad. Her good qualities fought for dominance over her bad qualities. She lived by God's word the best she knew how. Was her thinking about the children logical? Yes. Was her actions justified? Not really. I say not really because the kids neither did Corrine knew who they truly were. Corrine didn't realize she married her half uncle as well as her half-brother. Olivia should have taken the blame for that. On the other hand the source of the children's conception was immoral and yes Olivia was justified in not allowing them to have full reign of the house. She should have told Corrine to come but the children couldn't come or at least sought some other relatives in Malcolm's family to temporarily adopt them. Anything was better than keeping them locked in the attic. Needless to say Corrine knew she was committing incest because she knew Chris was related to her regardless if she knew it was her brother or not.

Overall I will say Olivia was a good woman who never knew what love was and had dreams but was deeply scarred by events that were inspired by the influence of America's perception of beauty. She was sold a dream but was led to a life of depression and despair.

Again, it was an AWESOME READ! I can't wait to read "Petals in the Wind" and the other sequels. I need to re-read "Flowers in the Attic".

Malcolm was just that bad. He takes this young woman who is on her way to spinstership and attempts to take control of her finances; uses her body as a vessel to carry strong children but then her body fails her and he's through sexually with her then. I only recall him going to Olivia's room twice for relations when he announces why he is there is to only procreate. Olivia is a strong business woman and runs his household the way it should be until Corrinne comes along. Malcolm then usurps Olivia's authority by putting Corrinne's babysitters over her.

In short, Malcolm Foxworth is a monster and no one could ever be as nasty as this maniacal nut! I believe the book is set in the late 1900s when women didn't just pick up and leave when a husband abused them and God knows this man tried Olivia. I stopped feeling so sorry for Sue Ellen after reading what Olivia had to endure. Malcolm gave Olivia his evil all!

Good read, though. 5 stars :)

It's been years since I first read this series and it is still as good as I remember. Everything Olivia went through and the reasons she hardened her heart against Corrine and her children makes so much sense, not that I condone Olivia's actions.

V.C. Andrews was one of the first authors I knew by name and though her books have continued by others, she still remains one of my favorite authors.

What happened in Foxworth Hall before Cathy, Chris, Carrie and Cory moved into the attic? Was Olivia Foxworth always such a monster? Was Malcolm Neil Foxworth that pious, ruthless and ambitious? What about Christopher Sr. and Corrine -- what were they like as kids? All unanswered questions can be found in this prequel to Flowers in the Attic. Set some time in the 1920s, Olivia is a twenty-four-year-old New Englander, a hopeless romantic doomed to spinsterhood. After all, who on earth would marry a six-foot-tall, plain-faced woman? But then Malcolm Neil Foxworth comes along and steals her breath away. He is gorgeous, way out of her league. But he likes her, seems interested in her and what she has to say and likes her independent streak and intelligence. When he proposes marriage, she immediately accepts. Things soon change when she enters Foxworth Hall in Virginia and discovers the monster she's married, a man with a strange obsession with his dead mother and lusts after his father's new young wife. Foxworth Hall strips Olivia of hope, love or sympathy, turning her into a monster just as bad, if not worse than Malcolm.

The ebb and flow in Garden of Shadows are amazing. We are shown how twisted Malcolm is and how Olivia descends into an apathetic person. We find out exactly what occurs at Foxworth Hall and the events that lead to the forbidden love between Corrine and Christopher, and it is far worse than we could have imagined. Yes, the possibility was hinted often, even as far as back as in Flowers in the Attic, but the revelation is nevertheless disturbing. (I won't say what it is so I won't supply spoilers. But I'm sure that fans of this series know what I mean.) The room with the attic has always played a major role in the stories, and is used as a prison long before the Dollaganger children moved in. To my surprise, Olivia is a sympathetic character, or at least starts out that way. You understand why she becomes the way she does; it even explains her hatred and envy toward Corrine. She's actually far less annoying than Cathy. Amazing how the villain turns out to be more likable than the victim in this case. Garden of Shadows is the best book since Flowers in the Attic. Petals on the Wind was good, but everything fell apart in If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday. There was too much storyline, too many different last names and mixed parentage to keep up with. V.C. Andrews's ghostwriter revived the series with a bang. Don't be put off with the fact that this book was ghostwritten. If possible, the person who wrote this book was better at story and character development than the actual creator of the series.

REVIEW: Although released in 1987: V.C Andrews' "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" is actually a prequel to her landmark gothic potboiler "FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC". In that book we are introduced to the cursed Dollanganger family: husband Christopher, wife Corrine; and their four blonde-haired, blue-eyed children Christopher, Cathy, Carrie, and Cory. Their nightmare stay at Foxworth Hall is dutifully chronicled by author Andrews. But with "SHADOWS" she creates an absolutely riveting novel that sucks you into her world and the world of Olivia Foxworth (the hard-as-nails "instrument of God" grandmother who will eventually imprison those kids in the old attic at Foxworth Hall). Here we get to meet Olivia as a young girl; and then as a young lady who is unbearably tall, awkward, and plain (and bereft of hope that any man would take a sincere interest in her as a bride). But because of her father's insistence on business school and in helping him in the office: Olivia's appeal as a wife catches the attention of Malcolm Neal Foxworth who is looking for an intelligent woman who can "appreciate the pursuit of economic success and grow gracefully with it." And so Olivia and Malcolm marry: but the marriage is nothing like Olivia's schoolgirl dreams of living happily-ever-after with "Prince Charming". And as she learns more and more about Malcolm's past (and his twisted psychological preoccupation with his own mother): a terrible pall of evil hangs over the vast beauty of Foxworth Hall which seems to affect everyone that comes to stay there. With "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" V.C. Andrews earns her namesake as one of America's most popular fiction authors. She has an easy-going yet bewitching style that shines like gold in this particular book, her similies are exquisite and acute, and her reputation for creating vibrant characters is readily apparent here. All of which helps to make "GARDEN OF SHADOWS" a masterfully crafted work that far exceeds the "soap opera" nature of its gothic trappings.

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews is the prequel to the Flowers in the Attic saga, written in the perspective of the Dollanganger children’s grandmother. Olivia Winfield becomes mistress of Foxworth Hall when she marries Malcolm, a young, handsome, intelligent business man. But the future she has agreed to does not turn out to be the life size version of her beautiful dollhouse. Corruption and deceit seem to thrive in the vast halls of the mansion, and although she plays the cards she is dealt, cheaters sit at the table alongside her making the game much more difficult. Through it all, Olivia must sift through the broken dreams and shredded dignity to piece together a life and family worthy of the name of Foxworth. There’s always two sides to every story; this is Olivia Winfield Foxworth’s.

Although this is a prequel, it came out after the Flowers in the Attic books and I suggest they be read out of order as well (that is, only if you haven’t read any of them yet. These are not recent writings so a majority of avid readers will probably already have come across these titles either in passing or fully read). Part of the fun of the four books is not completely understanding why it is all happening. Should you read Garden of Shadows first, all of the questions that are created in the saga will already be answered preventing readers from being completely immersed in this thrilling tale. And it really is thrilling. While reading the prequel I found myself jumping back and forth to the other books piecing together the clues and family trees, creating maps and Venn diagrams, and then stepping back to look at the overall picture and just thinking (sorry there is not a more eloquent way of describing my feelings) ooohhhhhhhmmmmyyyyyggggoooosssshhhh! It was sheer brilliance. So much so that it reminded me of the way I felt the first time I read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (that is the highest of compliments as that series is so unbelievably near and dear to me, no words could possibly encompass my love, devotion, and adoration to those books and that author. Getting excited just thinking about it). Similar to the seventh and final HP book, Garden of Shadows filled in all the blanks, completing the circle to create a story that will leave you reeling. It still astonishes me how someone’s mind can work in a way to create all of those characters, relationships, lies, and mysteries and then keep them straight long enough to bring it all together in the end. Just, wow.

