Umbrella Lady

"Left on the train platform of some strange village, eight-year-old Saffron Faith Anders is certain her father will return shortly, just like he promised. She holds out hope as the hour grows late and the station sets to close. She clings to her suitcase like a life raft. When a peculiar old woman carrying a large umbrella approaches and inquires about her situation, Saffron doesn't immediately trust the imposing do-gooder, but eventually does agree to rest at her house while they wait for her father together. Saffron's stay was supposed to be for a few minutes, hours at most. But confined to a house not unlike one Hansel and Gretel might have encountered, Saffron will undergo months-and then years-of transformation at the hands of the Umbrella Lady. One minute grandmotherly and the next a scolding schoolmarm, the woman cuts Saffron's hair to the nub, burns the clothes in her suitcase, and pretends that the photo of a young girl hanging on her bedroom wall is just a stock image that came with the frame. When mysterious letters arrive from Saffron's father, saying he has started a new family and will send for her shortly, hope returns to her heart. Still, as is the fate of all young protagonists in the world of V.C. Andrews, Saffron will learn that those who most claim to care for you will often hurt you the worst..."-- A young girl who has lost her father finds herself at the mercy of a mysterious woman who is not quite what she seems in this atmospheric and unputdownable novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series turned into popular Lifetime movies.

Left on a train platform in an unfamiliar village, little Saffron Faith Anders is certain her father will return shortly, just like he promised. She holds out hope even as the hours pass and the station grows dark. When a strange old woman with a large umbrella approaches and inquiries about her situation, Saffron doesn't immediately trust the imposing do-gooder, but with the chances of her father returning growing ever slimmer, she agrees to rest at the old woman's house.

Her stay was supposed to be for a few minutes, hours at most, but soon, Saffron soon realizes she has been confined to a house of dark secrets and is now at the mercy of the enigmatic Umbrella Lady. One minute grandmotherly and the next wickedly cruel, she shears Saffron's hair, burns all the clothes she had in her suitcase, and pretends that the photo of a young girl hanging on her bedroom wall is no one in particular. When strange letters arrive from Saffron's father, claiming that he will send for her shortly, hope returns to her young heart. But Saffron soon discovers that those who claim to love you will often hurt you the most....