In this captivating prequel to the mesmerizing Landry series, travel to the sultry Louisiana bayou and discover the twisted beginnings of the Landry family.
Growing up in Louisiana, Gabriel’s young life is a happy one, despite the growing rift between her mother and her conniving, whiskey-drinking Daddy. Her dreams for a bright future as an artist are cut short, however, when her innocence is shattered by the rich cannery owner Octavious Tate.
Pregnant and desperate to spare her mother the scandal, Gabriel agrees to a shocking plan that will allow Octavious’s wife Gladys to claim the baby as her own and will net Gabriel’s father a huge payoff. Hiding in a tiny abandoned playroom in the Tate mansion, Gabriel is miserable. Her only visitor is her mother, whose mission as a Cajun healer gives her an excuse to treat Gladys Tate’s supposed pregnancy. But nothing prepares Gabriel for the wrenching moment when her baby is taken away forever.
Returning home to the swamp, Gabriel drifts in a world of gloom, brightened only by chance glimpses of her son. But as her father’s reputation as a swamp guide grows, a hunting party brings handsome, gentle Creole millionaire Pierre Dumas to the bayou. Falling desperately in love, Gabriel will not heed the voice warning that her new joy may bring her more grief than she can bear.
One of the most popular authors of all time, V.C. Andrews has been a bestselling phenomenon since the publication of Flowers in the Attic, first in the renowned Dollanganger family series, which includes Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows. The family saga continues with Christopher’s Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher’s Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger, and Secret Brother, as well as Beneath the Attic, Out of the Attic, and Shadows of Foxworth as part of the fortieth anniversary celebration. There are more than ninety V.C. Andrews novels, which have sold over 107 million copies worldwide and have been translated into more than twenty-five foreign languages. Andrews’s life story is told in The Woman Beyond the Attic. Join the conversation about the world of V.C. Andrews at Facebook.com/OfficialVCAndrews.