5/5 Stars: Garden of Shadows
5/5 Stars: Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If there be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday

Like many here, I am a fan of the entire series. Like many have already stated, I was growing a bit tired of the series at times, but I think all the books added something to the saga. I was a bit nervous about this book since I figured the story was complete after Seeds of Yesterday. Well, needless to say, the reader learns a lot in this book about the Foxworths/Dollangers. For me, this book was a page turner, and I couldn't put it down. I think this book in particular fits the fractured fairy tale genre perfectly, but I suppose the whole series does although Cathy's story does finally reach a "happy ending" so to speak. This is not true for the protagonist in Garden of Shadows, but it is still a great book. If anyone wants to narrow down the series, I would say this book and Flowers In the Attic are critical. I highly recommend this book to fans of the series.

Disturbing, Heartbreaking, Intriguing, lonely, frustrating, shocking. Those are the words that all hit me when I think of this book. Garden of Shadows will take you back to the beginning, when Olivia with in her 20's and first moved into foxworth hall. You'll learn what brought her into a loveless marriage with Malcom, and how he played on her emotions at a vulnerable time in her life. I even like how this book explains about mysterious objects Chris and Cathy stumbled on in the first book: the pretty girl in the photo that Chris found, and the victrola Cathy used to play. The book explains the deal with those objects and how they originally ended up in the dusty attic. You might even find yourself understanding why Olivia did the things that she did. Living in that house gradually changed her personality each day, turning her into a cold, lifeless, heartbroken and empty person. You will also get to read about Olivia's sons, how Corrine and Chris fell and love, and be introduced to Malcoms dad and stepmom. This is truly one of the saddest series I have ever read. Virgina andrews has a way of taking the main characters in her stories, and really throwing out their emotions, dead honest, and raw on the spot. The emotions go right through you, and you almost feel like your experiancing the story as if it were your own life. Highly reccommended series if your into suspense, drama, and books filled with all kinds of juicy secrets and twisted plots.

I had seen the movie version of "Flowers in the Attic" many times on TV and I wondered why in the world Olivia Foxworth was such an evil, hateful woman. I also wondered how Corrine Foxworth (Dollanganger) could leave her children and be so selfish. Well, all of those questions are answered in the book "Garden of Shadows", the prequel to "Flowers in the Attic".
Even though this book was written last, I chose to read it first because it gives so much background and explanations for the things that occured in "Flowers in the Attic". The book centers around Olivia Winfield Foxworth, a plain-jane who dreams of being whisked away by her knight in shining armor. One day the dashing and handsome Malcolm Foxworth steps into her life. She is immediately smitten with him and he seems to feel the same towards her. They get married rather quickly and Olivia cannot wait to begin her wonderful new life on the arm of her handsome husband. What Olivia dreamed of and what she received were two very different things. Olivia soon learns that her marriage is one of convenience and not love, no matter how much she prayed and wished for it. Malcolm mainly wanted Olivia because he thought she would be a good breeder. Malcolm is a very stern and scary man who could intimidate people with one look.
Soon Olivia adapts to her life and we begin to see the transformation from the carefree, whimsical girl she used to be into the cold, hardened woman that we all know from "Flowers in the Attic". Although Olivia is a woman you love to hate, you understand why she became what she became due to loss, pain, hate, and an immense longing for love from her husband.
I would highly recommend this book to people who are fans of "Flowers in the Attic", and I would suggest reading this book before reading the rest of the series. I know you will love this book! It truly is incredible!

"Garden of Shadows", the prequel to "Flowers in the Attic", stands head and shoulders above "Flowers" as far as storytelling and plot. For one thing, our tragic heroine is NOT a beautiful young maiden in distress, which has gotten downright tiresome, especially since a new series of a new "tortured beauty" are relentlessly cranked out by Andrew Neiderman on a twice-yearly basis (for heaven's sake, PLEASE give V. C. Andrews a rest. We KNOW the difference between HER work and NEIDERMAN's. Give us some CREDIT.).
Getting back to the story, Olivia Foxworth (who will soon grow up to be the steely-eyed Evil Grandmother) is a tall, gawky adolescent with no social skills (the ability to flirt is a very important thing in the early 1900's). Clearly, Olivia is ahead of her time, being a smart, shrewd businesswoman who's a whiz with numbers, but her father despairs of her being the perpetual "old maid" and wants her married off immediately. Therefore, this poor "Hedda Gabler" woman, who is too strong and masculine for most men, meets her match in the young, dapper Malcolm Foxworth. It's fascinating to read about Olivia's "blushing" and "shyness" in the presence of the handsome Malcolm, and being reminded that this is the same Evil Grandmother who whipped her daughter and starved her grandchildren. In any case, poor Olivia is delirious with joy when Malcolm proposes, and dreams of being the Queen of the Castle to Malcolm's King, living in a heavenly state of matrimony forever. As the wedding approaches, and Olivia gradually learns that their union is far from a "love" partnership, her pain is so devastating that one can easily see how Olivia became so bitter. To make matters worse, her father-in-law and his beautiful new bride are the exact picture of the happy couple in love, and the sight of their affection torments Olivia at an even deeper level.
The real problem for Olivia is that, also like Hedda Gabler, she is far too conventional to do the unthinkable (a divorce, for instance), and therefore resigns herself to a lifetime of loneliness and humiliation at the hands of her philandering husband, who shows no sexual desire whatsoever for his wife. The usual V. C. Andrews plot elements surface here: death, betrayal, and scandal, and these tragedies afford Olivia the chance to show her masculine power and give Malcolm a run for his money (literally). If she cannot be the woman he desires, Olivia thinks, she will be a business partner with intelligence and the ability to command respect from her husband.
One drawback of this story (and this is true of most of the series) is that we don't get to see enough of the children's point of view. Little Mal is obviously a stubborn "live wire", but he is never seen arguing with his father, nor do we learn much about him as a person. That also applies to Joel, the "sensitive artist and musician" who is constantly berated by his father for being a sissy. Most of all, Corinne, the "daddy's golden girl", is shown to be silly, shallow, and overly concerned with her effects on men, but it would be interesting to see more of her personality, especially in light of the later revelations, particularly John Amos Jackson's stalking of her. There are numerous inconsistencies here, too, although that might be because of the "narrator", but not once in this story do we see the "religious fanaticism" that Momma complained about in "Flowers". Nor do we see Olivia as a "selfish cruel woman" who never gave Corinne "an ounce of love", and this is rather puzzling. Even a small incident, such as Corinne's first period, is told in a dramatically different way by Olivia, than the story Corinne relates to her children in "Flowers". The result, needless to say, is confusing. Are we to believe that Olivia is a liar, or Corinne, or both? Then again, maybe that's the whole point: the eye of the beholder, and so forth. Another drawback: Christopher Garland, who will become Papa Dollanganger, is merely another version of his son: perpetually cheerful, optimistic and bordering on god-like (excepting his predilection for his dazzling blonde half-niece). It would be nice if he (and his son) could be more developed as characters; instead, he's a mere symbol of Prince Charming and eternal love. The drawbacks notwithstanding, Olivia is still a fascinating character, and so is Malcolm (it's too bad we don't get to learn a little more about his twisted past than his "little black book" in "Thorns").

