Ruby Landry is opgegroeid in armoedige omstandigheden maar belandt na de dood van haar grootmoeder in het luxe en opwindende leven van New Orleans bij familieleden van wie ze het bestaan nooit had vermoed. Na een jaar in het grote huis van haar rijke vader, begint Ruby eindelijk van haar nieuwe leven te genieten. Maar de pesterijen van haar stiefmoeder zijn niet verminderd, evenmin als die van haar gemene tweelingzus Gisselle. Als Ruby's geliefde vader sterft, blijft ze alleen achter in een wereld die haar niet wenst. Haar enige hoop ligt in de bayou, het moerasgebled waar ze is opgegroeid...
Books published under the following names - Virginia Andrews, V. Andrews, Virginia C. Andrews & V.C. Endrius. Books since her death ghost written by Andrew Neiderman, but still attributed to the V.C. Andrews name
Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.
While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.
Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.
After William Andrews died in the late 1960s, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.
Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.
Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the bestseller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.
Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many bestseller lists within its first two weeks.
Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels—Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts—were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by
Considering the amount of good gris-gris Ruby had about her, it didn't do much good. I liked that she kept her faith in it all despite NOTHING going right for her. Way to many black cats being killed for their bones for my liking. My memory must be really muddled with the Andrews books as I remembered this being alot better. I was waiting for a scene that never happened which I was convinced was in this book. Some events I didn't remember at all.
Ruby had a bit more of a backbone in this one. She stood up for herself, not that it did her much good. I didn't really like the bits with Louis. He was a man in his 30s taking advantage of underage school girl. And everyone was more worried that Ruby was corrupting him!? What is wrong with these people!? And why did Ruby go back after he made her touch him? And why does Andrews (well her Ghostwriter) always make the main characters so stupid? Why do they always get pregnant? Keep your legs closed or use a condom for fucks sake!
Gisselle is still a bitch. Actually maybe she's even a bigger bitch. Not even seeming that bothered when her father dies. And still tormenting Ruby. I kinda wish the story had ended that Daphne had sent them both to the Bayou. Would love to see how she would cope with that life.
You don't really see that much of Beau in this book, I don't think I really buy his and Ruby's love story. Still grossed out that he was with Gisselle first. I suppose it's better than him actually being in love with his sister like young Paul. Can't have an Andrews book without incest though!
I do relise now that I held these books up so high because I read them when I was so young. Now that I'm older, I'm not as forgiving. Don't get me wrong, these are still good stories and I love the whole family saga stretched over 5 books. I think these books will always have a special place in my heart but I'm beginning to think that Andrews books would be best enjoyed when your in your teens and more likely to sympathize with the characters mistakes, as you'll be at the age where you are making them all yourself.
Le deuxième tome se lit toujours aussi facilement que le premier. Je déroulais les pages sans penser, tellement facilement.
J’ai apprécié qu’il y ait un peu plus d’espoir dans ce tome. Ruby n’avait aucun allié dans le tome 1 et c’était très lourd. Ça fait une bonne différence qu’elle en ait dans le tome 2 et qu’ils soient actifs.
C’est sûr que sa vie est toujours aussi difficile. Les briques lui tombent constamment sur la tête. Par contre, elle se méfie plus et réagit de mieux en mieux. C’est quand même super fâchant que tout soit toujours de sa faute et qu’elle n’ait jamais le bénéfice du doute.
Un aspect que j’ai moins aimé est la prévisibilité. De 1 le titre, c’est un gros spoiler. De 2, on voit les trucs arriver beaucoup trop longtemps d’avance. Je ne ressentais aucune émotion par rapport aux dévoilements et ça c’est plate.
Ruby, laisse arriver le bonheur à toi. Tu as fait ce que j’attendais depuis un bon moment 😅 et maintenant laisse-le s’occuper de toi 💙
Not exactly a review. Just my thoughts as I read more or less.
I quite enjoyed this book as I did Ruby. I shouldn't but I enjoyed Giselle as I did Fanny in the Casteel series. So terrible but entertaining.
Well I've forgiven Beau. Glad Ruby admits now that he pressured her into the portrait.
Even though Giselle is a spoiled brat and sadly like many parents, her antics and bad behaviour are ignored.
Her tempering in the beginning surprisingly amuses me. Just going on and on complaining.
