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Informationen zum Autor 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. Klappentext FOUR GIRLS CAUGHT IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST... FOUR EXTRAORDINARY "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLING NOVELS -- TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME. V.C. ANDREWS(R) "Orphans" BUTTERFLY...She was a lonely orphan until a wealthy couple gave her a home -- and a chance to be a world-class ballerina. But her newfound happiness was as fragile as a spider's web. CRYSTAL...Bright and gifted with a flair for science, she found loving new parents, and a boyfriend in her new school. But a shocking tragedy could shatter her perfect world. BROOKE...Whisked away from the orphanage into a glamorous life, she was surrounded by every privilege a girl could want. But all she really wanted was to be loved -- just as she is. RAVEN...She put her painful past behind her when she was taken in by her aunt and uncle. But the torment she was about to endure was far worse than anything she had experienced before. Prologue I was alone in Mrs. McGuire's office, waiting to meet the couple who had asked to see me. Sitting "properly" on the straight-back chair next to Mrs. McGuire's desk was making my back ache but I knew from past experience that I had better be on my best behavior. Mrs. McGuire was the chief administrator of our orphanage and pounced on us if we slouched or did anything else "improper" in front of visitors. "Posture, posture," she would cry out when she passed us in the cafeteria, and we all would snap to attention. Those who didn't obey her had to walk around with a book on their heads for hours, and if the book fell off, they would have to do it over again the next day. "You children are orphans," she lectured to us, "looking for some nice people to come snatch you up and make you members of their families. You must be better than other children, children with parents and homes. You must be healthier, smarter, more polite, and most certainly more respectful. In short," she said in a voice that often turned shrill during her endless speeches, "you must become desirable. Why," she asked, sweeping her eyes over each and every one of us critically, her thin lips pursed, "would anyone want you to be their daughter or son?" She was right. Who would ever want me? I thought. I was born prematurely. Some of the boys and girls here said I was stunted. Just yesterday, Donald Lawson called me the Dwarf. "Even when you're in high school, you'll wear little-girl clothes," he taunted. He strutted away with his head high, and I could tell it made him feel better to make me feel bad. My tears were like trophies for him, and the sight of them didn't make him feel sorry. Instead, they encouraged him. "Even your tears are tiny," he sang as he walked down the hall. "Maybe we should call you Tiny Tears instead of the Dwarf." The kids at the orphanage weren't the only ones who thought there was something wrong with me, though. Margaret Lester, who was the tallest girl in the orphana...