When "Flowers in the Attic" was first published, I was in high school - it was *THE* book that ALL the girls in class were reading and talking about. "Petals on the Wind" was a pretty decent continuation - the next two books were definitely lacking something - I've only read each of them once, just to find out what happened (pretty anticlimatic). However, "Garden of Shadows" more than makes up for the inadequacies of "If There Be Thorns" and "Seeds of Yesterday". I'm pretty certain from the writing style that this was largely written by Ms. Andrews herself - I stopped reading the Andrews books after the Casteel series, because they were becoming WAY too predictable. Anyway - back to Garden of Shadows. Ms. Andrews took the grandmother (Olivia) - who was evil incarnate in "Flowers" and let us see things from HER point of view. In reading the book, it becomes clear that the motivation for the hiding, abuse and attempted murder of the Dollanganger children was not Olivia's idea, but rather done under the influence of her cousin and apparently only close friend, John Amos, whom she seems to see as the direct mouthpiece of God himself. (in one passage near the end of the book, she tells him "...I haven't been honest with the Lord. I haven't told you everything.") Certainly, Malcolm used Olivia for his own purposes and he was sick and twisted, but the real genuine evil is almost entirely from John Amos. Anyway - my recommendation is to read this book LAST - not BEFORE all the other books. It was definitely meant to be read as a final statement to the series, tying up all the loose ends that remained un-tied following "Seeds". In fact, I would recommend just reading "Flowers", "Petals", and this book. Forget about the other two...

"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 and manipulative man her husband is - - he married her specifically because she wasn't pretty and attractive, a woman as opposite from his own mother as imaginable.

Olivia quickly supplies Malcolm with the heirs he requires and her life becomes a sad day after day of a loveless marriage. She is only spared by the arrival of her cousin, John Amos Jackson, who begins preaching religion to her, giving her a new place to turn.

And such would her life have been, had Malcolm's father Garland not arrived with his new teenaged bride, Alicia.

Without giving away too much of the story, or the spectacular twist that is revealed, I found "Garden" to be an absolute engrossing read. I even found sympathy with Olivia, despite her future actions in "Flowers" -- her coldness and seeming indifference is somewhat explained in "Garden". The character of Malcolm is shown in an even clearer light as manipulative, depraved and suffering from severely dysfunctional mother love/adulation/hatred.

Prequels often tend to fail, but "Garden" succeeds in being a fascinating story and giving a new twist on the old familiar Dollanganger saga.

This story haunted me in a way that no other piece of writing has. I felt immediately drawn in to each member of the family and their impossible circumstances. I felt trapped. The story line is so compelling it made me question everyone around me. The characters are so complete and complex. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't know who to root for or when, but I was captivated by the unfolding. Taught me so much about life, people, family. I couldn't stop reading the series until I finished every single book, cover to cover. Didn't want to miss a word. Every little chilling detail.

GARDEN OF SHADOWS by V. C. Andrews is just one example of her storytelling brilliance, and her ability to bring closure and understanding to her readers.

Throughout the Dollanganger series, we had unanswered questions about what would make a grandmother mistreat her own grandchildren and set in motion events that would scar them forever. In this prequel of the series, however, we understand not only the motivation of Olivia, but the life she had to endear as well.

You know a writer has told a story well when you find yourself sympathizing with one of the 'villians' of the series, but that is the way this novel leaves me. And those final words prepares you for the evil that is born in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC.

A must read for all V. C. Andrews fans, though I would suggest you read it as the 5th book. That way it adds to the mystique and the thrill.

Somewhere along the line, the Flowers In The Attic series lost its luster. The original is a classic tale of horror and betrayal, still shocking to this day. Its sequel, Petals On The Wind, seemed approrpriate in that it answered that question all good books leave one asking: "I wonder what happened next?" And who didn't want to find out not only how these children survived in the outside world, but in what way they lashed out at those who had harmed them? Books three and four - If There Be Thorns and Seeds Of Yesterday, respectively - were... well, less interesting would be a kind way of putting it. In fact, many a reader got to the midway point of Seeds and couldn't help but be struck by a sense of "been there, read that." And perhaps that was, in part, the point of the book: To show that no matter what Cathy and Chris did, the horrors of the attic would haunt their minds and influence their actions.

It's not surprising, therefore, that many readers probably opted to pass on the fifth installment, Garden of Shadows.

How sad for them!

In what would later become a hallmark of the typical VC Andrews series - and continue with the books written by the far-less talented ghost writer in the wake of her death - the final book in the series is, in fact, a prequel, giving us a glimpse into the life of Olivia - aka the mean, awful, hateful grandmother from Flowers In The Attic - and allowing us to better understand her actions.

As would also become a tradition in the VC Andrews novels, this book also reveals a final, shocking twist which allows readers to see the entire series in a new light.

How well written is Garden of Shadows? Well, a friend who was not familiar with the works of VC Andrews read this book before reading Flowers in the Attic. As a result, it pained him to see the grandmother portrayed as cruel and hateful. Given her actions during the course of Flowers in the Attic, that's really saying something!

Without giving away too much of the story, Garden follows the story of Olivia, who is brought to Foxworth Hall as the wife of the tyranical Malcolm Foxworth. She is innocent, young and beautiful - the perfect heroine, given the emotional tortures we know Andrews will unleash upon her! Before long, her husband's dark desires turn the innocent young woman's life upside down.

Were VC Andrews still alive, I would like nothing better to see a sixth book in this series, telling the events of Flowers in the Attic through the eyes of Olivia. Sadly, under the current writing regime and their "crank it out even if the books suck" this promising premise would no doubt be unworthy of the paper it might be printed upon.

This story is told from Olivia's point of view. It pretty much explains her deep hatred of the children. I often wondered why she hated the children. I found out why in this book. Her hatred is not excusable in the least but it is logical. Olivia had a terrible life and you have to wonder if she would have been the same hateful person she became if it hadn't been for the bad decision she made in marrying Malcom Foxwarth. I'm not sure if Andrews wanted us to believe that her treatment of the children was natural and that anyone in her shoes would do the same. Not everyone who is a victim becomes a victimizer. In fact, most don't. I did not identify or root for Olivia but I did enjoy her story. This story spans over about 20 years. It answers questions I had that I couldn't find reasons for in the other books. It is not as compelling as the stories told from Cathy's point of view, but it is definitley worthwhile. I would read a thousand of these books if they were all in the same saga. I have never reread a book but I am seriously considering reading 1-5 all over again. I enjoyed them immensely!

This definitely answers some questions!!!

Flowers in the Attic was utterly disturbing. I always wonder how people so far from reality got there. This book breaks it all down for me.

To think so much sadness could have been prevented.

I am not a religious person but I respect different beliefs. Extremists, not so much. Really-would God want you to kill a child? I get that the children are from an incestuous relationship but they didn't do anything.

This book supports my belief that we are products of out environments.

