Dawn by V. C. Andrews

I’ve decided to give myself a belated Christmas present and not recap Dawn.  I recommend going over to Taren of The Chick Manifesto’s recap: Part 1 and Part 2.  Seriously, Dawn is the blonde version of Heaven plus the incest and rape of the Dollanganger and Casteel series plus the wealth of both, although more the wealth of Heaven Casteel’s so-called father’s cruise ship line than the ultra-rich Tattertons and Foxworths, and throw in the usual mean/cold matriarch.  Not much else is different, at least in the first book – I haven’t read further.  I definitely have no desire to read further ghost-written Andrews series, although I might read the rest of the Dawn series to see what happens, if I need some book junk food.

Right now, I think I will not take on any reading challenges in 2010.  Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind later, but for now, I don’t want to.  I want to focus on reading what I want for my blog, whether it is new or old.

Web of Dreams by V. C. Andrews

Book 10 in:

Web of Dreams is the prequel and final book in the Casteel series.  It opens on Annie and Luke returning to Farthinggale Manor for Troy Tatterton’s funeral.  While poking around, Annie finds a diary that belonged to her grandmother, Leigh, and begins to read it.  The rest of the book is written in Leigh’s voice (minus the epilogue).  When the story begins, Leigh is celebrating her 12th birthday with her mother Jillian and her father Cleave.  Her mother spoils her with many gifts, but Leigh’s favorite is a blank book from her father, which is where she writes the story.  There is much gift giving in this book, particularly necklaces.

Jillian is supposed to be a children’s book illustrator, although this is something I never completely buy about her.  I feel like she is too selfish, flighty, and shallow to have the patience to create any kind of art.  Cleave owns a cruise ship company, which Jillian loved at one point because it made her feel wealthy and important, but the bloom is off that rose and she now yearns for a mansion with a maze – hmm, that is awfully specific.  Jillian takes Leigh to meet Tony Tatterton, owner of the fancy Tatterton To Company, age 23, who hired Jillian to paint murals in his house based on some of her illustrations.  Leigh is impressed by the mansion, which just so happens to have a maze, but is particularly enchanted with Tony’s little brother, Troy (so glad he is as adorable as a kid as he is as an adult).  Tony tries to win her over by giving her a necklace with a gold and diamond cruise ship charm.  I find this incredibly creepy knowing her father owns these boats.

The next week, Cleave launches a new destination for his cruise line, and Jillian has planned a bon voyage party as she and Leigh are coming along for the maiden voyage.  Tony attends the party, and he and Jillian are practically sucking face on the dance floor.  While on the cruise, Jillian constantly whines about not feeling well and how she hates being on the ship and that Leigh should not be learning about the ship, something she has always enjoyed as it is something shared with her father.  When the boat docks in Jamaica, Jillian ditches her family and flies home.  Leigh is heartbroken by her mother’s abandonment, and the dagger is twisted further when, upon arriving back in Boston, her father tells her that after leaving the boat, Jillian flew to Mexico to obtain a divorce.

Leigh arrives home to an empty house and is further traumatized when she finds sample wedding invitations.  Once her mother comes home, Jillian confesses that she and Tony are marrying, and begs Leigh to be her BFF and never tell Tony how old she really is as she’s led him to believe she is 28.  A Christmas wedding is planned, and Jillian is upset when her mother, Jana, decides to come.  Leigh overhears a conversation between Jillian and Jana where they discuss how Leigh is not really Cleave’s daughter and that Jillian was knocked up by some lounge singer.  Poor Leigh, not much is going well for her.

The wedding is held at Farthy, and at one point, Leigh and Troy explore the maze and cottage, but get lost trying to come home as a snow storm blows in.  When they are finally found, both are frozen.  Troy is whisked away to a hot bath, but Jillian proceeds to chew out Leigh, wanting to know how Leigh could do this to her on such a precious day.  Because Leigh camped out in the snowy maze on purpose.  Tony finally takes Leigh to a hot bath and helps her get undressed. Cue creepy music.

