White Oleander by Janet Fitch (2000, Paperback, Media Tie In)

I bought this book not long after it was first released, on my quest to conquer all the books in Oprah's book club.

Janet Fitch could not have written a better book to debut her abilities with. White Oleander is pure genius! I found the book hard to put down, even though it has almost 500 pages. The book presents the story in such a living, breathing manner that the characters are easily brought to life in your mind.

The story is about a young girl whose mother has been imprisoned for murdering an ex-boyfriend. This mother is particularly strange to me; she's very eclectic and poetic. Her daughter is quite like her, but has grown to stand in her mother's shadow. When the mother is imprisoned, Astrid, the young girl, must learn to live in a series of foster homes around the area with all types of people trying to tell her how to behave and what to believe. Astrid has few friends and becomes somewhat alienated. Gradually, she comes to live with herself and grows away from her mother.

This is a typical novel of self-discovery with some odd twists and turns along the way. The voice of this book will leave a lasting impression on you long after you've finished reading, which is partly what makes it so special. It also presents controversial issues and brings awareness to alternative living conditions, such as foster care, in a very human, engrossing way.

A must for anyone seeking a great, long book with amazing emotional power.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch is the story of a vain, toxic mother and her young daughter. The mother, Ingrid, is imprisoned fairly early on the book, but not before scarring her daughter with her on and off coldness and neglect. The rest of the story is about the daughter, Astrid, who goes through a series of foster homes, hoping against hope to find love and acceptance. You'll find yourself aching to put your arms around Astrid throughout her trials and struggles. My favorite thing about this story is the language used. Janet Fitch is a master of description, metaphors and similes. I've read a lot of books, and this is one of my all-time favorites. It really is remarkable!

THIS BOOK "WHITE OLEANDER" BY JANET FITCH TELLS THE STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL, ASTRID AND HER MOM INGRID AND THE COMPELLING, YET DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP THE TWO SHARE. INGRID HAS BEEN SENT TO PRISON TO DO HARD TIME FOR MURDERING HER EX-BOYFRIEND. ASTRID IS NOW ALONE IN THE WORLD AND IS SENT TO A GROUP HOME AND FROM THERE SHE IS SENT TO MANY DIFFERENT FOSTER HOMES. AT EACH FOSTER HOME ASTRID VISITS, SHE LEARNS SOMETHING NEW AND GROWS FROM EACH PLACE AND THE PEOPLE SHE MEETS THERE. THE FOSTER HOMES ARE ALL DIFFERENT AND SOME JUST HORRIBLE TO BE IN, AND ALONG THE WAY ASTRID FEELS AS IS SHE DOESN'T FIT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. THE CHARACTERIZATION IS THIS NOVEL IS REMARKABLE AND YOU CAN PERSONALLY VISUALIZE EACH PERSON ASTRID MEETS. A GREAT READ AND WOULD BE A GREAT GROUP/BOOK CLUB NOVEL.

White Oleander will be like no other book you've read before. The relationship and dynamics between mother and daughter is to often dolled up or played down. The author present the issues that arise as a daughter tries to find herself and step out of a mothers shadow and deal with the fact that even though she'd always thought her mother to be perfect, she wasn't. Powerful characters and wonderful story telling skills come to the forefront in this novel, you will not want to put it down once you've read the first page.

This book was shared with me by my husband's oldest daughter. When his youngest daughter was 2-years-old she and her mother vanished from his life. His daughter had been left with a caretaker in another state and the mother vanished. He managed to find them, demand the child for him to raise, and did a beautiful job of raising the daughter. I would not have read this book if I had known what it was about but that would have been my loss. During the reading of this book I thought over and over "That could have been his daughter," if he had not rescued that darling little girl. The mother was an alcoholic, drug user, prostitute, the whole bad picture. He never told the child anything negative about the mother but did allow visitation when the mother tried to straighten out her act. This was a potentially extremely destructive situation but with his will to do what was right a child was saved. She is a beautiful young person with a beautiful family, all happy, all terrific. I would recommend this book to all.