This last book was pretty good, except that the ending was kind of rushed. Olivia Foxworth (the grandmother) had the worst husband in Malcom. He was mean, unloving, uncaring, and a little bit crazy if you ask me.

Th story begins when Olivia is at the age where it is proper for a girl to get married. She is not the most attractive girl due to her tall, broad body. She is self concious and feels like she will never have anyone to love her.

Her father is always bringing men over for her to meet, but Olivia realizes that they only come to talk business with her father. One day though, her father brings Malcom over. He is highly impressed with her skills and know how when it comes to money, stocks, etc. He skips the whole courting process and asks for her hand in marriage a week later, egar to get back to Foxworth and handle his business afairs.

On their wedding night Malcom brings Olivia to Foxworth hall. He shows her no affection, in fact he puts her up in her own room and leaves her there. This is the case throughout the whole story. Olvia yearns for affection and love, but never recieves it.

A few years later, Malcom's father comes back from traveling the world with his new wife who is only 19. Her name is Alcia and Malcom adores her and her beauty. He loves her and doesn't love Olivia.

After their arrival things in Foxworth hall take a turn for the worst. Malcom is even worse a husband than before and he is constantly trying to cheat on Olvia with Alcia who loves her husband and would never do that.

I won't give away the rest, but I would like to say that yes, Olvia's life was filled with hardships and turmoil, but it wasn't bad enough to justify how she abused Cathy, Chris, Carrie and Cory. Although the ending was rushed, you did get to witness a little bit of the grandmother's point of view. The story ends at the night the children come to Foxworth hall with Corrine, so you don't get anymore of the grandmother's side of the story.

Why was Olivia Foxworth so evil? Do we really care? We do care, and although there's no acceptable excuse for Olivia's behavior in "Flowers in the Attic", so we don't really expect one, at least we get some insight into her character. Interestingly enough, this is the only female narrator Andrews created while she was living who isn't so devastatingly, supernaturally beautiful that her brothers/foster fathers/uncles feel compelled to break the laws of God and man (and credulity, and good taste!)to molest her. But, like all the other Andrews'women-(before the ghostwriter), her first encounter with love and or sexuality will be traumatic and abusive.

Olivia is homely, extremely tall, and awkward. She lives with her widower father and has never really had a social life. She occupies her time being grim, serious, and developing practical talents. She also wishes she was beautiful and could find love, but at the tender age of 24 (this was a long time ago) figures she's an old maid and it's all over.

Then her kindly father invites a handsome young man to dinner. He's done this before, but the men are always uninterested in plain Olivia. This time, the man shows interest. Whoa! Warning bells should be going off for anyone who's ever read a VC Andrews book before! Men only fall in love with women who possess beauty so stunning it "doesn't look real" in V.C. Andrews' world! (This is true with the ghostwriter, too.)

Olivia's father is stunned and a little weirded out too. He knows his giantess daughter's boring personality matches her looks. Malcolm, her suitor, seems to like her precisely because she is NOT sexually attractive. Then we find out that Malcolm is a misogynist who takes out his Freudian love/hate relationship with the mother who abandoned him on all women. He picked Olivia because she reminded him least of his beautiful, flighty mother, but nonetheless, can't make love to her unless he can call out "Corinne's" name.

Olivia is supposed to be a breeder and an efficient helpmate with accounting and so on. Shunned for her gloomy demeanor and homely appearance, she soon realizes her husband has no romantic feelings for her and that she has bombed socially in Virginia. (She's a Yankee). She throws herself into the two children she was able to conceive through Malcolm's brief rapings of her. However, they are a failure too-sickly, effeminate, and pathetic, Malcolm calls them.

Then Malcolm's father, who unlike his evil and contemptible son is light-hearted and charming, suddenly returns to Foxworth Hall after a long absence with a child bride (Alicia) young enough to be his grandaughter. She is predictably everything Olivia is not-beautiful, gregarious, fun-loving and kind. Her fairy-tale relationship with Malcolm's father Garland is like a knife twisting in Olivia's back. Malcolm, who has no real capacity to love anyone, becomes obsessed with Alicia because he's enthralled with-and hates-beauty in women. It brings up all his mommy issues. He starts stalking Alicia, and you can probably write the rest of the story if you've read Andrews before.

Corinne is the fruit of Malcolm's and Alicia's ill-fated (and, I might add, not mutually consenting) union, and things go downhill from there. Alicia is a sympathetic character who we pity, having done nothing to deserve her fate, and Olivia grows more and more judgemental and fanatic as time goes on. It's a good story and a great portrait of two wretchedly cruel people, Olivia and Malcolm Foxworth. Perhaps Olivia would have been different if Malcolm had showed her affection, and Malcolm if his mother had, but by the end we're still angry about the way "The Grandmother" and the "Grandfather" treated the Dresden Dolls.

Worth picking up if you loved "Attic" and want more info on the Foxworths, but as a stand-alone book it doesn't really work I'd imagine. It also makes the Foxworth gene pool even more toxic than we'd originally thought, as we discover Chris Sr. and Corinne were brother and sister!!!
NOTE: There is no reason to assume that the ghostwriter wrote this book. In fact, many believe he started with the end of "Fallen Hearts". Anyone who knows V.C. Andrews' style knows this is so close to it, and some of Niederman's books so far from it, that it's hard to believe she didn't write this. There are some inconsistencies (for instance, in this book Olivia's mother is presented as kind, Corrine tells the children in "Flowers" that she was abusive), and other minor things. But that doesn't mean Andrews' didn't write it. Lots of authors do that.)

I thought this series was great! This book is a tale of a rich women who controls her daughter to the point of doing unspeakable things to her kids, just so she could marry into wealth. I read this series as a teen back in the early 80's, to this day everyone has heard of Flowers in the Attic, its tale reached across america.

Absolutely Riveting!
Although Garden of Shadows was the last book written in the series of the Dollanganger family, it is the prequel to Flowers in the Attic therefore it was the first book I read in the series. Having seen the movie Flowers in the Attic, many times, there were a lot of questions I had. Well, Garden of Shadows answered my questions ten times over and left me with my eyes wide open (and probably my jaw dragging the floor). Once I started reading I found it hard to put the book down. Sometimes I would read it until my eyes watered. It shows how Olivia goes from being a sad child/teenager growing up without her mother, to being a hopeful and seemingly sweet teenager with dreams of her own to being one of the most wicked people you've ever known. It's symbolic how she relates life to her dollhouse in the glass case with the perfect family of untouchable, porcelain people inside because once she moved into Foxworth Hall, that's how her life was; not perfect but untouchable. This book portrayed how the one person Olivia came to depend on, who she thought would be the light of her life, the one who would turn her otherwise gray life bright, had the exact opposite affect. It portrayed how one man can have so much more than others but still want so much more and will walk over anyone and anything to get it. It also shows Olivia's devotion to Malcolm even when she could have easily walked away. The detail in the book made me see everything exactly the way it was supposed to be. I felt as if I was living everything the characters in the book lived. The way the narrator described the house, each room, each piece of furniture (down to the rugs), each character, their clothing, their expressions and what they were feeling was all so real. The only thing that could have been more developed were the male children's characters; Mal, Joel and Christopher. The narrator mentioned them often but we never really got to know them through their own words and thoughts as we did with Corinne. As I read further into the book, it made me see why Olivia acted the way she did in Flowers in the Attic. I still didn't in anyway agree with the way she treated her grandchildren because who they were wasn't their fault. They were innocent children caught up in a web of deceit and lies and they had to grow up long before they should have had to. THEY didn't even know who they REALLY were. As I said, it did make me understand why she was the way she was; why she always wore gray; why she was so stern; why she was so cold and uncaring. In Garden of Shadows, Foxworth Hall was in a state of total turmoil, much more than in Flowers in the Attic (if you can believe that). If you've seen or read Flowers in the Attic, then Garden of Shadows is a must read. It will clear up any questions you may have about that story.