Tony and Jillian take off on their honeymoon, leaving Leigh and Troy to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve on their own.  Many gifts are left for the children, and Leigh receives a locket from her dad.  Troy, who has always been a sickly child, becomes ill while Tony and Jillian are still gone and must be rushed off to the hospital.  When they arrive back in town, Tony rushes straight to the hospital, but Jillian comes home, needing to catch up on her rest.  So Leigh decides to go keep Tony company in the hospital, where he makes several comments about Jillian being a liar-liar-pants-on-fire about liking sports and sex.

Leigh leaves Farthy to attend a boarding school in Boston, although Jillian makes her promise to come home every weekend to keep Tony company because she can’t stand his constant need for sex.  Apparently, she thinks asking a developing 12-year-old to distract a 23-year-old from sex is a good idea.  Leigh is pretty happy at school.  She loves her roommate Jennifer, and manages to win over the popular girls, despite the fact that they initially shun her when they learn her parents are divorced.

At the beginning of her summer break, Tony announces that he plans for his toy company to start creating a line of portrait dolls and the first doll will be based on Leigh.  This will require her to spend hours posing for Tony as he draws, paints, and sculpts portraits of her that he can use to create a doll that resembles her.  Jillian and Tony agree that, logically, this includes nude posing.  Tony sets up a studio in the cottage so they can have privacy.  While working, he asks many nosy, creepy questions about her previous sexual experience (none), and once he gets her naked, insists on fondling her entire body for creation purposes.  This would be the point where I needed a shower.  Leigh is horrified when she notices that everything he is creating has her face but her mother’s body.  When she tries to talk to her mom about the whole thing, Jillian is astounded that Leigh isn’t flattered by the attention.

Leigh hopes to talk to her father about what is going on, but he’s distracted by a new wife and a growing cruise business and doesn’t seem to have any time to spare.

Leigh returns to boarding school in the fall.  Her roommate, Jennifer, has found a boyfriend over the summer and introduces Leigh to his friend, Joshua.  The two of them pair off at the first dance of the year and the foursome spends all their free time together.

Jillian plans an extravagant thirteenth birthday party for Leigh and she invites Joshua, Jennifer, and Jennifer’s boyfriend, along with many other school friends.  Troy gives her a locket (necklace #3!) and Tony gives her the portrait doll, whom she names Angel.  During the party, Leigh and Joshua sneak out so she can show him the maze and cottage.  She is creeped out to discover a new painting of Tony’s in the cottage – one of Leigh’s head/Jillian’s body and Tony naked on the couch together.  She covers it up and starts to make out with Joshua, but they are interrupted by an angry Tony.  Later, he promises not to tell Jillian, but insists that she needs to learn about her sexuality. So gross.

Jillian decides to go spend a month at a Switzerland spa just as school is ending, and Leigh is left to keep Tony company.  He awakens her in the middle of one night, naked, and rapes her.  The next morning, he acts as if nothing happened.  When she receives a telegram stating that her mother will be back home the next day, Leigh decides to lock herself in Jillian’s room since it is the only room with a lock on the door.  To comfort herself, she puts on one of Jillian’s nightgowns and perfume and crawls into bed.  Tony shows up with a key, though, and after realizing she is Leigh and not Jillian, accuses her or trying to seduce him by dressing as Jillian and rapes her again.

When Jillian comes home the next day, Leigh tries to tell her what has happened, but Jillian won’t listen to her and claims that Tony said Leigh has been trying to seduce him.  Leigh hopes to tell her father, but he ditches her again and she realizes she is pregnant.  She tries to tell Jillian, but the hypocrite calls her a slut, so Leigh packs a bag and leaves, hoping to run away to her grandmother’s house in Texas.  She gets as far as Atlanta by train, and while there for a layover, she meets Luke Casteel.  He takes her to see the circus where he works, but is late getting back to the train station and misses her train.

Luke feels responsible and gets a hotel room for the two of them so she doesn’t have to sleep in his pile of hay at the circus.  She confesses her entire story to him, and he confesses that he has fallen in love with her in the 8 hours he’s known her.  Luke says he would like to marry Leigh and be the father of her baby, so they are married by the next day surrounded by his circus friends.

