Garden of Shadows (1987)

from back cover:
   Olivia dreamed of a sun-filled love, a happy life. Then she entered Foxworth Hall...
   Long before terror flowered in an 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 been waiting for, longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filled with hidden rooms and festering desires, a stain of jealous obsession begins to spread...an evil that will threaten her children, two lovely boys and one very special little girl. For within one innocent child, a shocking secret lives...a secret that will taint the proud Foxworth name, and haunt all their lives forever!



My Opinions and Rating


Impressions:
   Now we will learn the truth behind every lie. We will discover where it all began, and the horror that came before the dresdon dolls...
   I was intrigued by the life Olivia Foxworth had, and understood what turned her into the hard woman she was in Flowers in the Attic. Though it didn't excuse the hell she put Chris, Cathy, Cory & Carrie through.
   Malcolm Foxworth started it all with his lust for Alicia, his father Garland's young bride. He ended up violating her in the most terrible of ways, he raped her. Garland tried to stop it, but he had a heart attack and died in the process.
   It didn't end there, Alicia was pregnant, with the girl who would grow up and lock her four precious children in the dusty attic of Foxworth Hall, starting generations of heart ache and nightmares.
   And that little girl would never know the true relationship she shared with her half uncle... And that relationship would ignite the fire.


Quotes:

Love shone in his eyes, and I could see that in all these years his doting on Corrine had not died. Oh, yes, I was right not to have told him of the existence of the children. He would have fallen under their spell, as he always fell under the spell of beauty.
- from:
The Eyes That See

The boy, almost a man, was an exact replica of Christopher, the same blond hair, the same blue eyes, the same sweet, intelligent expression on his face. Oh, how I longed to embrace him. But I held back, reminding myself of all I knew, of all that had conspired.
- from:
The Eyes That See

The two older ones stood side by side, the boy holding the girl's hand, just as Christopher had held Corrine's. I saw him look into her eyes, and saw him smile, a smile that sent a cold chill up my spine. For it was a smile I had seen before, it was a smile of Christopher for Corrine, the smile I had been too blind to see. But now my eyes were opened. I locked the door behind me.
- from:
EThe Eyes That See

Rating:
   I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It isn't predictable. Although we do know a lot of the family history already, there are still surprises to be found.
   It was very interesting to see everything from Olivia's eyes and we learn that she was a victim as well and she suffered her own hell.
   We are also better able to understand why she did what she did, although, I never excused it. But I learned secrets about the family, and was intrigued once more.
   Overall, this was an outstanding book, and it revealed a lot of information about the family. It was touching and incredibly horrid at the same time. But a great book.
[5/5]