I love Olivia's story and it has been a long time ago since I read this book. Now, I wonder why it is number 5.
I guess it is so that you can learn to hate Olivia throughout the book. As I read the series again I had forgotten the big secret and was floored because I had forgotten it to this point.
This book was amazing I loved all the characters and I loved reading about Olivia and Malcolm. I would recommend this to any V.C. Andrews fan who has read the first four in the Dollanganger series!

This was when everyone was thinking rationally. This was when I saw the beauty of the woman who would later become the Grandmother; set up on a blind date by her father with the mysterious Malcolm Foxworth her life is never the same again. Following a whirlwind romance, and wedding she's whisked away to Foxworth Hall, and all it's idosecrencies. She finds herself unloved, and only to breed a certain breed of children, and talk of Malcolm's mother is strictly forbidden. Well Malcolm shows what, and how he wants things in the Foxworth Hall...his way, and when his father shows up with his young new bride Alicia, and bad blood starts between Father and Son to where the mysterious death of Malcolm's father is never to be discussed. The secret is covered up, and everyone thinks that it's gone, but it's not. In fact this is where the lifelong cover up occurs. It's quoted in the Bible where God's wrath is shown on a person's family leading out to the 4th and 5th generations. This doesn't necessarily mean that if one generation messes up, but the other wants to get right with God that it's too late that God's wrath takes it's course, and nothing can stop it until after the 5th generation. If a family wants to turn, and break the chain, or any particular family member wants to go against the stream of what his family's doing then God will look upon them with favor. Salvation is for the individual, and not the family. A person can be saved, but he/she can't save thier family. Unfortunately, with the Foxworths it's where they walked around in darkness from one generation to the next starting here, and Malcolm's family fell apart where his sons respected him out of fear, and his wife just doted on her sons. Then with Malcolm's father's death came Alicia pregnant with Malcolm's baby which was a girl. Malcolm would name her Corrine after his mother who abandoned him when he was 5. Unfortunately, Malcolm couldn't let go of this, and after his sons died, and Corrine became a teenager she would be ready to go to the best college for women until she was discovered in bed with a young man who she only thought of as a first cousin, but in reality was her brother. This was the downfall of Foxworth Hall as Malcolm would throw the both of them out, and succumbed to a heart attack that would leave the Grandmother in charge. The ending of this book would be the foundation of the story that started it all "Flowers In The Attic". It was a book that made me begin to think of the grandmother in a different light. She seems to be a very loving woman who didn't have the peace of God within her spirit to weather this storm as she lost her beauty, and it was turned to ice. She would put off the air of grace, and seems to display it through allowing Corrine to move back to Foxworth Hall after losing her brother/husband to death. However, there was alot of repressed anger seething under her that would make the following generations just as doomed.

After reading the first four novels in the installment,I hated that stupid grandmother,Cathy and Chris's mother...I don't think anyone loved her.But after reading this book,which tells her side of the story,my mind changed like the weather.I now understand why she did what she did.It still does not justify what she did to her grand kids in the attic,but it sure explains alot.He life didn't go the way she wanted it to,her life was loveless,though she longed to love and be love,things weren't in her favour.She was rich,sure,her husband was successful at business,but that was not all,money wasn't all there is more to life that what she had.This story literally plants a seed for all the other novels in the series although this was written after.So,I think we should all give This "grandmother" a chance and listen(read)her side of the story,it is the least that we can do,isn't?She deserved better.I highly recommend this great book,for the story hidden between its covers will grab you and make you part of it...get going...enjoy...Nigel

Dollenganger fans, I beseech you not to read this book first; it will distort your perception and interpretation of the events in the other stories, and alter your experience of the saga. A prequel is designed to encourage you to look back and reassess your feelings about the stories you have already read. After reading this book, I started over, and finished my second helping of "Flowers" last night. Wow! What a different and fascinating experience!

The first time I read "Flowers" I viewed Olivia as a single-dimensional quasi/evil character. Such characters are perfectly acceptable to me in fiction. But reading "Garden" lent Olivia amazing depth from a character analysis point of view. It put so much of what she did into context. NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, are there any excuses for what she did to the children, and the fact that there are no excuses is what (to me) defines Olivia's character. I now see her as someone whose underlying motivation is to hide from who she is. I don't believe that she inherently enjoyed controlling and abusing others (the way Malcolm and John Amos did) she did those things as a means to an end. She was unbearably jealous of everything about Alicia, and couldn't resist the opportunity to lash out at her in evil ways. Yet, she doesn't want to see herself as such a reprehensible person, so she convinces herself that she has different reasons for doing it, and that she can absolve herself of what she did by being a loving mother to Corrine and by being religious. Of course, her quest for absolution never drives her to tell Christopher and Corrine the truth about themselves, and no doubt she pondered how differently things might have turned out if she had. Thus, she is completely undone by how things did turn out, and she is completely unable to deal with it. She clings to God somewhat as a comfort, but mostly as a shield from her responsibility for all that happened. Distance gave her some semblance of peace, but the return of Corrine and the children brought all of the issues in front of her face, and she couldn't handle it. "Garden" ends with her locking the door. And rereading "Flowers" shows how desperately she runs from herself. The more she is able to convince herself that the children are devil's spawn, and that she is a woman of God, the less guilt and blame she feels for herself. In this way, she can continue to see herself as she wishes she were, not for who she really is. It is heartbreaking, really. Had she been in search of true absolution and forgivness, she would have genuinely repented to God, made amends, and enjoyed a great deal of love in her life during her old age. But she had too much pride and too much fear of self-acceptance, so much so that she became an evil person that she never set out to be. It makes the confrontation with Cathy in "Petals" so incredibly poignant. She was powerless and helpless in that scene. But now, I don't think her true terror was of what Cathy might do to her. It was that there was nothing to do and nowhere to run from the truth about what she had done and who she was. The tears in her eyes while she gazed at Carrie's hair said it all; if only for that moment, she was feeling the weight of how much she was to blame for almost everything.

So many layers to such a fascinating saga! I encourage everyone to read all five books, in the order that they were published, and not to force too many expectations. Each book has a different mood, a different feel, and some parts are notoriously disliked by Dollanganger fans. But you must read the entire story; it is an experience that no book lover should be without.

I wouldn't recommend this as a stand alone read. You'd really have to have at least some knowledge of the series to understand these characters. I loved learning about Olivia and I think Nederman did justice to Andrews' original ideas. Great read!!!

