Primeiro livro de mais uma excelente saga de V.C. Andrews que voltei a reler passados 20 anos, pois tinha lido este livro e os restantes no ano de 1995 (parece que foi há uma eternidade).
A história é dura e comovente: retrata a vida de uma família de crianças que vive em condições de pobreza extrema, com quase nada que comer e vestir, numa casa sem condições, sustentados por um pai viciado no jogo e na "má vida", que raramente aparece em casa e que quando aparece é para criar problemas.
Heaven é a mais velha dos irmãos e sempre sentiu que o pai não gostava dela, que tentava ignorá-la e fazer que ela nem existia... um dia vai conhecer a razão da sua indiferença e a partir daí o seu modo de pensar vai mudar.
O livro é realmente empolgante, especialmente a partir do momento que os irmãos são separados uns dos outros... uma leitura 5 estrelas que me faz ficar já ansiosa para ler o segundo volume.

I first hesitated reading this book - series after Flowers in the Attic (which I loved), but I was really into it after a few pages. Heaven Leigh? How could you not like this poor, strong-willed, coureageous girl? Hated Fanny, I hope she was a real character so I could slap her! I also despised Kitty, nothing could condone her behaviour.

*spoiler*
I can't believe Tom could still believe in his father after he sold their poor souls!! My heart broke when he and Heaven had to take separate ways AGAIN!

This was my first VC Andrews experience forever ago. Since there is going to be a Lifetime movie adaptation of the series, I decided to re-read it. The book isn’t exactly the best written and by this point her books are formulaic but there’s a nostalgia quality about them for me

I remember this book so well, I read it in 1988!!! I rated it 5 when I first joined Goodreads, 5 because of the impact the memories have had on me over the years... I remember loving this book, the entire series, so much. Having re-read this book now, my feelings have not changed. Reading it as an adult has been just as emotional as it was when I was so much younger.

Yes, with many others, I am ashamed to say I thrived on these books as a youngun, I passed a GCSE Exam on Oral English with Flowers in the Attic and those books lead me to the Casteel's.

I will be continuing my re-reads from the late Virginia Andrews with enthusiasm, I loved her books back then and from re-reading this book 24 years later, I know I will love the rest just as much now!

I devoured this book. I read it as a teen and decided to read it again as an adult. It sucked me in just as much as it did 20+ years ago. Reading about the conditions of Heavens and her family's life and circumstances defiantly make one appreciate what they have. After the death of her mother when she was a baby Heaven is raised by her stepmother and her father seems to hate her. One day her mother leaves and the children are left to take care of themselves. Heavens ever absent father returns and decides the best thing for this children is to adopt them out or sell them if you want to be perfectly clear about it. She is placed with a new family and is heartbroken but she vows to put her family back together one day. Quickly she learns this new family is not what she hoped and appearances are deceiving. I can not wait to pick up the next book.

Poor Heaven and her family. Terrible things happen to them. This is the start to what seems like a sad series. I could not put the book down. I want to read the rest of the series when I get a chance.

Mit Luke Casteels Frau stirbt sein Lebenssinn. Der gebrochene Mann versinkt, während er seine Kinder verwahrlosen lässt.

„Dunkle Wasser“ von V. C. Andrews ist der Auftakt der fünfteiligen Casteel-Saga. Es ist spannend und dramatisch und haut einen dermaßen von den Beinen, dass man noch etliche Zeit später am Boden liegt.

Die Casteel-Saga sorgte erstmals in den 1980er-Jahren für aufwühlende Lesemomente, als sie nach der Foxworth-Saga der Autorin erschien. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Familie Casteel beziehungsweise ist in diesem ersten Band das junge Mädchen Heaven zentral.

Schon zu Beginn legt sich eine intensive, düstere Atmosphäre über die Handlung. Luke Casteels Frau ist vor Jahren gestorben und dies hat ihm den Lebenswillen geraubt. Er ist ein ungehobelter Hillbilly, der sich kaum um seine Familie sorgt.

Die Familie besteht aus seiner neuen Frau Sarah, für die er nur Verachtung übrig hat, und außerdem aus vier Kindern, welche er mit Ignoranz straft. Besonders schwer hat es die älteste Tochter Heaven, weil sie das Ebenbild ihrer Mutter - Lukes erster Frau - ist. Sie leben alle gemeinsam mit seinen Eltern unter einem Dach, welche zumindest für etwas Nestwärme im Zuhause sorgen.

Es folgt eine dramatische, tiefgehende Geschichte über vier verwahrloste Kinder, schmerzliche Schicksalsschläge und wie sie zu Jugendlichen heranwachsen.

Sämtliche Figuren sind exzellent ausgearbeitet und man meint, den psychologischen Tiefblick der Autorin zu sehen. Jedes Kind hat eine eigene Art mit den bescheidenen Umständen umzugehen: Der Junge Tom, der uneigennützig die Familie unterstützt. Die tüchtige Heaven, welche im Angesicht der Armut die Verhältnisse stoisch erträgt. Die kleine Fanny, die rasch ihre Sexualität als Mittel zum Zweck entdeckt, und das Küken Jane, die oft kränkelt und rundweg deshalb der Liebling aller ist.

So sitzen die vier Kinder mit einer überforderten Mutter und den hilflosen Großeltern in der Misere, während der Vater sich Ewigkeiten nicht blicken lässt.

Beim Lesen gibt die Autorin einen ausgezeichneten Eindruck davon, wie sich die Kinder abmühen, um der Armut zu entfliehen. Sie halten sich über Wasser, helfen sich gegenseitig, stellen sich immer wieder auf die Beine, während manches Mal ein helfender Engel die Hand zur Linderung reicht. Doch wo ein himmlisches Wesen ist, hat in der Casteel-Saga rasch der Teufel die Finger im Spiel. Es geschehen Wendungen, dass einem die Luft wegbleibt.