Luke and Leigh leave for the Willies where they will be living in a shack with his parents.  When they arrive, Leigh is shocked by the poverty his family lives in, but resolves to be strong and put in her share of work.  Luke builds her a pretty white outhouse and she tries to encourage him to cut back on his drinking.  He refuses to consummate their marriage, wanting to wait until they have their own house.  At one point, they attend a hoedown together where Luke dances with a red head named Sarah, whom we all know will be his second wife in the first book.  The final part of her diary has Leigh at the end of her term, suffering from stomach pains but happy.

The book ends with Annie flipping through the rest of the blank pages and finding a letter from a PI to Tony, explaining that Leigh died in childbirth.  Taren points out some inconsistencies about whether Tony knew or not, how Jillian got the diary, and even the shortness of time between Heaven and Tom’s birth.  The idea that Luke cheated of Leigh when they never even consummated their marriage is one of the things I find saddest in the book, after all the raping.  I feel like a lot of the series sets up this idea that Leigh was Luke’s one true love and his loss of her is why he’s such a drunk, and an awful father and husband, yet cheating would make this seem false.

I liked the character of Leigh.  After the many versions of Leigh’s story that Heaven and Annie hear throughout the series – she was innocent, she was a manipulative slut – I like ending the series on her own version of the story.  I had an easier time getting through this series than I did with the Dollanganger series – none of the books were as boring as If There Be Thorns, but it seems like this series has more rape and incest/inappropriate sexual relations than the Dollanganger series does.

One more book in the challenge – Dawn!

Gates of Paradise by V. C. Andrews

Book 9 in the:

Gates of Paradise is the fourth book in V. C. Andrews’ Casteel series.  The focus is on Heaven’s daughter, Annie, who is about to turn eighteen.  She lives in Winnerow with Heaven and Logan and her sort-of-uncle Drake (now in college).  There is no one she is closer to in the world than Luke Jr., the son of her aunt Fanny and father Logan.  She often dreams of being with him forever, despite the fact that they are half-siblings (as far as they know).  They fantasize together, often including Farthinggale Manor in their dream world, although they have never been there.  Heaven’s past is a mystery to them; she refuses to talk about why she no longer lives at Farthy or talks to Tony Tatterton.

One night, Fanny throws a birthday party for herself, and Annie attends with her parents.  Logan drinks before they arrive, and is pretty drunk at the party, which only makes Heaven unhappy.  Fanny is excited that they have arrived and pulls Logan out on the dance floor, kissing him and rubbing all over him.  Logan, being the jerk he is, does nothing to fight her off.  Heaven eventually insists on leaving.  Logan is drunk driving when a storm starts and they end up in a car accident.  Heaven and Logan are both killed, and after waking up from a coma, Annie discovers that she cannot move her legs.  Her doctors do not think it is permanent but that she will need therapy and rest before she can walk again.

Tony Tatterton has shown up in the hospital, and insists on taking Annie to Farthy where he can give her the “best” care.  They arrive there and Annie is disappointed to see that Farthy is dilapidated and not the castle she and Luke dreamed it would be.  Tony sticks her in a room upstairs with a creepy nurse.  Annie is able to meet Rye Whiskey, the horribly stereotypical African-American cook who has been there forever and knew her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.  He cryptically warns her not to stay long at Farthy.  Beyond Rye, she is restricted from seeing many other people.  A friendly maid she had at first is fired, Annie is prohibited from contacting Luke, and Drake visits briefly but is distracted by the new summer job Tony gave him in the toy company.  He also doesn’t help Annie’s state of mind by claiming that he’s tried to get Luke to visit or call but that Luke is too busy with a new girlfriend.  Tony and the nurse are the two people Annie sees the most, and they appear to compete to see who can be the creepiest: the nurse with her controlling behavior and abusive therapy that seems to turn her on, and Tony, with his pedophilia and creepy caresses, who confuses Annie with Heaven, Leigh, and even Jillian.  He even convinces her to dye her hair blonde to better resemble these women.

