The Unwelcomed Child Author: V.C. Andrews | Language: English | ISBN:
B00DJYOVNG | Format: PDF
The Unwelcomed Child Description
My mother had looked into the face of evil so many times she knew what it was. It was me. I was born without a soul. . . .Elle Edwards grew up believing that because of her mother’s sinful ways she was born without a soul; that’s why she was abandoned and left in the care of Grandmother Myra and Grandfather Prescott, who try to ensure her evil will not infect them—by raising her in a virtual prison. Because her days are occupied with homeschooling, strict religious studies, and vigorous housekeeping in their upstate New York home, Elle knows practically nothing of the outside world, even as she emerges as a young woman with impressive artistic talent. But when she makes a secret, forbidden connection to vacationers at the nearby lake—a handsome boy and his precocious twin sister—Elle’s world will shatter. Will discovering the truths about her past send her future plummeting to hell?
- File Size: 3752 KB
- Print Length: 401 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1451650892
- Publisher: Pocket Books (January 21, 2014)
- Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00DJYOVNG
- Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,061 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Aha. Here's another shoddy book produced by a ghostwriter and a publishing company that are milking a dead woman's name for profit. With over 70 books under VCA's name, and only 8 books written/finished by her (including her sci-fi book) 70+ is waaaaaaaaaaaay overkill. But not when money is involved, amirite?
The characters of the grandparents are OVERKILL. Abuse and authortarianism exist in real life and there are children worse off than Elle, and the grandparents are obviously designed after Malcolm and Olivia Foxworth, another pair of religious lunatics. However, the Flowers in the Attic series was compelling and well-written, and we're given prequels that explain Malcolm and Olivia's behavior (Malcolm's diary in If There be Thorns, and Olivia's story in Garden of Shadows) That horrible witch of a grandmother even starves Elle if she misses a spot in cleaning, and tortures her by making her clean in the kitchen so she smells bacon and eggs while not being allowed to have any of it. The grandfather is a wee bit nicer, but he still stands by and lets his wife treat their granddaughter like garbage.
It's easy to sympathize with Elle here, and that is something I've not felt in a Neiderman book in a long while. I hated Celeste, Loreliei, Amber, and Semantha for being spineless ninnies, and other characters I didn't much care for like Emmie. But Elle was someone I could feel bad for given her upbringing, and her naivete can be forgiven for that reason.
What really disturbed me here is that Elle is told that when she is older, she will understand her treatment and even forgive her grandparents.
... Really? Being denied breakfast while having to smell it cooking several feet away and this `punishment' wasn't in any way warranted?
From the cover copy: "Elle Edwards grew up believing that because of her mother's sinful ways she was born without a soul..."
Yet in the prologue we are informed that Deborah was raped, resulting in Elle's conception. Because rape victims are "sinful"? (NOTE: I choose to believe all the shaming in these novels is to show that the characters doing the blaming are awful people. Authors are separate from their characters.)
From page 21: "I gathered that my mother was far from the perfect child in their eyes and that the man who had raped her was obviously pure evil, if not the devil himself. But if she were a better person, he wouldn't have been so drawn to her [...] Not only was I fathered by a rapist, but I also had a mother who was more evil than most girls her age."
On the bright side, at least the rapist is blamed somewhat. On the bad side, THIS IS STILL VICTIM-BLAMING.
Look, I don't know much about the mindset of strict, conservative parents, but... Why would you home-school someone when they're YOUNGER, instead of when they are most likely to "sin"? Sending someone to school-outside-the-home for the first time when they're fifteen doesn't make sense in this context.
From page 238: "There are rapes, and there are rapes."
AW, HELL NO! There are rapes. Period. Full-stop. Rape is rape, whether it's by a stranger or someone you know. Whether you've flirted with them or not. Whether you're sober or unconscious. RAPE IS RAPE. The scenarios may differ, but the end result is the same.
From page 250: "...but my parents have always been active professionals, my father the lawyer and my mother with her decorating business."
Mason and Claudine Spenser are Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield!
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