When I first watched "Flowers In The Attic" on T.V.and then read the book, I hated the Grandmother for how cruel and heartless she was; a woman with no feelings other than hate and jealousy. But then I started to read the prequel "Garden Of Shadows". I couldn't believe how different "Olivia Winfield" had been. I was saddend and felt extreme sympathy for her, as I read on about her marriage that she would soon find out had cheated her of the love she had dreamed about, and would never have, with a husband who did not love her. Her sons brought her the only joy in her life, and when they both died at a young age, everything had been taken from her, and she had nothing left to love or cherrish, slowly making her bitter and cold.
This book explains alot about why many things that happed in "Flowers In the Attic" happened, and I no longer hate her, because now I know why she became what she became. This is a beautifully sad and heartwrenching book, that made me cry sometimes times from the beginning to the end as I watched the poor woman, who trully had been a kind hearted person, turn into the witch that she is. A must read! In my opinion, this is the best book in the whole series, and should be read first to get a better understanding.

I loved Flowers In The Attic. I was totally capitvated by this whole series, until Garden Of Shadows.

Andrews does a great job of wrapping things up and bringing together all of the loose ends of the Dollanganger series. She also tires her very best to make you have sympathy for Olivia (The Grandmother from Flowers In The Attic), but it just doesn't ring true for me. Nothing but nothing can excuse the way she treated four innocent children who just happen to have been born to a brother and sister who didn't even know they were brother and sister. The whippings, the starvation and the tar in Cathy's hair are sins that just can't be excused away just because this woman was in a loveless marriage and her own two children died. Not in my book. If nothing else, she should have reached out to the children to help fill that empty heart of hers. Instead, she chose to reward innocence with cruelty.

I only read this book once when it first came out, and it was a real trial for me to get through. I gave it three stars for the way everything is tied together and the final revelation was a shocker. Other than that, each time I've read the Dollanganger series, I skip this one. Again, there isn't anything that Olivia can say to make me sympathize with her or justify her actions to the children of Flowers In The Attic. Read this one only if you have to have everything neatly tied up. Otherwise, stop with Seeds Of Yesterday.

I read the whole series in high school but I read book five first since it was the prequel. After all the books I've read since then, I still think this is one of the best books I've ever read. Also, I'm glad I read the last book first because it gave me the opportunity to know the grandmother and the family history beforehand which helped everything make more sense to me.

I loved this book! Olivia was such a wonderful storyteller, and although she's completely despicable in FLOWERS, I learned through her story why she turned out the way she did and was able to empathize with her.
She put up with a lot of abuse yet managed to keep her equilibrium. Most people would have gone off the deep edge if they had to live through what she did. But she holds it together; it wasn't till the end of the story, when she hits an emotional low after the deaths of her sons, that she is cajoled into becoming a religious fanatic by her cousin John Amos.
Corinne's letter in which she requested to return to Foxworth Hall with her children was very touching and my favorite part of the book.

Like most, after reading 'Flowers' I hated the grandmother. But after reading Garden of Shadows the hate doesn't burn as much. She had her own miserable existance once she came to Foxworth. Faking a pregnancy, living without love, the death of her children. The symbolic dollhouse and it's porcelin tenants open a profound door into the woman's soul.
Who would have believed she wanted to take Cathy and Cris into her arms the day they arrived at that cursed attic?
A fascinating read.

please, please, please, read the books in order. save this one for last. if not, i think it would take the fun out of the rest of the series, kind of like reading the last paragraph before you begin a book. all in all i liked the series despite some indescrepancies or contradictions between books. some of it is also repeatative, which i didnt mind, especially if i was reading late and could have forgotten something important. it is a good series if you dont mind the inscest content, which i think was done as tastefully as possible, and i dont think it was "over-done" like some might think, maybe more "suggestive" at times. i would give it 5 stars, but, as with anything, there is always room for improvement. :)

Garden of Shadows was on of V.C. Andrews' last novels (or

was it?). This prequel tells the story about how Olivia became married to Malcolm and how their "daughter" ran off with her half uncle. What makes me think that the book was partially written (if not the entire thing) by a "ghost writer" was

the slight change in the style of writing. Not enough like the latter books but just enough to make you wonder. A big let down for me because I enjoyed the gothic perversness of the other books in the Dollanganger Series.

Recommended for die hard fans of the Dollanganger series. Others need not apply.

Review of Garden of Shadows
Reviewer: Shannon Carey from WVHS Spokane, WA
The Answers to All the Dollanganger Secrets!!! April 12, 2004
Garden of Shadows is a thrilling novel written cleverly by V.C. Andrews.
When I first started this book I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Garden of Shadows was the last book of the Dollanger series although it was the pre-quell to the series. The book was twisted and unraveled a lot of secrets that were kept from the previous books. The other four books of this series were written from her granddaughter's point of view but in this story the grandmother portrayed her part of the story. It gave more of an understanding of why she seemed so evil.

Olivia Foxworth is plain, masculine woman who grows up without a mother, learning nothing of how to flirt or how to be attractive to men. To say the least she had absolutely no social skills so her father tried numerous times to hook her up with young suitors that he knew, but none were drawn to her gawky, tall, anti-socialism, until Malcolm Foxworth. Malcolm shows interest in her during their first encounter and returns for a second, even a third date. After a short week or two of courting he asks her to marry him. Olivia fantasizes of a romantic honeymoon and life thereafter but little does she know of the lonesome future of death, betrayal and scandal that she has coming her way.
From day one Olivia began to notice peculiar things about the handsome Malcolm. When Olivia started to see Malcolm on dates she anticipated a kiss and thought it weird when she never got one. That was the first warning sign she saw of how the relationship was going although she was in denial about it and made up excuses for his "shyness." The next sign she noticed was when she spied on Malcolm (followed by many occasions of her spying on people) asking her father for her hand in marriage when he never once mentioned his love for her. Not until the night of her wedding reception did she take the rose-colored glasses off and realize that Malcolm had not married her for love but for the facts that she would be faithful, she would be getting her father's inheritance and she was to be able to provide him with healthy children. This started Olivia onto her path of bitterness that would increase with every tragedy and scandal, thus turning her into the stern, hateful grandmother that she became in the rest of the series.
Garden of Shadows dished out the secrets of the mean grandmother of the Dollanger's giving a better, but unjust, reasoning to why she had been the way she had. Seeing how Olivia once dreamed of a perfect life with happiness and love is hard to believe from reading the previous books, but bitterness and hatred in her heart is almost understandable considering how Malcolm had crushed all hope of her ever being loved by a man. If Olivia had had a mother things may not of turned out the way they did. To me, it is hard to understand why she never considered getting a divorce. How could she bear to stand the heartbreak and loneliness? Although we did gain an understanding and history of Olivia, what had happened to Malcolm? How had he become so bitter and cold? I would also of liked to see more of the children's point of view through out the story. Overall, I really did enjoy this intriguing novel and hope to read more from V.C. Andrews!

"Garden of Shadows" shows the transformation of Olivia over the years into the "Grandmother" we've come to dread in "Flowers in the Attic". Was Olivia this dreadful punishing person from the start? What was Malcom Foxworth REALLY like in his younger years? Did Cathy's mother Corrine really marry her half uncle? All secrets will finally be revealed and a light will be shone on the shadows of Foxworth Hall in this captivating novel.

This book explores the life of Olivia Winfield (a.k.a the Grandmother in Flowers in the Attic) Olivia is a 24 year "old maid" who's life is changed when the rich, aloof Malcolm Foxworth impulsively asks her to marry him. But upon arrival to her new home she discovers that she is only there to give birth to an heir. THis is a well-written book which tells you how someone so nice can turn into someone so evil, but I took off a star for the glaring errors that pepper this book.

