This book wasn't as good as the rest of the series, but it does let the reader in on some important background story. ( )

"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 was easily the best book of the series next to Flowers in the Attic. It will change you're liking for the old grandmother very quickly. ( )

This is the best of the Dollanganger V.C. Andrews books. It is also, of course, complete and utter trash. ( )

I felt like I understood 'The Grandmother' a lot more, but I still couldn't bring myself to like her. I felt sorry for her, but hated that if she was so miserable, she could have done something to change her life. ( )