Book excerpt: One of the most popular storytellers of all time, V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic, My Sweet Audrina) layers psychological suspense with sheer terror in this provocative first book of the classic Delia Series. After her parents are killed in a truck accident, Delia Yebarra’s life is turned upside down. At fifteen, she leaves the rural Mexican village where she grew up and embarks on a new life in America. Coming to her wealthy aunt Isabella’s huge estate in Palm Springs, California, should be a dream come true for a simple country girl like Delia… Only to become un preso del destino, a prisoner of destiny. Instead, her aunt refuses to acknowledge Delia’s heritage, relegating her to servants’ quarters with a licentious language tutor intent on exploiting the pretty young foreigner. Her cousin Edward is kind, but cousin Sophia is cruel, manipulative, and resentful of Delia’s beauty. And just when Delia begins to embrace the life of a real American girl, a heartbreaking chain of events sends her spiraling back to a Mexico she hardly recognizes, making her wonder if she will ever find a place to call home.