I don't really accept this book as a true part of the "Flowers in the Attic" story -- any more than I accept "The Phantom Menace" as a real part of the Star Wars epic -- but I have to admit, it's a fun read, and I found it much more interesting than I thought I would. And, yes, it's certainly a lot better than "The Phantom Menace" (not that that's saying much).

So, why the disclaimers? Well, for starters, there's quite a bit that doesn't jibe with "Flowers in the Attic." Additionally, a lot of key issues aren't dealt with. For example, in a story dealing with the young Corinne, you would expect to see some sort of a hint of a deficiency in her character, some darkness that would jibe with what we see later, in "Flowers in the Attic." Similarly, the character of Olivia is not what it should be. You expect to see a real transformation in her, and you see a bit of one -- but not enough. There's not enough to foreshadow the monstrosity that follows. In addition to that, within this novel itself, the character's behavior is inconsistent. I get the feeling that the author thinks that these fluctuations are nuances, but they just seem unreal.

On the upside, though: the author definitely understands Southern gothic, and he (or she) weaves in some funky surprises that not only fit into the basic FITA story, but complement it nicely, and make you think about it in new ways. The character of Alicia, who we hear so much about in the other books, comes to life vividly. Best of all, there's a painfully ironic twist at the very end of the book that, I have to admit, I don't totally buy, but it's a gutsy choice, and it's fun to mull over the fact that things could have happened that way.

In sum: it's a fun read, best enjoyed if you think of it as the brainstorm of a good friend imagining how the Dollanaganger kids came to be locked in the attic. Then you can come up with your own version. Too bad we'll never know for sure what V.C. Andrews thought.

While I enjoyed the book, Olivia's plight against Malcom and society by no means justifies what she does to the Dollanganger children in FITA. While I do have a great deal of symapthy for her(losing her children,living without love etc) torturing innocent children because of what their parents did is inexcusable. Perhaps she was miss guided my her cousin John Amos, her only ally after the death of her sons. Perhaps if she had been more mature and not been so jealous of Corrinne 1/2 the bad things that occured in the book would have never happened-but then we wouldnt have a story now would we?

This is one of my favorite books! It tells the story of Corrine's childhood and the events that lead up to Christopher's death and the arrival of their four children to Foxworth Hall. The book details Olivia and Malcolm's marriage and relationship. Most importantly, this book reveals who Corrine and Christopher really are to each other (they are more than just half-uncle and half-niece). I first read this book as a teenager and was captivated by the description of the "swan bed" and the swan room in Foxworth Hall.

Corrine was very pampered growing up, which probably led to the development of her narcissistic personality. The book describes that lavish parties at Foxworth Hall and how Malcolm spares no expense when it comes to Corrine. Malcolm is terribly devastated when Corrine runs off with Christopher. The Foxworth family has many secrets and this book tells them all!

This is the prequal to the Dollanganger series by V. C. Andrews. I think that the prequal is a very underated piece of literature. This book is fantastic. You actually feel sorry for the evil grandmother that you grew to hate in the first book, Flowers in the Attic. If you don't think that's possible, read the book because I didn't think it was either. Also, there is one deep, dark secret that you will never believe. It seems Cathy and Chris take after their parents more than they think.

Althought it is a good book to read,ever noticed that Corrine and Olivia tell to different stories.
For example.
Olivia says that she caught Chris and Corrine in the Swan room, but Corrine tells her kids that they married on her 18th birth,then came back a week later and told her parents what they did.
It is a fantastic book to read,but I get confused and that is hat recks the story.
If it had been more scents,then it would have gotten 5 stars instead of 4.

Being the last of the series, I read it & was surprised to find out that it was actually meant to be a prequel instead. I only gave it a 3-star because it came in after a long series of the "Flowers.." & following everything through became quite boring. The only redeeming factor was that it was more of an introductory to the entire series & it pretty much explained the reasons behind the 'Dresden dolls' suffering & why a good-natured Olivia turned evil overnight.

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 web of dreams, betrayal, loneliness, longing, rape, and incest. Lies are woven throughout this tale, so much so it is difficult to keep up. The story tells how Olivia marries Malcolm Foxworth, who is secretly obsessed in regards to his mother and her death. Olivia gives Malcolm two sons, Malcolm Jr. and Joel. Malcolm's father Garland brings home a new very young bride Alicia, whom becomes pregnant by Malcolm Jr. who consistently rapes her. Olivia covers of this secret by stating that Alicia is leaving, but actually she is being kept in the attic. As a result the mysteries of the attic begin. Olivia pretends to be pregnant and once the baby arrives takes it as her own, thus giving Malcolm the daughter he always wanted. This is not a story for young readers. The rape and incest that are implied are offensive. For adult readers there has to be a certain level of comfort before reading. Andrews does stick to the same flow as her other books. This story really does not add much to enhance learning or shedding light on any of the other books in the series. Unless you are a big fan of Andrews series I would not recommend this book for any light reading. Adult fiction.

Olivia had no right to take out her anger on innocent people. She had no right to be hard on Alicia when she (A) needed compassion. It was by no means Alicia's fault when Malcolm assaulted and impregnated her. Alicia was by no means after Garland's money. Garland was a real man when he didn't let the fact that his first wife Corinne dump him ruin his life. In fact he found the courage to love again when he helped Alicia when her own daddy was in poor health. By the way Malcolm got off too easy when his wife fined him a million dollars each to a trust fund to each of his two sons.

Although this is a prequel to the Flowers in the Attic series, you should save this for last. This story wraps up some of the questions that you had in the earlier books. The book tells of the grandparents early years of marriage. I can not give away too much only to say that this book reveals the true reason that Corrine was disinherited and sets up the horrifying legacy that would follow them.

Just one rotten apple spoiled the whole cart. The victim becomes an abuser along with finding her full strength. In the book we see how hopes and dreams are dashed for the main character. And the tragedy it brings for many due to just one person.

This book explains how everything comes into place....how it all began. The book is written from Olivia's(the grandmother from "Flowers In the Attic") point of view. It tells of how she met Malcolm, and the children came to be. I don't want to give it away to those who haven't read it yet. If you are curious as to how it all began, I suggest reading this book!!

I just hated the grandmother in all the other books, until this one. Then I just felt so sorry for her. Malcolm seemed like the type of man who should never get married. He is just not the type. She really wanted to marry for love, and look at what she received instead. She really did care for her children too. I really enjoyed it.

Of the Dollanganger series, this one was the last one I read, and it gave me a whole new perspective on the situation. After reading Flowers in the Attic, I felt nothing but hate and disgust for Olivia Foxworth, but now having read Garden of Shadows, I feel mostly pity for the woman! She had a really horrible life, and though it is not excusable to treat innocent children the way she did the Dresden Dolls, I now understand that through her many painful years as mistress of Foxworth Hall, she had nothing left to give anyone but pain and hate. I highly recommend this book! You'll be as enthralled as I was!

as much as we hated the grandmother in flowers in the attic, this
story tells her early life and all the tragic events that led
up to the sadisic cold woman she would turn out to be. this book
is very good because it shows that we are a product of our environment and that most of us are not evil from the beginning
but circumstances sometimes make us turn out that way.

Strange things definitely happen in this book, like Olivia staying married to Malcolm, when she definitely had the means to leave. Locking Alicia away for something that was not her fault was another strange thing about this book. Overall, it is a good book with a lot of twists and keeps you guessing.

