Garden Of
Shadows
By: Brittany Johnson
Olivia Foxworth
Olivia is a young woman who marries Malcolm Foxworth, moving in with
him and leaving everything behind. She is blindly in love not realizing
he is only using her, and he doesn’t really love her. She grows older in
the novel, it started when she was young till when she's a
grandmother. Olivia is very tall and unattractive. She talks like she's
older then what she is, since the characters are back in the day.
Olivia knows she is unattractive, in Chapter 3 she says “She was the
swan; I was the ugly duckling” She is full of love and has a very warm
heart at the start. She is madly in love with Malcolm and is wanting his
full attention all the time, and plans to enjoy their future together
being happily married. Only everything changed when she noticed
Malcolm falling for another woman, which is her father in laws wife.
Shortly after Malcolm cheated on Olivia, then she became
questioning her looks and comparing herself to Alicia and Malcolm's
child. Olivia completely changes and becomes cruel, jealous and full
of hatred, because she realizes she will never experience or have true
love. Also Olivia's love for Malcolm slowly dies with his selfish actions
because she realizes how he truly is. Olivia hates the fact that Corrine
is more beautiful then she is, she despises everything and wants
revenge, but still stays civil. All of this drama turns Olivia a bit crazy,
and after she realizes her husbands child is incest, it turns her very
angry and feels she should punish the child.
Malcolm Foxworth
Malcolm is a handsome guy, that is very wealthy. Malcolm is tall and very good
looking, even when he becomes older. Malcolm is very intelligent and
successful in his life. He owns a mansion and has lots of people working for
him around the house. So he doesn’t have to clean , cook, do the garden or
mow, he has everyone do everything for him. Malcolm is a very selfish man,
he only thinks about what he wants over how he is making people feel. He is
very cruel hearted, and has sick weird thoughts. He marries Olivia to have
children and to get what he wants, when he doesn’t really love her. So he
uses her, without her knowledge since she is blinded by love. Malcolm rapes
his fathers new wife after he dies to have more children since he wants a girl
and Olivia only had 2 boys, and she can not have any more children due to a
health concern. During the rape her actual husband, which is his father
catches them and has a heart attack. Malcolm kills his own father and
doesn’t even feel guilty or a bit of pain. After Alicia has his baby in the attic,
he gets tired of her and refuses to speak with her, and Olivia raises the baby
as her own. He then asks her to leave keeping the baby. Malcolm is cruel
hearted and only thinks about himself and what he wants and he doesn’t care
what he has to do to get it, because he is very spoiled and selfish. After Alicia
left, Malcolm raises the child, making all the rules and excluding Olivia in any
of the child life decisions.
In the end after Malcolm has a heart attack and learns about Corrine's and
Christopher's love he changes his attitude and focuses on religion, realizing
what he has done.
Corrine Foxworth
Corrine is a beautiful young woman. She has a glowing face, blue eyes with
beautiful long blonde hair. She is the daughter of Alicia and Malcolm
Foxworth. Only she thinks she is the daughter of Olivia and Malcolm.Corrine
was just like Olivia when she was younger, she is full of love and wants to
share it with Chris, her half brother but she thinks it is her uncle. Corrine is
very hard headed and spoiled and thinks she needs everything she wants
and has to have it all, She gets this from Malcolm. After Olivia's two sons die,
Olivia gets a letter from Alicia saying she has Breast Cancer and needs
someone to raise Chris. This is when they accept and Chris comes into their
home, and Corrine cant take her eyes off of him. She thinks he is gorgeous.
Corrine knows Chris is her “uncle” but she refuses to stay away from him, like
her parents want. Corrine and Chris fall deeply in love and later have
children together. They both were banned from Olivia and Malcolm's home
when she catches them sleeping together in the mansion. They move out
and change their names and have 4 beautiful smart children that look
exactly like the family. Their names are Chris, Cathy and twins that are Cory
and Carrie.
Later on in the novel her husband dies, and writes her mother asking for
forgiveness and wants to move in with them and her children. This is when
Olivia agrees but to one condition, that the children will be hidden in the
attic forever.
Malcolm
Olivia
Corrine
The Characters Appearance
Character Map
Film Characters
Olivia Foxworth
Holland Taylor would be great as
Olivia Foxworth since she is older,
funny, wise and active. She is not
good looking, and can see the old
age in her well. She also acts in two
and a half men, so she does have a
good acting experience with being
funny, mean, jealous and
controlling. Which is exactly how
Olivia Foxworth acts.
