A haunting gothic family saga by V. C. Andrews and the prequel to the famous Dollanganger series. Although it was published fifth, it tells the tragic story that begins decades before Flowers in the Attic, revealing how the Foxworth family's curse came to be. The novel was published after Andrews' death and was completed from her outlines by Andrew Neiderman.

The story follows Olivia Winfield, a tall, intelligent, and reserved young woman who believes she has found happiness when the wealthy and charismatic Malcolm Foxworth asks her to marry him. After moving into the imposing Foxworth Hall, Olivia soon discovers that Malcolm is obsessive, manipulative, and deeply scarred by his past.

As years pass, Olivia witnesses betrayal, forbidden desires, abuse, family tragedies, and shocking secrets that slowly destroy her hopes of a happy marriage. The woman who once dreamed of love gradually transforms into the cold, controlling matriarch readers know from Flowers in the Attic. The novel also reveals the origins of the Foxworth family's darkest secrets and the events that ultimately lead to the imprisonment of the Dollanganger children.

Rich in gothic atmosphere, emotional intensity, and psychological drama, Garden of Shadows is both a tragic character study and the missing piece of the Dollanganger saga.