Tarnished Gold

You know right away what happens to Gabrielle when you start reading 'Ruby', so reading this book is a bittersweet experience. It was nice to see a time where Jack and Catherine were happy together - at least some of the time. I can't help but wonder what would happen if Gisselle had inherited some kind of gift, since it seems to run in the Grandmere bloodline. Anyhoo, Gabrielle comes off as a very likeable character. She's very sweet and loving - maybe a bit too sweet for some - but she was a character I was genuinely fond of so it's hard to take what happens to her at the hands of Octavaius Tate.

I feel that Gladys was a bit overdone with the revelation of what had happened to her as a child, and she knew of Jack's reputation, so she show more should have made her offer directly to Gabrielle, or Catherine should have been the one Gladys went to. I know it was the 1940's and all, but it still cheeses me off that none of that money had been set aside for Gabrielle.

And then when her next baby is sold, again Gabrielle sees none of the money. Like, really, WTF. Come on, for fuck's sake.

This is definitely one of the ghostwriter's better works, but is not without its flaws. Hell, Neiderman couldn't even keep fucking track of a character's name. In previous books, she was Gabrielle, in this book it is Gabriel. I mean, really. Eyeroll. show less

Picked up from a box of donated books; selected on the basis that I'd heard of Ms Andrews' better-knownr 'Flowers in the Attic'' - and here comes the total cheat bit, since it appears numerous of 'her' works were actually written AFTER HER DEATH by one Andrew Neiderman, and published under her name! I have no clue whether this is better or worse than her actual works, but it sure feels like a contravention in trading standards!

Anyway, onto the story which is quite readable- the tale of lovely Gabriel Landry, a teen who could (in lesser hands) have been a 2D cutout character, but was very believable. Living on the bayous of Louisiana with a healer Momma and a drunken Daddy, Gabriel is a child of nature till raped and left pregnant while show more out poling her pirogue. Daddy has an eye on money to be made from the culprit...and then, in time, Gabriel encounters another wealthy man among the Spanish moss.

Pretty readable. show less

Such a sad sad tale. I can't even imagine what Gabriel was going through.

Gabriel is my favorite character throughout this whole series.

The end when she dies,
That was the part that really got to me.
It was the most brilliant written part of the whole series.

Uh, good, I suppose. Read it a long time ago.

Uh, good, I suppose. Read it a long time ago.