When Chris obtains his medical degree, and invites them to his graduation, Julian refuses to go and forbids Cathy to go. He cheats on her with young girls and abuses her physically. They live in New York and Cathy soon discovers Julian is insanely jealous of any man who shows Cathy interest, but especially Chris and Paul. Cathy, impulsive and passionate, is hurt and marries Julian. But as she is capturing fame and fortune with Julian with the ballet, they travel to Paris, and Cathy is visited by Paul's sister, Amanda, who tells Cathy that Paul lied to her and Julia is still alive. Cathy, forever fleeing Chris's love, and blaming their mother, Corrine, agrees to be Paul's wife. The book spans years as they arrive on Paul's doorstep with Cathy at age 15 and I think she is in her early 30's when the book ends. But Cathy is in love with Paul as he is her though she is much too young for him. Cathy also enrolls in the local ballet school, owned by the famous Madame Marisha and George, and their son, Julian, visiting from New York, soon falls in love with Cathy. Paul doesn't judge he showers them with love and gifts and takes Chris under his wing to begin college and medical school, while Cathy completes high school and it appears Carrie middle school. Paul, suffering from his own loss of his wife, Julia, and son, Scotty, takes them in and they share some of their story with him, including later, Cory. There trek to freedom in Florida is interrupted when Carrie becomes extremely ill on the bus and a kind deaf woman, Henny, takes them to her 'doctor son', Paul Sheffield, in Claremont, South Carolina. Petals on the Wind is book 2 of the series, where Chris, Cathy and Carrie are finally free of Foxworth Hall in Virginia. 'I read this entire series several times as a teen and began re-reading them via in 2012. The horrors of the attic are behind them…but they will carry its legacy of dark secrets forever. Now, with their frail sister, Carrie, they have broken free and scraped together enough for three bus tickets and a chance at a new life. They had to stay strong…but in their hopeless world, Cathy and her brother, Christopher, discovered blossoming desires that tumbled into a powerful obsession. For three years their fate was in the hands of their righteous, merciless grandmother.

For three years they were kept hidden in the eaves of Foxworth Hall, their existence all but denied by a mother who schemed to inherit a fortune. The captivating and unforgettable saga of the Dollanganger family continues in Petals On the Wind, the New York Times bestselling sequel to Flowers in the Attic and the inspiration behind the Lifetime original movie and “tortured love story” ( Variety).įorbidden love comes into full bloom.

Petals in the wind book series