The Wildflower Quartet, Cathy's Story

The other 3 girls in the stories leading up to Cathy had made reference to her quiet, helpless behavior. All of them questioned what her story could possibly be. The morning of her story, Cathy was not feeling well. She didn't want to go, but she didn't want to let the other girls feel as if they were right. She wanted to show them that she was brave, and that she could face her past. Cathy's mother was extremely over-protective, and her father was absent much of Cathy's childhood. Cathy was heavier than the other girls, and much more enhanced in her chest region. She was very self conscious, and her mother didn't help her to feel any better about her body. Cathy was taught that her body developing so early and rapidly was a bad thing, and she needed to hide it as best she could. When her father noticed that she was developing, he started to come around more often. He made her feel like he was going to look after her, and help her mother to understand her pains, but in acutality, he had just enjoyed seeing her in the nude. She told of having to hide her pains, and  appear happy to everyone around her, no matter what. Her father had decided to "teach" her about the birds and the bees, and how to handle the boys when they try to get what they want, especially if she wants the same things they want. They started out with a few mild(er) "lessons" and for her final one, her dad took her on a trip out of town without her mother. He wound up raping her, and she was told to keep all of the lessons to herself, as he was only helping her to understand. She was naive and thought nothing more of it except feeling dirty. During this trip, he told her not to feel bad about what they were doing, because he was not her real father, they had adopted her as a child. When they returned home, she went into histarics, and wound up falling down the last few stairs and knocking herself out. While she was out of it, she mentioned her lessons to anyone who listened to her, and so they took her to the hospital. She had self-induced amnesia, trying to repress the memory of her lessons with her father, as well as everything else in her life. The doctor hypnotized her, and got her to remember everything, and by the time she returned home, her father was gone. She didn't ask questions about it, because she was raised to never question anything.
After she returned home from her therapy session, she waited a few days before talking to her mother about anything. When she did talk to her, she asked her to explain why she was adopted, and why they got married if they were not in love to begin with. Her mother was reluctant to answer, but did anyways. Cathy was born to her "mother's" mother when she was 45 years old. Her parents did not want another child, and her father had suspiscions that she was not even his. The biological parents had given Cathy to their oldest daughter with a large inheritance if she were married to this man. Technically, Cathy and her mother are step-sisters, but Cathy recognized true feelings in her mother that day, and decided to continue calling her mother. Even though she was not a very good mother, she loved her and only wanted what was best for her.
Overall, this book really captured my attention. I loved how it was told directly by the girls, and their emotions were captured and expressed through their own words. I look forward to reading more books by V.C. Andrews, and already have a new one picked out from our library!

The Wildflower Quartet, Jade

Jade's story really got my attention, and I couldnt put down the book until I was finished. She was also raised in a very rich family, her parents going through a divorce. She was 16 or 17 years old. She was put in the middle of all of their fighting, and was dealing with her own emotional problems from it. She was raised in a "bubble" as she called it, and she never thought anything bad could happen to her. Both of her parents faught over custody, as if she were some prize trophy, and yet neither one of them really wanted her to begin with. She was a major burden to both of them financially, and she took a lot from their careers. She eventually found her way onto the internet and joined some chatrooms. She made a friend with a boy who claimed Jade decided to run awaay. She had finances from a checking account that her parents set up to make her more independent. She withdrew money from the account and got on the first flight to Los Angeles where the boy supposedly lived. Upon arriving, she met the boys father. They spoke for a few minutes, waiting for the boy to return home from the store with his brother. The dad gave her a tour of the house, and eventually brought her to the boys room to wait for him. He wound up locking her in. He came back a short while later, and she passed out. When she woke, she was nude, but not molested. She was tied to the bed, and had no clothing what so ever (to keep her from running away). She was there for a day or so, only untied from her feet when she was going to eat. The dad treated her as if she was someone who had left him and was coming back to him. He wanted to keep her forever. When she was eating, she untied her other hand, and tied it loosely so that she would be able to escape. He came back and tied her back to the bed. After he left, she untied herself and waited for him to be quiet in the house or even leave. She grabbed the blanket from the bed and wrapped herself in it. She managed to somehow unlock the door, and found her bag of clothes close by. She put on clothes quickly and headed down the 3 flights of stairs, never knowing when she would run into him. She found him asleep in the living room. She could not escape from the front door because it was a lock that needed a key to open, he kept it in his pocket. After further investigation, the windows did not open wide enough for her to fit through, and the other doors needed the key as well. She found the grandfather clock and discovered that she was able to fit behind it and hide. She knocked on the front door and ran to hide. After doing this twice, the dad got up to answer the door. He heard something that he thought was upstairs, and went up to check. He forgot to lock the front door, and she ran out as soon as he was out of eye shot. She ran to the closest restaurant, and called a taxi to take her to the airport. She flew home, and realized nobody even knew she was gone. She told her parents she was sick so she didnt go to the honors society banquet. She listened to her parents argue and blame eachother for her not going, and was so upset by it that she screamed about her incident and that she could have been killed and ran out. Her parents tried to get information about it, but she wouldnt give any. She was still in the middle of their fights, but at least now they were trying to deal with their problems without her in the room. She gave an update for her life, saying that the judge questioned her about her life, her parents, and if she wanted to be with either one of them. She had no preference, but hoped that her answers to his questions werent the deciding factor for the judges decision. She didnt want to disappoint either of her parents. Eventually it was decided that she would have split custody wtih both parents, and her life was beginning to settle (as much as it could).
I really enjoyed reading about Jade's story, when she spoke, it was as if she was trying to release herself from her past, and it seemed to be working.