This is the last novel in the series, and I just loved it. I'm glad we finally got to meet the warped and enigmatic Malcolm Foxworth...AND see that the grandmother, Olivia, was at one time a human being. I also like Garland and Alicia. This book was haunting and unforgettable.

I can't put this book down! This book is the prologue to "Flowers in the Attic" (or the "Dollanganger" series.) It is dark and twisted in a way I didn't expect. It details the life of Olivia Foxworth, the evil grandmother in "Attic"; Malcolm Foxworth, her despicable husband; and their children. Read it and you'll understand why Olivia became the way she did! It's an easy, entertaining read.

I have been dying to read this book and I finally have a full understanding of it! I have never known what it was like about Olivia and her past. I adore this book so much! But I even thought about "Seeds of Yesterday" and how it was much better than Flowers in the Attic. Just kidding! I loved and always will love this series! <3 A Soon to Be Young Writer

If you're someone who pays attention to details, you'll find a lot of inconsistencies in "Garden of Shadows." Coming from someone who read this book before reading "Flowers in the Attic," I saw way too many instances where we're told two different versions of what happens.
In "Flowers in the Attic," Joel supposed dies in a skiing accident but in "Garden of Shadows" he dies in an avalanche. This is just one of the dozens of differences I noticed while reading the book.

If you've read the Flowers in the Attic series you must read this it is the best one of them all!!! But don't read it before Flowers if you haven't read flowers yet. Read the series as it came out it makes this last one so much better.

As horrible and sad as this series was, I don't want them to end! I've never had so much fun reading. So much fun hating the characters & being grossed out by them or scared. Wonderful books! You forget everything going on around you.

I thought this book was ok. It explained a lot of what happens in Flowers. It was also confusing. Towards the end, she expressed her love for the children and how much she wanted to hold them, so how could she be so cruel to them? I think Malcolm also corrupted her severely. He need help. Overall, this was a good book. I suggest though, that you read it after the others. It'll make a little more since.

The grandmother had a sad lonely life and hopes and dreams were only shattered from the marriage of Malcom. He cheats on her, lies to her, ignores his sons,and even kills his father. Malcom, in short, was sad and disturbed. I couldn't put the book down, not that I had a reasons too. It was good and it explain alot about how the children were raised and how the grandmother felt. I think that it was more of John Amos who made the "Flower Children" the way they were.

I recently read the book and i really liked it. It answered a lot of question and i found out stuff i didnt even know...like that Corinne and Christopher were actually brother and sister. The book also gives you a better understanding of things but it makes you sympathise a lot with "The Grandmother" in this book she is very nice and not as cold hearted as she seems in FITA, it actually gives you the feeling that she is sweet and very understanding...I would suggest to everyone that read FITA to read this book,my personal opinion is that is awesome.

I loved FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. PETALS ON THE WIND was pretty good. When I read IF THERE BE THORNS it was okay. SEEDS OF YESTERDAY was pretty boring.
But this book was shocking for somebody like me.
Who really gives about what happened to the stupid granma. I got really bored reading about Catherine and Christopher and their little family, but I wouldn't have said anything bad about it.
Then came this book. B-O-R-I-N-G. It makes girls and women sound soooooooo vulnerable to men. it's scary to think that anyone can even think like that. "Everything you do wrong takes you one step closer to hell" is the message you get from this book.
I definately wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

I had read the whole Dollanganger series before I came upon GARDEN OF SHADOWS. It was such a wonderful edition to this series that I was pleasantly surprised! Who wouldn't want to find out why Olivia Foxworth acted the way she did, and why she inflicted harm and wrath on others?

If you have read Flowers in the Attic, you know that Olivia Foxworth is a hateful, jealous woman. She didn't start out that way. She was once filled love and hope, like any other young woman. GARDEN OF SHADOWS is her story about how she met and fell in love with Malcolm Foxworth. How she thought that he must have fallen in love with her too. Little did she know that when they were married, she would turn out to be no more than his business partner and sometime partner in bed, but only for breeding purposes. Malcolm's mother left him when he was only five years old, and he had never recovered from it. He kept her old room exactly the way it was when she lived there, and he talked about her often, sometimes with love, and sometimes full of hate and vengeance.

When Malcolm's father Garland returns from Europe with his 19 year old bride Alicia, the house opens itself up to a woman who was very similiar in looks to Garland's first wife. Malcolm is taken by her, but extremely jealous of his father. One fateful night, everything changes for all of the inhabitants of Foxworth Hall and there will be lies and secrets that will be carried over to future generations to come.

The book is filled with drama and intrigue and it's an extreme page turner. Enjoyable with or without having read the series first. Highly recommended!

I really like this book! I liked Olivia because she was more real for me not being extremely beautiful with every single guy after her! I did feel sorry for her, I liked her, but even if I'd gone through what she did I don't think I would have turned out to be that much of a cow!

I really enjoyed reading this book, now I'm sharing it with you. I enjoyed it because it really explains what happens in the book called Flowers In The Attic. It also explains why certain things happen in the book. If you enjoy gossip, information, and details than this would be a great book for you.

I'VE READ THIS BOOK 4 TIMES,BECAUSE IT WAS GREAT.IF YOUR GOING TO READ THEM YOU SHOULD START WITH THIS BOOK,THEN FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC.IT WILL MAKE MORE SENSE.TRY ALL OF V.C.ANDREWS BOOKS THEIR ALL FANTASTIC.

i lvoed it but would love for the mother of chris, carrie, cathy, and cory to be its own story..i know this story was abotu the grandmother initially..they feared her,....but really thier own mother needs to be opened up like a book, she is truly the one i want to know why she did what she did!

This is my first time reading "Garden of Shadows" and I am revisiting the series because my daughter is interested in reading it. I am glad I read this book. It provided the foundation to really understanding the rest of the series. I had always viewed the grandmother as being evil, but after this book I was able to show a small bit of sympathy where none existed before. I encourage those who love the series to read this book first instead of last.

I am currently re-reading all of the books in the series as the recent Lifetime movie reignited my interest. I originally read them back in the day as a teen when they were first published. The only book I still don't really care for is If There Be Thorns. For some reason Bart annoyed the hell out of me. I was hoping someone would lock his mental behind in an attic and throw away the key. The best out of the bunch is Garden of Shadows. It wrapped up the series and it was a shocker to find out the parents were really half siblings and not niece and uncle.

What a cold life Olivia Winfield led. Garden Of Shadows is a great insider's look on what she suffered and why she became the vicious woman she was. You can sympathize with her and pity her instead of hating her.

This book tells the story of Olivia, the grandmother. It was much better than the last book and really did a great job of entertaining and giving a glimpse into the reasoning behind all of the grandmother's hostility. Even if you didn't like the later books in the series regarding Cathy and Chris and their family, this one is worth reading, though it's kind of long and does seem to drone a bit after the first few chapters.

This story haunted me in a way that no other piece of writing has. I felt immediately drawn in to each member of the family and their impossible circumstances. I felt trapped. The story line is so compelling it made me question everyone around me. The characters are so complete and complex. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't know who to root for or when, but I was captivated by the unfolding. Taught me so much about life, people, family. I couldn't stop reading the series until I finished every single book, cover to cover. Didn't want to miss a word. Every little chilling detail.