Garden of Shadows

by V.C. Andrews

Book Overview

Olivia dreamed of a sun-filled love, a happy life. Then she entered Foxworth Hall... -- V.C. Andrews' thrilling new novel spins a tale of dreadful secrets and dark, forbidden passions -- of the time before Flowers in the Attic began. Long before terror flowered in the attic, thin, spinsterish Olivia came to Virginia as Malcolm Foxworth's bride. At last, with her tall handsome husband, she would find the joy she had waited for, longed for. But in the...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067164257X
• ISBN13: 9780671642570
• Release Date: November 1987
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely did not disappoint.

What a wonderful addition to the "Flowers in the Attic" saga! If you've ever read them, this is an absolute must read. It genuinely made me feel for Olivia Foxworth; which I did not feel possible. As for the condition of the book. I am always pleasantly surprised at how good of condition books are from this site.

A Great "Prequel"! But read "Flowers in the Attic" first.

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 al

Now I Finally Understand!

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!

A Very Real Woman

"Garden of Shadows" is my favorite book in the Dollanganger saga--even before the centrepiece, "Flowers in the Attic". I have my reasons for this; mainly, that the people in this novel are real people, whereas in "Flowers", the characters come off as one-dimensional cardboard travesties. This isn't to say that I don't like "Flowers"--I just think that this prequel and some of the sequels to that book are more realistic.I feel genuinely sorry for Olivia Foxworth, the narrator of this book who will eventually develop into the forbidding grandmother of "Flowers in the Attic". It may be that I can empathize with her lack of beauty, popularity, and social grace. Deep down inside, she is a very sensitive and even loving woman who is in terrible pain.I won't bother to illustrate any details of the plot--other reviews have done that enough. Suffice it to say that this author--the ghostwriter chosen after V.C. Andrews's death--has done a good job.On the other hand, I do have some problems with this story, even though I have awarded it five stars. First of all, even with all that transpires, Olivia still does not seem to be the truly evil woman who terrorizes the four children in "Flowers in the Attic." This is plain to see in the final scene, when Olivia braces herself against loving them, because they remind her so much of Corrine and Christopher, Sr., when they were that age. From what V.C. Andrews created in the grandmother, we should see a much harder and unsympathetic character here. Remember how the grandmother picks Carrie up by her hair on the following night, and slaps Cory--not to mention whipping Corrine? I just can't see this version of Olivia Foxworth doing these things.And yes, there are many inconsistencies between this book and later books in the series. No abuse or real oppression of Corrine as she grew...and the religious fanaticism that she spoke of so bitterly in "Flowers" does not enter the picture here until almost the end, when she is a young adult. I think that if Olivia had included some incidents to back this information up, along with her convictions that she was doing the right thing, a much more balanced portrait would have evolved.In conclusion, I can say again that I felt sorry for Olivia. In a way, I wish she would have left Malcolm, her husband, and taken the children with her--she does seem too independent and strong, not to mention rich--to put up with all she does, although in those days, divorce was certainly a bigger taboo than it is now. I suppose that was her logic. I also wish that Olivia would have come up with an alternative to bringing Corrine and the children back to Foxworth Hall when Christopher was killed...although we wouldn't have the story we do, then, would we?May I also say that I feel sorry for Malcolm, the future grandfather of the Dollanganger children? It makes you think back over that theory that there really are no heroes or villains in this world of ours.

Absolutely Riveting!

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.

Lo mejor en series

Para mi, leer los libros de V.C.Andrews ha sido lo mejor que me ha pasado, la verdad, es que es una gran escritora, te envuelve en sus letras, te sientes que formas parte de la historia que estas leyendo. Esta serie, empezando por flores en el atico, contando el resto de los libros, es la mejor serie que alguien pueda leer, realmente la recomiendo...es excelente ver como a traves de una lineas te puedes llegar a sentir dentro de la historia, sientes que eres un personaje mas, eres un espectador, no solo lees, sino que sientes lo que sucede! La recomiendo a todo tipo de publico porque es una historia impactante!