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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

: Heaven by Virginia Andrews :

Published by Pocket books (1985)
Pages : 410 (Paperback)

Of all the folks in the mountain shacks, The Casteels were the lowest -- the scum of the hills.

Heaven Leigh Casteel was the prettiest, smartest girl in the backwoods, despite her ragged clothes and dirty face... despite a father meaner than ten vipers... despite her weary stepmother, who worked her like a mule. For her brother Tom and the little ones, Heaven clung to her pride and her hopes. Someday they'd get away Align Centerand show the world that they were decent, fine and talented -- worthy of love and respect.

Then Heaven's stepmother ran off, and her wicked, greedy father had a scheme -- a vicious scheme that threatened to destroy the precious dream of Heaven and the children forever!

Deep in Her Heart, Heaven Dreamed....

Pa didn't come home for an entire week. I sat on the porch steps late one night and stared at the stormy sky. There had to be a better place than here for me. Somewhere, a better place. An owl hooted, followed by the howl of a roaming wolf. The autumn wind from the north shrieked and whistled around the forest trees, whipped around the trembling cabin and tried to blow it away....

I stared at the moon -- the same moon that rode high over Hollywood and New York City, London and Paris. Someday I'd like to have a real bed of my own to sleep in, with goosedown pillows and satin comforters. I'd have closets full of new dresses, and shoes by the dozen, in all colors, and I'd eat in fancy restaurants where tall slim candles glowed... but right now I had only a hard cold step to sit on. And tears were freezing on my cheeks and lashes....

This is my favorite Virginia Andrews book from the vast library that she has released.
From the beginning, if you are like me, you will have the mental images running around in your head from the very start of the book. You will feel the poverty and desperation, and also the sense of love that Heaven has for the children she spends so much time looking after.

And just when Heaven doesn't think things can get any worse, she finds herself sold off to a couple that promise her the world, but only deliver her a new kind of hell.

For me, this story kept getting better and better every time I turned the page. All sorts of emotions from downright sorrow to total elation are felt while reading this book, and when you get to the end, you will be reaching for the next book in the series DARK ANGEL.

RATING : 9/10

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