Fluttering fish in her tummy hey? Somebody's pregnart. I make fun of the awful spellings. Lol We shall see.
I feel like this house mom is going to get mean when the dad leaves.
Well I was wrong. Lol
Ugh hate the nickname Chubbs. My sis calls me that sometimes. They're mean to her.
Seems Ruby's relationship with the art teacher is inappropriate. The teacher saying they are like sisters? 😳
So she lets some guy twice her age touch her???? Well feel her up. Another inappropriate behaviour. I need to be less cenacle maybe. I'm finding this whole thing with him wrong. I want for him to have a woman but she's only 15. And taken.
Well that's not more disturbing. Louise's relationship with his mom. She molested him as a child.
After the dance I so wanted Ruby to punch Giselle in the face. I thought she was to get better as a person. I know. Push her down the stairs. Lol
I would have smashed the record.
I'm so sad Abby is gone. 😞
Next time you are in Mrs Ironwood's office..... tell her to go fuck herself. Lmao 😂 Ok I wish but the voodoo idea does sound better.
Oh I'm so heartbroken. She didn't even get to see him again. 😢😫 I had predicted her father would die. Though I thought it would be a car accident. I wish she would just ditch this life. To hell with Giselle and Daphne. I guess I'm glad she got to meet her dad before he died. Still 💔 though.
I'm shocked Daphne is nasty to Giselle now. I thought she thought of Giselle as her own. 🤔🤔🤔
Hmmm business partner. Daphne's lover? Future husband?
I'm glad Ruby threatened to push Giselle down the stairs. I can't believe how little Giselle cares about her father's death.
She has access to her studio? Thought it was locked. ???
Omg come on. It seems obvious that it was Giselle with Buck. Maybe she's no longer paralyzed?! 🤔🤔🤔 Yep I was right.
Well at least Daphne is cheerful and sort of nice with her lover. Not confirmed but come on.
Ruby's obliviousness drives me crazy at times. So shocked by Daphne and Bruce. How did she not see it?
Bruce seems nice though. I thought he'd be more creepy. I prefer him not to be. I don't want him raping Ruby.
And now I'm worried again after his meeting with Ruby in her studio.
Oh and it appears she isn't pregnant. Still having unprotected sex. 😕
When Mrs Ironwood found the rum in the dresser I was laughing to myself it was a dildo.
Oh getting pregnant by the end. Pregnant at 16 would be so much more scandalous back then. Stupid girl! No protection I mean.
I've been obsessing over V.C. Andrews since my mother bought me the entire Dollanganger series. After finishing Flowers in the Attic I was on a quest to read everything with her name on it, even though I was aware that the real V.C. Andrews had died prior to finishing the Casteel series. I wasn't able to read the books in the order they were published, but for the most part I enjoyed the books that I did pick up. The first book in this series appeared to follow the normal V.C. Andrews format and intrigued me enough to continue with the series.
This is the first V.C. Andrews book that made me feel like reading it was a chore. Like I had to sit myself down and make myself read it. If a book is good enough I can finish it in two days tops. This took me months to finish: not a good sign.
I mean, the first book did enough to make Ruby a victim of circumstance: having her twin sold to her rich dad and stepmom, grandpa trying to sell her to an old pervert, finding that people aren't quite so welcoming of a sudden twin that came from a lower class. I get it: life sucked for Ruby and there was nothing she could do prevent it. But Pearl in the Mist just keeps going and going with that. There's nothing that happens as a fault of Ruby (though she does get blamed for a lot of shit). It just consists of more bad things happening to Ruby through bad people who are clearly bad because they just don't like Ruby. Seriously: who's good and who's bad is defined by whether or not they like Ruby and are nice to her. And does Ruby give any reason why people shouldn't like her? Nope! She watches after her handicap sister, she helps a blind man regain his sight, and paints with an outcast teacher. The principal doesn't like Ruby because she's poor, other students don't like her because they'd rather hang with her twin sister, and Gisselle doesn't like her because... You know I'm still not completely sure why Gisselle hates Ruby so damned much, but I bet you the point of it is to make her the main antagonist.
By this point there is clearly a difference between Andrews and her ghost writer, because Andrews knew how to give her protagonist faults in Flowers in the Attic. By Pearls in the Mist, there's no denying that all Ruby is in this book is a Mary Sue. Obviously there was some enjoyable aspects to it, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered finishing it, but nothing more than two stars.