Annie eventually grows tired of Jello and the bland food her nurse insists on, and demands to have some of Rye Whiskey’s food.  After eating it, she realizes her nurse spiked it with laxatives when she has an accident.  The nurse demeans her with the way she cleans Annie up.  Annie tells Tony and he has her fired, insisting on taking on her care himself.  This includes getting her bathed and dressed, which only makes Annie more uncomfortable.

Tony has buried Heaven and Logan in the family cemetary, which Annie can see from her bedroom window.  She is surprised to see a man visit the grave one day, but cannot seem to learn who it might have been.  Eventually, Tony installs a chair elevator and one afternoon, when she is left alone, Annie manages to get herself outside.  She meets Troy, who takes her through the maze and into his cottage.  They get to know each other a bit and talk about Heaven, and Annie realizes it was Troy she saw at her mother’s grave.  He even helps her take her first steps.  She finds herself trusting him and tells him about how creepy Tony has been.  When she returns to the house, Tony has been searching for her and leaves her alone in her room without a wheelchair.

That night, Tony arrives in Annie’s room intoxicated and tries to force himself on her, again confusing her with the other women she is related to.  The next day, he acts like nothing happened.  Annie tries to tell Drake about it and asks for help getting out, but he refuses to believe that Tony would do something like that and insists that it is best she stay at Farthy.  She is rescued when Luke and Fanny show up to take her home, thanks to an anonymous phone call that let them know what exactly was happening to Annie.  (Yay Troy!)  Before they leave, Tony confesses that he is her grandfather because he raped her grandmother Leigh.  He seems to think this will make Annie want to stay with him, rather than further prove what a creep he is.

I thought a lot of time passed during this part of the book, but at one point the reader learns it has only been about two weeks.  Annie returns home to Winnerow and her parents’ house, where Fanny now lives.  (Fanny has some how been motivated to undergo a huge personality change thanks to Heaven’s death.)  Annie and Fanny talk about how they are not really blood relatives now that they know Heaven was the child of Tony and not Luke Sr., but they consider themselves family just the same.  Still believing themselves to be half-siblings, Luke runs away after Drake discovers them sharing a kiss.  Drake still thinks Annie belongs at Farthy (I feel like he should have been Logan’s son with his jerkiness and moronic tendencies) and is angry that she refuses to return to Tony.  He leaves and Annie lives in the house with Fanny, eventually gaining her ability to walk again.

Troy soon calls to inform Annie that Tony has died.  Annie returns to Farthy for the funeral, with Luke by her side to assist her.  After the funeral, Troy invites them to his cottage and confesses that Annie is his child, not Logan’s, therefore Luke and Annie are not related at all.  Luke and Annie pledge to be 2-gether 4-ever.

There is one more in the series, the prequel Web of Dreams.  This was another Andrews novel obsessed with the incest and rape.  At this point, the books were being written by the ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman.  I don’t know if Andrews left behind notes that included so much incest and rape, or if Mr. Neiderman has the interest in it, or if he just believes he’s holding on to her desires (which is probably correct).

Fallen Hearts by V.C. Andrews

Book 8 in:

Fallen Hearts is the third book in the V. C. Andrews’ Casteel series.  It’s been a while since I read this one so I don’t feel like I can do it justice with a recap.  Instead, I’ll direct you to Taren of The Chick Manifesto’s awesome recaps: Part 1 and Part 2.  In this one, Logan no longer holds back on being a class A jerk when he knocks up Fanny, Heaven’s sister, and even more when he defends Tony’s attempt at rape.  Troy returns, which is a little creepy with the uncle/niece relationship, but also awesome since Troy is the best character.  I found myself wondering how anyone can put up with Fanny – you never see a redeeming quality in her.

Coming this week: Gates of Paradise, Web of Dreams, and Dawn to complete the challenge.

Update on the V.C. Andrews Challenge

It’s been over 4 months since I last did something for the V.C. Andrews Challenge – yikes!  I have 4 books left to tackle: Fallen Hearts, Gates of Paradise, Web of Dreams, and a yet-to-be-chosen #11.   They tend to be fast reads so I have hope that I can accomplish this in the next 2 months.  I’d be curious to know how others who are participating have progressed in this one.

