This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Chris and Cathy return to a rebuilt Foxworth Hall, which Bart has made sure resembles the original with eerie perfection. The intent is to stay until Bart's 25th birthday, which is fast approaching, which will lead to a symbolic rereading of the will which we already know will not go smoothly, because nothing ever does for this family , after which Cathy, Chris and Cindy will move to Hawaii and presumably happily ever after in their delusional, incestuous bubble.
But it's not so easy to leave that house, as they well know. Bart is still teetering about on the edge of mental stability. He's full of rage, self-hatred, an alarming amount of misogyny, resentment toward every member of his family. He's a dizzyingly rich disaster, but he also tends to make points that actually makes sense.
I used to hope and pray someday you'd leave him, but it never happens. I've adjusted to the fact that the two of you are obsessed with one another and perhaps enjoy your relationship more because it is against the will of God. Cathy thinks this is unfair, cruel, unreasonable. I agree with Bart.
I agreed with him most, but not all of the time. His tendency to slut shame every person in existence while doing the same things he rages about tended to undermine his points a bit. Now, I thought Cathy couldn't be usurped from her role as one of the most annoying, self-involved characters I have ever encountered, but she was easily overtaken by not one but two young women.
Every time she appeared on the page, to wail about the unfairness of her life I would cringe away from the page. She was completely insufferable, and I think it's a little unfair that she basically made it through the book unscathed.
It's been a terrible summer, the worst. I'm sorry Jory's in the hospital and he won't ever walk or dance again, and I want to do what I can for him, but what about me? I should point out that her offer to do what she can comes to nothing. She's too self-absorbed to think about someone else for more than a few minutes at a time. For all that I disliked her, at least Melodie managed to bring herself to make the occasional good observation: "This house wants to use the people inside as a way to keep it living on forever.
It's like a vampire, sucking our lifeblood from all of us. I wish it hadn't been restored. It's not a new house. It's been here for centuries. Only the wallpaper and the paint and the furniture are new, but those stairs in the foyer I never climb up or descent without seeing the ghosts of others But she thinks, a little too optimistically given we are only part way through the story, 'My last book, I told myself.
What more did I have to say? What else could happen to us? She finds it touching, complicatedly heartfelt. I find it cheesy and also very creepy. Especially since he didn't exactly ask her to let her love him. He raped her, something she romanticizes, that I simply cannot. Even without the incest part, every element of her relationship is wildly inappropriate. The rape, the fixation her has on her, the never ceasing pressure he put on her during the years when she tried to break away from him.
Everyone in the book seems to think Bart is too hard on him including Bart himself, by the end but I think he lets him off too easily. Being a doctor does not absolve abysmal behaviour. Nor does being locked in an attic. Once you enter its portals, you seldom are seen again. I had maybe hoped Cathy could finally live a life free from Chris, become her own person, but I also don't think that would really fit with the tone of the series. Her end felt right, sad as it was. I've been giving this series a lot of thought now that I have finished reading the main series, and for all it's faults, the way it's often overwritten, the endless hysterical melodrama, there is something so fascinating about it all.
In one sense it's an oddly fun series, but it's also rather horrific. In some ways it feels like a rather extreme metaphor for childhood trauma and how hard it can be to recover. There is a big focus on religion being twisted and used as a way to justify doing cruel things. The victims are often young children, trusting in adults who just don't care. There are toxic relationships, dreadful accidents, a family who never seem to grasp that you can enter into a relationship with someone who doesn't live in your immediate household Bart and Jory's most significant relationships are with the same two women.
While I despised Cindy, her obsession with herself meant she was the only family member who avoided this nonsense. I had thought she might end up with Bart and this would be a step in the right direction, since at least they aren't related biologically but I was pleasantly surprised when this didn't happen.
Instead of continuing the family tradition of sleeping with his sister, he became a TV evangelist. I have to admit that made me laugh. I had a few theories about what would happen with Bart, and that certainly wasn't on the list! The Lifetime films of the Flowers in the Attic series are available to watch on a local streaming service, and I'm going to give them a go. The only thing that might make me abandon the movies is that sometimes hysterical people are easier to read about than to have to listen to.
I shudder just imagining having to listen to Cindy's complaining. But I'm curious as well it is possible to capture the addictive, creepy feeling the books give? I can't imagine they would be easy to adapt, but I sort of want to find out. View all 20 comments. So that wraps up Cathy and Chris's story and I am going to end this series here. I don't feel much enthusiasm to read The Grandmother's story and my understanding is that the rest of this series wasn't actually written by V.
Andrews, so I'm calling it a day. Feb 13, Phoenix Olivia rated it it was amazing Shelves: sad-endings. Don't read this review if you don't want a lot of spoilers! This book was beautiful. It was very intriguing. The one I just read and this one just feel a little bit connected. Jory is in a horrible accident when he's dancing at his brother's birthday party.
It's devastating to his whole family. They take him to the hospital and learn that he can never walk again. He will be paralyzed from the waist down for his whole life.
And everything around him seems to be crashing down. It's extremely diffic Don't read this review if you don't want a lot of spoilers!
It's extremely difficult but without dancing he thinks there's no purpose for him in the world. His wife is also a dancer, Melodie. That was his childhood sweetheart. She is pregnant with his baby. She is extremely upset that her husband can no longer use his legs for dancing. And she begins to pull away from him. She thinks that if he's handicapped what kind of husband would he be? She didn't think he woukd be able to raise a baby.
Melodie is completely horrible. She does nothing for Jory. If something ever happened to the boy I loved I would stay by his side the entire time. I wouldn't care if he could no longer walk. I would still love him. I would be there every step of the way. She must have not loved him that much.