Just finished this today and would highly recommend it to anyone that read the first book in the series, "Ruby." This book mostly deals with the twin Dumas sisters once they're enrolled in private school.
THrough lots of twists and turns along the way, Ruby has to deal with her crippled twin, who is more mean in this book than in the first. I feel for this character, always having to be the bigger person and the one who tries to do right, only to be punished for things she's accused of without just cause.
Unfortunately everything I loved about the first book was gone and the ghost writer has gone back to writing what he knows, snobby rich people and dumb people who listen to and worship them. I miss the differentness of the swamps and magic that the first book had. Ultimately the story itself was okay and it did leave me wanting to read the next book. And again, no r*pe scene, yay!
Ruby is back, this time she's whisked away from her new home in New Orleans and sent off to a rich boarding school in Baton Rouge with her conniving sister Giselle. Greenwood is an all-girls school and is very strict with rules and expectations...which goes double for Ruby as the Headmistress makes it clear that she's in charge of Giselle's actions as well. I think I'd give this 3.5 stars. It was interesting enough but so darn frustrating! Ruby cried a lot and I would have liked to see her actually stick up for herself or, you know, do something about the injustices thrown on her. In addition to all these adults being suspicious of her, all the boys fell in love with her. There was even a blind boy enamored by her. With all the adults throwing unreasonable expectations on Ruby's Giselle's evil actions went unpunished throughout. After awhile, it was ridiculous. She was the reason a teacher resigned and a student was kicked out of school and a scandal involving a groundskeeper. So, a typical VC Andrews novel with evil stepmothers, Mary Sue lead character, pregnancy after one time of sex...however, I find myself loving this trash. And the Landry series is one of the better series I've read from Andrews. On to the next.
I think her going back to Paul pregnant is a lot like Cathy and Christopher at the end of Petals on the Wind. Either way, I could see them living happily ever after after that. Gisselle was just cruel with her letters about Beau, though I do think he was just young and dumb. Kind of glad she doesn't have to raise the baby with him
Notes in Updates.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Recordo que adorei este livro e que mais uma vez fiquei ansiosa para que sa��sse o volume seguinte. Confesso que por vezes me questiono se eu lesse esta série atualmente, se teria o mesmo impacto em mim...
For being a book that mostly took place at a boarding school, I was never bored. (Even if attending that school and living in the dorms, which I could picture so clearly, didn't sound fun.)
I cried when
Ruby gave up trying to be friends with Gisselle in this book lol.
Same cringey racist stereotyping. Really only rereading this to watch the show, it's available to borrow on audiobook and I don't care if my grandkids talk through the whole thing.
This second book in the Landry series has Ruby getting into more trouble at her school, Greenwood. She befriends Louis, the grandson of the founder of the school. He's been blind ever since the death of his parents, but Ruby seems to have that magic touch since his sight does get restored and he is able to get a life back. Ruby continues to love her painting, and enjoys spending time with the art teacher, Miss Stevens. Giselle is miserable at Greenwood and will try everything to get her and Ruby back to their school and home in New Orleans. Giselle is also ruthless, not caring about the feelings of others, like Abby, another new girl at the school, who is forced to leave after Giselle tells everyone at a dance about her racial background. Ruby almost gets expelled, but it's Giselle's doing once again...Giselle was sneaking out of her room to meet a man who does work around the grounds. And yes, surprise, Giselle can walk again. But even with Ruby being the more sensible twin, and trying her best to stay out of trouble, she is sent home when she finds out she is pregnant with Beau's baby. Wanting to keep the baby, she heads back to her Cajun home, where the only person she can trust is Paul. She gives birth to her baby girl, Pearl, and wonders about Beau, apparently in Europe, seeing a wealthy woman from France.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Dit boek deed elke mogelijke emotie in me naar boven komen, vooral het machteloze gevoel dat je ervaart bij onrechtvaardigheid. Ik leef op elk mogelijk moment mee met Ruby...