Dark Angel by V. C. Andrews

Book 7 in:

Ah, V. C. Andrews. Nothing like killing some brain cells before starting Infinite Jest.

Dark Angel is the second in the Casteel series. It picks up where Heaven left off, with Heaven flying to Boston to meet her dead mother’s family. She dreams of a perfect family but is greeted by anything but. Her grandmother is desperately clinging to her youth, and insists that Heaven call her by her first name, Jillian, so no one discovers she is old enough to have a grandchild. Her grandfather had died, and she has a step-grandfather who wants to have a relationship with her but insists on a very strict set of rules, including never speaking to her WVA family again.

Heaven begins attending a local boarding school, staying there during the week and coming home on weekends. The other students are not very friendly towards her, so she looks forward to coming home on the weekends. Her grandparents are often traveling though, and Jillian ignores her when she is home, so she develops a friendship with her step-grandfather’s brother, Troy. (The family trees in these books get a little ridiculous at times.) This is something she was forbidden from doing by her grandparents so it must be kept a secret. She is further driven towards Troy when she tries to reconnect with her childhood love, Logan, and is rejected again for being a slutty slut slut and sleeping with Cal Dennison (in the previous book). (That Logan is a swell guy. Heaven eventually realizes that he only likes her when he can rescue her, but this doesn’t ever make her stop running to him.) By the time she graduates from high school, Heaven is head over heels for Troy, and after spending several romantic days together, they end up in bed.

Of course, they immediately decide to marry, like you do, and break the news to her step-grandfather Tony. He’s actually excited, and Heaven decides that before she marries, she needs to see all her siblings again. She flies off to visit Keith and Our Jane, who have a meltdown when they see her and claim to not know her. She then goes to see Tom, who is working for a circus with her father. This depresses her and she runs off to see Fanny. Fanny is basically a hooker, and just wants Heaven to give her money and get her baby back. So Heaven returns to WVA to try to get Fanny’s baby. This doesn’t go well, and she tries to return to her family’s old cabin to check on her grandfather. Her car breaks down in a storm, and Logan magically appears to rescue her. They reach the cabin, which has been rebuilt into a nice and sturdy house. Heaven is suddenly struck with a terrible illness, and Logan spends days nursing her back to health in the house while waiting for the storm to pass.

Eventually, Heaven is able to return home and step-grandfather Tony is angry with her for abandoning Troy. Tony then reveals to her that years ago, he repeatedly raped her mother and Heaven is actually the product of the rape and not a Casteel at all. This also means she cannot marry Troy, who is now her uncle. (V. C. Andrews loves the uncle/niece love.) Grandma Jillian is the one to break the news to Troy, who leaves town with a broken heart.

Time moves uneventfully as it does in V. C. Andrews’ books when she wants to just get to the point of someone being a certain age. Jillian lost her mind when Heaven confronted her about letting Tony repeatedly rape her mother, so now it’s just Heaven and Tony hanging out when she isn’t attending college. He tries to be all fatherly to her and takes her on lots of trips. During one summer, he brings Keith and Our Jane to the mansion, with their adoptive parents. It turns out that Troy wrote to the adoptive parents and revealed that Heaven is rich now and just wants to know her siblings, not take them away. Money changes everything, of course, and now everyone is friends. Heaven is touched that Troy did that for her and wishes she knew where he was.

Eventually she graduates from college and heads out alone on some random trip. When she returns home, Tony tells her that Troy returned home while she was gone, but died when a horse he was riding freaked out and rode him into the sea. At this, Heaven decides to return to her hometown in WVA and become a teacher. When she learns that her Casteel Pa’s circus is in town, she dyes her hair to better resemble her dead mother, and puts on an old outfit of her mother’s. She visits the circus, and when Pa sees her, he thinks he is seeing a ghost and freaks out. This causes some chaos in the circus ring, which results in a lion mauling her brother Tom to death. Poor Tom. Grandpa kicks the bucket soon after, and Heaven is left with good ol’ Logan, who loves her again since she’s needy. They reunite and decide to marry.