Melodie is cruel to him. And while he's in the hospital and trying to get through his pain from his loss, she sleeps with his brother. She is then convinced that she's madly in love with him. So yeah she's just horrible but she doesn't end up staying with Bart the whole time. Long story short when Melodie has her baby it's twins. She leaves Jory completely and goes off to start her career of dancing again. The good thing is Jory makes it through. He is overly happy to have children and he is determined to be a good father to them.
He starts doing things despite his disability. He learns to paint with watercolors and he becomes an amazing artist. He also falls in love with his nurse and eventually marries her in the end. But Bart he's just not very nice and was with her before that. I was happy that Jory found someone to love again and in the end Bart turns into a better person.
And finally at the end of the book Chris gets into a car accident and ends up passing away. I think that was the thing that changed Bart the most. Even though Bart never said it; he loved his father dearly. Cathy also ends up passing away as well because she is so sad about Chris. She feels her time and need on earth has come to an end.
She wanted to be with Chris again. But I was happy for her children. The children had their happy ending. It was very sad at the end to see them go. It was a journey reading about their life. If you read the series you probably know exactly what I mean.
And I even shed a few tears near the end for them. It was a great, amazing book. I'm pretty sure the movie to this is completely different though.
In the movie Cindy and Bart slept together. But that is not the case in the book. There must be a lot of differences. And also in the movie Jory tried to kill himself that didn't happen in the book either. I guess there are always a few little things. Jun 18, Lori rated it really liked it. It is now many years after the end of "If There Be Thorns". Cathy is fifty-two and Chris is fifty-four.
Jory has grown up to marry his childhood sweetheart, Melodie, and both have become successful dancers. Bart has just graduated from Harvard Law School and although, as Cathy points out, his psychiatrists have declared him "cured", it quickly b "Seeds of Yesterday" is the final saga of Cathy and Chris from the "Flowers in the Attic" series and the characters have come full circle in this novel.
Bart has just graduated from Harvard Law School and although, as Cathy points out, his psychiatrists have declared him "cured", it quickly becomes evident that Bart is still suffering from some pretty serious issues.
Corinne, Cathy and Chris' mother, has left Bart the rebuilt Foxworth Hall, which Bart plans to reopen and make the grandest home in Virginia. Cathy and Chris have arrived, to live once again, forty years later, in Foxworth Hall. You would think they would immediately realize that this may not be the best idea, if for no other reason that their mental health, but no, they come for a fairly long visit.
Joel's only purpose seems to be to spout off Malcolm-like pseudo-religious vitrol - - why no one tells him to pack his bags and get the hell out is beyond me. Although this story is told again from the perspective of Cathy, and feels much more comfortable than the narrative of "Thorns", Bart again seems depraved and warped.
It's hard to have sympathy for a character that seems so unredeemable. Chris and Cathy's love story continues and is as bittersweet and tender as ever. Their love seems genuine and real. As does Jory's love for Melodie. His eventual anguish over being paralyzed, losing his career and eventually his wife are the only parts of this story other than Chris and Cathy that ring true.
The rest of the story feels forced and the characters very one dimensional. Can Bart be any more like Malcolm? Can Joel be any more like the Grandmother? Can Cindy be any more like a young Corinne or Cathy? Even Jory and Melodie have blond twins, a boy and a girl - - giving us visions of Cory and Carrie.
Reading the story you wonder how much grief and anguish one family can take. And why everyone seems to be stepping around Bart and making excuses for him.
You get to the point where you wish Chris or Cathy would just knock his lights out. This book is worthy to read as a conclusion to the Dollanganger saga - - although the ending is a bit rushed and Chris and Cathy's demises are tragically sad. Definitely does not compare to "Flowers" or "Petals" but as good as, if not slightly better than, "Thorns".
View all 4 comments. Feb 23, Hester rated it did not like it Shelves: kindle-time , thats-so-trashy , read-in , it-stinks , the-devil-likes-them-young. Chris and Cathy come from a long line of poor decision makers, and they continue that tradition when they return to the new Foxworth Hall to celebrate Bart's graduation from Harvard and his twenty-fifth birthday.
What they think is a one night stay before moving to Hawaii turns into a three year long run in hell. Cathy and Chris are still the same bores they always were. Copyrights Seeds of Yesterday from BookRags. All rights reserved. Toggle navigation. Sign Up. Sign In. Get Seeds of Yesterday from Amazon. View the Study Pack. View the Lesson Plans. Order our Seeds of Yesterday Study Guide.
Plot Summary. Book One, Preparations. Book One, Samson and Delilah. Book Three: The Summer of Cindy. Andrews novel Cindy is years-old and leaves Foxworth Hall to attend sleepaway summer camp shortly after Jory's accident.
After the summer she returns to school, but comes back to Foxworth Hall to celebrate the holidays with her family. In the movie she is slightly older and stays at Foxworth Hall after Jory's accident. She only decides to leave after an intimate night with Bart. Although she had strong feelings for her adopted brother, Bart continued to berate her after their hook up.
She left to pursue a dancing career in New York. Fans of the Dollanganger series know Christopher became a doctor. The book slightly differs in that Cathy and Christopher were going to move to Hawaii after Bart's 25th birthday. Since Jory's accident occurred during the party, their plans to retire on the island got put on the backburner.
To stay active, Christopher took a position as a cancer researcher. Although he promised Cathy the job would just be to keep him "busy," he ultimately ended up getting an apartment close to work and stayed there during the week to ease his commute during the winter. Christmas was dramatic in the "Seeds of Yesterday" book and movie. I believe in a way, this was the authors intention to bring things back full circle so it would make sense that Cathy would poison herself with arsenic to join her siblings and Chris who was her other half the way Carrie just had to join Cory.
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