In this book the authors purpose was to entertain the audience. This is a fiction book, so there is no real information that is in this book. It was very entertaining and that is the purpose of the book. The theme of the book is to never loose faith. Ruby never loses her hope of being accepted in her new world and even though she loses the only person she feels connected her to this different world. She also never loses faith in the aspect that she never gets rid of her roots in the bayou. This novel is a narrative because it is just a story told in chronological order. Ruby goes to Greenwood and while she is there her dad dies and she goes home. He stepmother hates her so she realizes that she needs to return to the bayou and stays with he half brother Paul. So as you can see the book goes in chronological order. I really liked this book and I enjoyed reading the whole series. V.C. Andrews writes amazing books and I like the little twists she adds to all her stories. I wouldn't change a thing about this book, although it was similar to all the other books in the series.
This book is really enjoyable and there are times that I can't stop reading. I felt the emotions. Hated Gissele more now but I'm kinda looking forward on her character to improve I mean a back-story why she is always acting like that.
Anyway I dont like how they disregard the other stories here I mean they build the character of Louis, her friend Abby, her teacher Ms. Stevens, Mrs. Clairborne and specially the FULL STORY what really happen to Louis's parents does he and his mother had an incest relationship??? I'm not sure on that part though. Like I said it is enjoyable but it is starting to be disappointing if you think of it more. There are a lot of unanswered question that is very uncomfortable for me not to be answered. Originaly i gave this book a 4 star but now i'll give it 3 star.
This novel was typical during the first few chapters. But it ended beautifully when all of a sudden, the story got rapidly enticing as a lot of twists and turns came about. Andrews write with mere passion that you can actually feel that the characters are real. Just like in a Hollywood movie. The story is very realistic and really tugs the heartstrings of every young lady who's life has been trampled on by the reckless society. A must-read. It's like a TV drama in prose.
This is the second book in the Landry series and focuses once again on Ruby. The setting moves to a boarding school for most of the book which changes things up a bit. Once again Ruby is very naive and gullible, it like she never learns! The book ends with her getting pregnant and returning to the swamp to have a baby. It nice to see Ruby back in the Bayou but I feel that her happiness will be short lived!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Segundo volume da saga Landry... a ida das gémeas para uma escola privada, o feitio cada vez mais destestável de Giselle e as artimanhas da madrasta Daphne conseguem transformar a vida de Ruby num inferno que se agrava a cada dia que passa. Uma vez mais o livro está escrito de forma interessante, um leque de novas personagens que entram e saem nos momentos certos e nos deixam ansiosos para o próximo volume.
türkiyedeki v.c andrews çıkartanların abv. o saçma sapan çeviri adları yüzünden seriye ikinci kitabından başladım. gerçi ilk kitabın eksikliğini hissetmedim. genel olarak bu kadına aşığım, entirikaları ensest ilişkileri ve kötü karakterleri ile kendisine çekiyor. ilk kitap ve 3 4 ü hemen almayı düşünüyorum.
Slightly less scandalous as the first book. The private school always kind of bored me when I'd read it previously, but I still look forward to reading the rest of it.
Gisselle and Ruby are shipped off the Greenwood school under the hawk-like gaze of the strict headteacher. But the upper class students of Greenwood don’t take too kindly to Ruby and her Bayou ways and, whilst she is away from her stepmother, her sister is still around to make her life misery. Not as gripping as Ruby, but still an entertaining read.
The second book of the series on Ruby Laudry Dumas proved to be quite satisfactory, with the exception of the last couple pages in the last chapter. That part - I felt the author "rushed" to summarize and finish up the book. It would have done the book the honor it deserved by writing out things the same pace that the book took us through.
In "Pearl of the Mist," Ruby suffered more problems and trouble, especially with her step-mother Daphne, and her evil twin sister, Giselle. Everyone had decided that Ruby would be responsible for every single bad things her sister did, especially at a private school, Greenwoods, where the girls were sent to. Giselle even went too far and had an accident and became a cripple. You would think that would make one person think hard, but for Giselle, she milked her handicap for all she could get from anything and anyone.
To make matters worse for Ruby, her father died and her step-mother made life much more difficult for Ruby and Giselle. They were limited access to their trust, weren't given permission to leave campus, couldn't have friends over, you get the idea. Ruby seeked solace with her art teacher, and befriended a blind musician who was the grandson and cousin of the administrators at Greenwood.
Near the end of the book, Ruby discovered a bigger problem, and she knew that by going back to Daphne, things would not look any better. She decided to find a ride back to her roots - the bayou, bringing something back with her, to her past.