End of Dark Angel, which I’ve read was the last book in the Casteel series that Andrews actually wrote. The weird obsession she has with rape and incest is present in this book. Heaven also fixates on Our Jane’s breasts when she sees her, much like Cathy did with Cindy in Seeds of Yesterday. I still find this creepy.

Odds and Ends to Kick Off Summer

My summer break officially began today. I’ve gotten very behind in posting but now that summer is here, I should catch up in no time! I’ll start off today with some short notes:

• I did see Up in 3D and it is fantastic! I highly recommend it for everyone. The dog, Dug, is my favorite part, but I might be biased since he reminded me of my dog (up in the masthead). The short story of Carl’s marriage at the beginning is beautiful. Bring tissues – I was crying halfway through it. The movie is about among other things, learning to move on, and be loved, and how you can have fun no matter where you are if you are with people you love, which is a lesson I think a lot of people can always stand to re-learn. Up is funny and heartwarming and made me cry a few times. It’s the best movie I have seen this year and I will be awfully sad if it isn’t a contender for Best Picture, despite the fact that it’s an animated film. Definitely one of my favorite Pixar movies.
• Reading Challenge current standings: I finished the 2009 YA Challenge, and have read 6 of the 11 books needed for the V. C. Andrews challenge. This Sunday starts Infinite Summer, which I guess could be classified as a reading challenge. I’m hoping that I can keep up with the page deadlines for it and still read other stuff along the way, but we’ll see how that goes.
• My summer TBR pile is growing and growing. I brought home a stack of books from school to catch up on, along with a huge stack of professional journals that I got behind on this year. I already have a stack of books checked out from the public library. I made a list off the top of my head of what I actually want to read, and it’s already a page long! Between this list and Infinite Jest, and other projects in my non-reading life, I guess it’s going to be a busy 2 months!

Regular posting should resume in the next day or so. I have posts coming on The 19th Wife, Handle With Care, The School for Dangerous Girls, and Same Difference.

Heaven by V. C. Andrews

Heaven begins a V. C. Andrews series that follows Heaven Leigh (really) Casteel as she grows up in the hills of West Virginia. Heaven is one of 5 children growing up in a shack high in the hills. She lives with her grandparents, stepmother, and often-absent good-for-nothing father. We soon learn that Heaven is perfect – she’s beautiful, smart – loves school and books, and uber-helpful, keeping their shack clean and the younger kids in line. Her half-brother Tom is also pretty perfect as he loves school and never seems to be grouchy, and weirdly enough (for V. C. Andrews) does not seem to be in love with his sister. (Yet? We’ll see as the series progresses.) Fanny, a few years younger than Heaven, seems to have been born the town slut. She also has a quiet little brother Keith who does appear to be weirdly obsessed with the 3rd sister, who is also the youngest, called Our Jane. Everyone loves Our Jane, and I don’t understand why. She’s the whiniest little brat. I get that she has health problems, but she whines about everything – eating, not eating, walking, attention. I was surprised she didn’t want someone to breathe for her. 

Heaven’s mother died in childbirth, so she never knew her mom, although she harbors dreams of one day going to Boston to visit her mother’s family. Her dad never got over the loss and blames Heaven for her mother’s death. He quickly remarried Sarah, although he doesn’t love her despite her best efforts. He now spends his time dealing moonshine, losing money, and sleeping with the town hookers. Everyone is miserable because they never have enough food, the shack is always cold, and dear ol’ dad doesn’t care. Fun!

The children walk 7 miles to school every day (I can’t completely blame Our Jane for whining about that) and Heaven soon meets her dreamy soul mate, who is 2 years older than her and the rich boy in town. They have a perfect relationship, never getting into any of the shenanigans that Fanny enjoys with every boy in town. Heaven and Tom also have a perfect teacher, who gives them food and books, and has someone received the special privilege of advancing a grade each year with Heaven’s class so they always have the same teacher.

