Garden of Shadows - Errors/inconsistencies

Errors/inconsistencies

• In Flowers in the Attic, Corrine and her four children arrive at Foxworth Hall in the month of August, yet in this book, a light snow is falling when they arrive.
• The dollhouse that belongs to Olivia stays at her old house. There is no mention of it ever arriving at Foxworth Hall, as it does in Flowers in the Attic.
• In Flowers in the Attic, Christopher Sr. dies at age 36; in Garden of Shadows he dies at age 35. (This may be because it was his birthday.)
• In "Flowers in the Attic", Corrine tells her children that Olivia was abused by her mother (she was locked in a closet, causing Olivia's claustrophobia and unwillingness to go into the Attic), while in "Shadows" Olivia recounts a warm and loving relationship with a gentle mother, and goes into the Attic several times, especially once (Causing her fear to the Attic), when she has Alicia captive in there. Though, "Shadows" does mention that Olivia's mother locked her in the closet as punishment when she misbehaved.
• In Garden of Shadows, Malcolm Jr. dies at Foxworth Hall trying to impress Corrine; in Flowers in the Attic, Corrine tells her children that he died at a cabin he had built. Differences lie in the location of death and who was present.
• In the previous Dollanganger books, Corinne's name is spelled "Corrine", however, in Garden of Shadows, it is spelled "Corinne".
• In Flowers in the Attic, Corrine tells her children Joel ran away from home and sent a single postcard, while in Garden of Shadows, Olivia mentions many newspaper clippings were sent home. Corrine recalls Joel saying goodbye to his parents, while she was not present in Garden of Shadows. Corrine also claims that Joel is still alive, but hasn't been heard from in years, while in Garden of Shadows, she is fully aware he has died.
• In Garden of Shadows, Olivia mentions her loving relationship with Corinne, while in Flowers in the Attic, Olivia proudly states that she thought Corrine to be trash from birth (although it is possible that she is lying or just disgusted by what Corinne did).
• In Flowers in the Attic Olivia screams at Cathy and Chris that their parents eloped secretly and came back to ask forgiveness for falling in love. However, in Garden of Shadows, Olivia catches Christopher Sr and Corrine making love. This leads to a confrontation with Malcolm and Olivia, after which Christopher and Corrine willingly flee Foxworth Hall.
• In Flowers in the Attic Corrine tells Cathy that she was twelve, and out bike riding when she got her first period, while in Garden Of Shadows Corrine is fourteen, and proudly shares the news with her mother.
• Garden of Shadows does not mention Olivia's ever present diamond brooch, nor any close friends that make her gray dresses (Flowers in the Attic). In fact, Garden of Shadows says that Olivia had no friends in Virginia, finding the women too weak, girlie and nasty for her liking.
• In Flowers in the Attic, when confronted by Cathy, Corrine reveals that Malcolm wrote on a letter to her, in reply for her pleas for help after Chris Sr dies, that the only thing good about their (Chris Sr and Corrine's) marriage was the fact it didn't create any devil's issue (inbred children). In Garden of Shadows, Olivia says that she writes the letter, and Malcolm does not write anything on it. Also, Olivia doesn't let Malcolm know about the children, knowing that Malcolm would be bewitched by their beauty, especially the girls, and would not punish the children for the evil that their parents have done. (It is likely that Corrine may have been lying to keep her children under control and conspired with Olivia to keep Malcolm unaware of their existence.)
• Olivia's son Malcolm Jr. is nicknamed "Mal" to differentiate him from his father. The earlier books in the series stated that he was known as "Mel."
• Garden of Shadows shows that John Amos meets Corrine for the first time when she is fourteen, while it is mentioned in If There be Thorns that she was ten.
• In Garden of Shadows, Christopher is named Christopher Garland Foxworth. In Flowers in the Attic, his name is Garland Christopher Foxworth the Fourth.
• In Flowers in the Attic, Corrine tells the children that her parents had forced her and her brothers to attend church every Sunday no matter what. In Garden of Shadows, there is no mention of the family ever attending church.
• In Flowers in the Attic, Corrine tells the children that she and her brothers were forbidden from being exposed to each other, that includes swimming together, because her mother said it was a sin and were abused if they disobeyed. In Garden of Shadows, Olivia doesn't mind it, and even lets Corrine swim with Christopher. There is no mention of Corrine being abused but the boys being disciplined by their father who whips them and verbally abuses them.
• In Flowers in the Attic, Olivia expresses hatred towards her grandchildren because of their incestuous conception, even physically and emotionally abusing them. In Garden of Shadows, she feels drawn to them and actually wanted to love them, but decided against it because of what their parents had done. She may be keeping this to mind in her treatment of the children in the first novel.
• In Flowers in the Attic and previous novels, Corrine maintains that she was abused by her father. But in Garden of Shadows, Corrine was doted on and spoiled by her father. She may have reconsidered his treatment in retrospect.
• In Flowers in the Attic, Corrine writes several letters to her parents asking for help. In Garden of Shadows, Olivia responds back to Corrine after the first letter arrives.
• In If There be Thorns, it was stated that Malcolm's step-mother (Alicia) had red hair, while in "Shadows," it's chestnut.