Wieder schafft V. C. Andrews den Beginn einer Saga, den man direkt körperlich fühlt. Sie beschreibt dicht, intensiv und schickt ihre Figuren durch Dramen, die wendungsreich und unvorhersehbar sind.

Die Hölle hat viele Facetten, das erfährt man spätestens, wenn man V. C. Andrews kennt.

Ihre Bücher handeln von zerrissenen Seelen, ausgezehrten Persönlichkeiten, falschen Hoffnungen und zwielichtigen Erwartungen, die allesamt fundiert ausgearbeitet sind. Die vielschichtigen Figuren sind weder böse noch gut. Sie sind Menschen, die durch ihren Weg, ihre Erfahrungen und durch das Schicksal gezeichnet sind.

Ich habe mit den Casteel-Kindern gelitten, gehofft, gebangt, getrauert und mir so sehr gewünscht, dass es bis zum Schluss für alle gut ausgeht. Zwar gibt es einen akzeptablen Abschluss, aber es wäre keine Saga, wenn die Geschichte mit dem ersten Band zu Ende ist. Ich bin sehr gespannt, wie es ihnen - und vor allem Heaven - in der Fortsetzung „Schwarzer Engel“ ergeht.

Die Casteel-Saga:
1) Dunkle Wasser
2) Schwarzer Engel
3) Gebrochene Schwingen
4) Nacht über Eden
5) Dunkle Umarmung

HEAVEN IS A AWESOME BOOK IT HAS 5 BOOKS IN THAT FAMILY STORY ,IT IS BY THE AUTHOR WHO CREATED THE BOOK FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC BASED ON A TRUE STORY ONCE YOU READ THE FIRSTN BOOK ITS VERY HARD TO STOP! I HAVE READ ALL 5 BOOKS OF THE CASTEEL FAMILY AND IM SO HOOKED IM STARTING ON FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC(THE DOLLANGAR FAMILY)

Well… I finished it

OK - I know it doesn't really deserve 4 stars because it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but it brings back such fun memories. I was about 14 when I first read this book, giggling with my girlfriends over all the dirty parts. Re-reading it as a "grown-up" cemented my love for the book - it's horrible, tasteless, trashy and loads of fun!

I see it as a poor man's Little House on the Prairie (if they had lived in West Virginia) You've got Ma, Pa and a bunch of unkempt children sharing a one bedroom house. Of course, there are a few parts that are different. In this book, Pa gets an STD and sells all his kids at $500 a pop. Plus, some of the brothers and sisters aren't exactly appropriate with each other. And at one point, the kids contemplate eating the family dog because they're hungry. But other than that, it's EXACTLY the same...

Here's another book that screws with the grading curve. If you look at other 4-star reads—Frankenstein, for example—there's no way poor VC Andrews can measure up. Yet my verdict stands...four shiny stars, the sign of a book I plan to keep around, & I'm not ashamed to admit it. (Don't look, Mary Shelley.)

The first section deals with Heaven's life as “hillbilly scum” in the West Virginia mountains. Abandoned by their stepmother & ignored by their asshole father Luke, teenage Heaven & her brother Tom struggle to provide for their younger siblings & near-crippled grandfather. I enjoyed this portion quite a bit—a sort of Special Victims Unit meets Boxcar Children mashup of melodrama that climaxes when their worthless father decides to sell his kids for $500 each. Blinded by rage & ignorance, Heaven chooses to escape with a yuppie couple—& so begins the second section featuring Heaven, Kitty, & Cal.

Kitty is another hillbilly refugee, & she plans to train Heaven as a revenge trophy against Luke, who knocked her up when she was Heaven's age. Kitty is an abusive, shrill cougar; she's also more than a little OCD, demanding fresh linens every day, color-coded towels, etc. All this wouldn't be so bad except she delights in abusing Heaven at every opportunity, whether verbally, physically, or mentally. But for all her flaws, Kitty is somewhat sympathetic. She really doesn't know how to love someone properly; she really does think she's doing Heaven a service by dragging her from the mountainside & plopping her into daughterly servitude. In Kitty's eyes, anything is better than being a hill-scum whore.

It's a twisted, if understandable, point of view—as opposed to Cal, her sad sack o’ beta husband (a type all too common in the VC Universe). Of course it's not long before this transparent milksop turns his attention to Kitty's adopted daughter. Heaven, for her part, knows sex with Cal must be wrong...but she's so desperate for fatherly love that she allows him to seduce her with his wishy-washy ways. Cal's seduction is probably the most sinister aspect of the book; it's creepy & sad that Heaven is so inexperienced & desperate for love that she allows that kind of affection. It's abuse that's veiled by the abuser & victim both, which is equal parts disturbing & fascinating.

…In short, it’s classic VCA at her finest: OTT family melodrama + light gothic touches + OMGWTF moments sprinkled throughout. It’s also one of VCA’s best books, period; if you’re looking to dip your toe into this breed of classic soapy schlock, HEAVEN is a good place to begin. (Yeah, I know FLOWERS is generally considered the original VCA masterwork, but the Casteel saga is a much better story overall. So there.

What a really depressing story, but that's an V.C. Andrews story at its best. At least it ended with a bit of hope for this Hill girl that is smart as a whip for her upbringing, I wonder about all the other books in this series and her family! And damn it I would be in the same boat as Heaven and never forgive her Pa for what he did (or not do) during the first book... WTF!