Heaven’s grandmother dies, and dad comes home to announce that he has an STD and must leave again for treatment. Sarah takes off and for a while, Heaven tries to hold her family together without a functioning adult in the house. Dad does eventually return home, with the brilliant idea to sell off his children. Heaven is the last to go, and she ends up with a young couple who live in Atlanta. It turns out the wife is an ex of her dad, and is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. She heaps a variety of abuse on Heaven, and there is a disturbing scene involving a hamster that is not for anyone with a weak stomach. Her behavior and long work hours encourages Heaven to become close with her young husband, which you know will not end well. Meanwhile, Heaven is trying to track down and stay in touch with her siblings and childhood sweetheart.

Heaven definitely has its moments of crazy, keeping with the V. C. Andrews trend. I am interested to see what happens next, although this one is not as much of a page turner as Flowers in the Attic.

Garden of Shadows by V. C. Andrews

Book 5 in:

Garden of Shadows is the last book in the Flowers in the Attic series, and starts the Andrews pattern where the last book is a prequel to the series. Garden centers on Olivia, Cathy’s grandmother. Olivia’s mother died when she was young, and she has been raised by her father who has done nothing to help her overcome her less-than-feminine features or fine tune her womanly ways. This has led Olivia to be an old maid at the age of 24 (heaven forbid). Her father occasionally invites potential suitors home for dinner, and Olivia finally meets a man who does not run away from her when Malcolm Foxworth attends as a dinner guest. Malcolm is an attractive man so Olivia is surprised he is interested in her, until he reveals that he has no desire for flighty women as his mother was one and abandoned him as a child. The two are quickly married and Olivia is whisked off to Foxworth Hall, dreaming of love and hearts and flowers. Before they have even arrived at the mansion, Olivia sees a glimpse of her future when Malcolm talks to her more as a servant in the house than his wife. Olivia is in awe of the house, but is left cold when she is shown to her room and realizes that there will not be a consummation of the marriage that night. 

Olivia is left to explore the mansion and discovers Malcom’s mother’s room – kept exactly as she left it. She lays down on the infamous swan bed, only to be surprised when Malcom finds her. He is angry that she has been so nosy and begins to rant about his mother. Before Olivia can stop him, Malcolm attacks her and rapes her there on the swan bed. Olivia realizes how truely messed up he is when he seems to only see his mother during the act. Yikes. Olivia soon comes to realize that Malcolm uses her to run the house while he works and sleeps his way around town, even spending time with a married woman sprawled across his desk at their wedding party. Why she just didn’t pack it in there and go back home to dad is beyond me.

9 months after the swan bed encounter, Olivia gives birth to a son, Mal (short for Malcolm, of course). At some point, she is impregnated by Malcolm again and gives birth to Joel (previously seen creeping around Foxworth Hall in Seeds of Yesterday). At some point, Malcolm’s dad, Garland, returns home from Europe with a new wife, Alicia, who is younger than Olivia and pregnant already. Malcolm immediately both hates and loves Alicia and creeps around after her (it is easy to see where Joel gets it from later). Alicia gives birth to Christopher and for a while, things seem to be running fairly smoothly. Until, that is, Alicia decides she wants to move into Malcolm’s mother’s room and sleep in the swan bed.

Unfortunately, Malcolm can’t stop being a creep, and Olivia is woken up by screams one night. She goes running to the swan bed room to discover Garland dead, Alicia in a torn nightgown, and Malcolm. Eventually, it comes out that Garland and Malcolm fought over Alicia, which killed Garland. Malcolm begins raping Alicia on a regular basis, and she eventually ends up pregnant.

Alicia is banished to the Flowers in the Attic room and Olivia pretends to be pregnant. After Alicia gives birth to a daughter, she and Christopher are whisked away and Olivia and Malcolm raise the daughter as their own. Because these people are made of crazy, Malcolm insists that this daughter be named after his mother – Corinne.

Much creepiness continues for years as the children grow. More deaths happen, and John Amos enters the story, who was last seen as a creepy butler in Petals on the Wind. (V. C. Andrews can’t be blamed for not bringing characters full circle.) Eventually Christopher returns home, he and Corinne fall in love (not realizing they are half-siblings), they run away, and the book ends where Flowers begins, with Olivia locking Corinne’s children in the attic. 