Malcolm Foxworth
As Richard Gere
Richard Gere would be great as
Malcolm because he is an
older actor. He has the look of
Malcolm when he is older,
because of the color of his
hair and his appearance. He
has the ability to act just like
him. Also the younger version
of Richard also looks like the
younger version of Malcolm,
which means he would be the
perfect fit.
Also Malcolm is able to act
differently, he would be able
to pull off acting selfish.
Corrine Foxworth
As Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson would be great to
act as Corrine Foxworth since
she has blonde hair, a glowing
face and is very pretty. Her
looks would fit the roll great,
also in Fools gold we see her
acting romantically which
shows she would be great to
fall in love with Chris in the
novel.
She has acted in How to lose a
guy in 10 days, you, me and
Dupree, Fools gold and many
others, so she is an
experienced actor and is very
well liked.
Writing Style
The five sentences that have excellent adjectives/descriptions
1. It was a magical miniature world, with beautiful tiny
porcelain dolls, furniture, even paintings and chandeliers
and rugs all made to scale
2. The sun coming through the tinted windows always spread
a soft, rainbow-colored sky over the tiny universe and put
the light of happiness into the faces of the miniature
family.
3. At the end of the front foyer, large enough to be used as a
ballroom, I came to a pair of elegant staircases that
wound up like ruffles on a queen’s sleeves.
4. The bed’s architect had designed the wingtip feathers to
act as fingers to hold back the delicate transparent
draperies that were in all shades of pink and rose and
violet and purple.
5. His manly young body was straddling the huge bike, He
wore leather boots with metal taps and a beautiful flowing
white silk scarf, like a pilot from the Great War.
Ten Powerful Word
Choices
• Eerie
• Spinsterish
• Forbidden
• Gloomy
• Festering-Desires
• Vigorous
• Envious
• Thrusting
• Taint
• Heinous-Sin
Plot
• The part of the story that reached a climax is when Olivia found
out Malcolm had slept with Alicia. Because this meant she
would half to take the child as her own knowing that it wasn’t
hers. This is the climax part because it is what caused the rest
of the problems to happen because of this big problem.
• If something different would have had happened, like if
Malcolm wouldn’t of raped Alicia then Corrine would of never
of been born.
This would of meant there wouldn’t of been a second book that
was about Corrine and Christopher her step brother. The story
would of changed since a lot of conflict and incest and drama
wouldn’t of happened. Olivia wouldn’t of been so depressed,
but her and Malcolm still wouldn’t of worked out because it
wasn’t true love.
News Report
Breaking News
• Hello this is Brittany Johnson Reporting from the
Foxworth’s mansion, in Virginia. I have just
witnessed the most unusual thing at the mansion.
I see 4 tiny dots in the attic of the mansion. I
guess the rumours where right about the
Foxworth family.
• Years ago Corrine left the mansion with her uncle
Christopher, hand to hand, followed with a lot of
luggage. Maids at the home have said they
have seen them sneaking around, sounds a bit
incest to me. Apparently they were kicked out by
Olivia since she didn’t approve.
• I'm getting my secret agent to check the papers
now about their relations.
• *ring ..ring* Oh wait, that must be her..
• “Hello.. Yes… yes.. THEY ARE WHAT .. Oh my!!..
Okay, thank you.”
• Dear lord folks .. Turns out that Christopher is her
half brother, and he passed away in a car
accident. So Corrine had to move back home
not being able to support herself.
• Corrine has been hiding her children up in the
mansions attic for years now says the neighbours
that didn’t want to get involved. The police will
be charging the family with abuse and neglect.
Conflict
The major conflict in the novel was between
Olivia and Malcolm. It was her love against
his lust for Alicia, and his poor decisions.
This conflict resulted into several other conflicts
between different characters in the novel.
Between Olivia and Alicia, Malcolm and his
father, Corrine and her family because of
her love for Christopher.
Theme
V.C.Andrews choose the title to be Garden of
Shadows because the entire book is full of a house
filled with secrets. The Garden represents the House
and the shadows in the Garden represents all the
secrets and people fooling around in the house.
Chapter 3 of the novel after Malcolm had raped
Olivia she said “So now I knew what lived in the
shadows of Malcolm Neal Foxworth, haunting him.
Now I know why he had chosen a woman like me. I
was the opposite of his mother. She was the swan; I
was the ugly duckling and he wanted it that way.”
When Olivia says she knew what lived in his
shadows, she meant what he was up to and who
he really was, because our shadows don’t lie.