"You play beautifully," I said quickly. "Thank you, but I don't play. I cry, I scream, I laugh through my fingers. The music just happens to be my words, the notes my letters." He shook his head. "Only other musician, a poet or an artist, would understand." - page 100.
Now, onward to Book Number 3: "All That Glitters."
On retrouve les débuts de la pauvre Ruby au sein de la famille Dumas... Le moins que l'on puisse dire c'est que c'est compliqué entre Gisele, sa jumelle qui fait tout pour qu'elle se sente mal et Daphné, sa belle-mère, qui la rejette quasi ouvertement, Ruby a du mal à se faire à sa nouvelle vie. Heureusement, son père, Pierre, parait vraiment être un type bien et la relation avec Christophe est une vraie bouffée de fraicheur.
Bien entendu, les choses se gâtent et j'ai beaucoup apprécié le rebondissement vaudou et l'accident de Giselle tout comme l'exil des filles à Greenwood, j'ai apprécié l'amitié de Ruby et Abby même si Giselle s'est arrangée pour tout gâcher. La vie de Ruby à Greenwood n'est pas si mal en définitive, surtout une fois Pierre mort... J'ai été aussi dégoutée de découvrir la grossesse de Ruby, pour un futur médecin, Chris n'est pas très connaisseur de l'anatomie féminine .
L'amitié entre Ruby et Louis m'a également plu parce que pour une fois, c'était sain. En revanche, Daphné est vraiment un personnage odieux et j'ai applaudi à la décision de Ruby de fuir la clinique d'IVG. La scène d'accouchement est une des meilleures du genre même si je ne peux que déplorer la présence de Paul. J'ai l'impression qu'il rode autour de Ruby comme un vautour
Ce que j'aime : le passage à Greenwood, l'amitié d'Abby et de Louis tout comme l'évolution des relations entre Ruby et Daphné avant que Ruby tombe enceinte
Ce que j'aime moins : le retour de Paul dans la vie de Ruby, Giselle qui est vraiment trop peste
En bref : Un tome qui est un peu plus doux que d'ordinaire et qui poursuit son exploration des croyances vaudou à travers le personnage de Ruby
I'll give this book three stars simply because it starts out strong and it's way better than some of the later trash that was published under the V.C. Andrews name, but I'm warning you, the novel eventually deteriorates into a series of unbelievable soap like twists.
In this instalment Ruby and Giselle are sent away to boarding school. Basically, they're being sent away so that Daphne does not have to continue to deal with the fact that these kids are not her own and, therefore, she won't be tempted to try and have them locked away in a mental institution again. Once away at school, Giselle becomes her bitchy, slutty self, terrorising the other students and initiating an affair with the school groundsman. Ruby, meanwhile, befriends a couple of misfits and looks forward to Beau's infrequent visits.
Then their father dies and the novel goes downhill from there. And the following happens:
****SPOILER ALERT****
Daphne remarries the man she was having an affair with all along, Ruby gets knocked up by Beau and kicked out of boarding school, refuses an abortion and runs away back to the swamp where she ends up accepting a marriage proposal from her rich, secret half-brother. And Beau gets himself engaged to someone else because he is a weak, pathetic bastard. But Giselle stays in touch, mostly because she is a bitch and wants to hurt Ruby some more ...
Overall, a silly sequel. But the silliest instalment in the series is yet to come ...
Interesting developments, however I'm disappointed that Louis wasn't in the book much. Why bother to build up his character only to have nothing happened between him and Ruby? He went off to a music place and she got pregnant to Beau.
I really dislike how the book was so well paced up until the last 50 pages or so. Ruby got pregnant within not even a page, was kicked out of school the next page, returned to New Orleans, then taken to get an abortion, then decided to run off back to Houma, all in the space of maybe 15 pages? That really pissed me off.
It happened with the Flowers in the Attic sequels too. She drags out unimportant things and all the cruel things other people do to hurt the main character, then pops in a random pregnancy, and everything dramatically shifts in a chapter. No pregnancy seems to last more than 10 pages. I'm sorry but I really hate it when authors are just like 'oh now they're pregnant' BAM 'oh 9 months has passed now they have a gorgeous baby' BAM 'so and so wants to pretend they're the father'
other than that I enjoyed the stories that went on at Greenwood. It was esentially the last two chapters that ruined the book for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.