Thank the sweet Lord this one is done. I enjoyed Flowers in the Attic, and to some extent Petals on the Wind. Both are fast reads and trashy enough to keep you interested. Garden of Shadows was interesting in letting you see where everything began, but a whole lot of nothing happens for a good portion of the book, which Andrews also did in If There Be Thorns. It is hard to be sympathetic for Olivia since she could have left crazypants Malcolm at any point – her father left her lots of money that Malcolm can never touch. None of the characters are lovable – they are either selfish, creepy, crazy, or so perfect you can’t believe it. And what the heck is with this weird swan bed? I can’t imagine wanting to sleep under a swan with a red eye staring at me.

Despite all this, I have begun reading my next series for the V. C. Andrews challenge, Heaven. I’m a glutton for punishment.

Seeds of Yesterday by V. C. Andrews

Book 4 in:

Seeds of Yesterday picks up about 15 years or so after If There Be Thorns. Corinne left Foxworth Hall and all her money to her grandson Bart when she died. She was in the process of having it rebuilt after the fire that killed her mother and husband, and it was decided that this would continue so that one day, Bart could live there. In the meantime, Chris has been managing Bart’s inheritance while he and Cathy got Bart some serious mental help after the craziness in the last book. Now, 15 years later, Bart is found to be of sound mental health and has completed college at the head of his class. He is about to turn 25 and has invited his entire family, along with every rich person he knows, to celebrate at a big party he is throwing at Foxworth Hall, where he is now living. 25 is due to be a big age for him as he believes that this is when he will finally take possession of his inheritance, and he dreams of being as wealthy and powerful as Malcolm Foxworth once was. Chris and Cathy agree to come, despite Cathy’s fear of the house that once held her hostage, Cindy arrives after she’s completed her junior year of high school, and Jory arrives with his wife Melanie, fresh off a world ballet tour.

Despite the years, nothing has changed. Bart is still obsessive and creepy and dislikes his siblings. Despite this, Jory agrees to perform a ballet piece at Bart’s party, with Cindy filling in as his partner due to Melanie’s pregnancy. At the end of the performance, a set piece falls on Jory, leaving him paralyzed. His wife is devastated at losing what she most loved in Jory, and begins an affair with Bart for comfort. A long lost relative has also shown up – Joel, a brother of Corinne’s, long believed dead. He is as creepy as Bart and the two of them creep around the house together, saying nasty things to their family members. Jory eventually comes home from the hospital and his marriage continues to crumble as his wife’s pregnancy grows. After a disastrous Christmas, Melanie gives birth to twins – a blonde boy and girl. They are named Darren and Deirdre, but Cathy only sees her lost sibling twins, Carrie and Cory, when she looks at them. Melanie soon takes off to NYC, leaving the twins for Jory and his family.

To make an already long story a little shorter, the book goes on for many pages while not much happens. The twins grow while Bart and Joel grow creepier. Cindy is caught more than once having sex. Cathy misses Chris as he has taken a job doing research and only is home on the weekends. A nurse is hired to care for Jory and the twins and first has an affair with Bart before falling in love with Jory. I’ll not spoil the end, except to say that the series is pretty much wrapped up in a bittersweet but satisfying way.

This book was better than If There Be Thorns, a lot faster to get through even if there are chunks of inaction. I find Cathy to be such a weird character – she seems to have some sort of weird pride when she sees Cindy prance around in skimpy clothes. I’m not a mother, but I don’t know a lot of mothers who would feel that way. It’s slightly irritating the way almost everyone hates being in the house, but no one will move out, but the appreciation for the luxuries of the house is a bit understandable. I found myself waiting throughout the books for a big reveal scene where Cathy returns to the space where she was once held captive. The payoff that finally comes is satisfying and sad, but I had a hard time believing that in all the years of living in the house, it takes her as long as it did to finally go up there.

One more book in this series to go – Garden of Shadows. I’m looking forward to finding out the events leading up to FITA and any last secrets about this messed-up family!