White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)

An only child, a murder, a life ripped asunder. When Astrid's mother goes to prison, Astrid is thrust into the foster care system and becomes a child of many mothers from different walks of life. Some are kind and some are gruesome, some are troubled and some are flat out ghastly. Astrid is shot and almost killed, and by turns is pampered and starved. Although separated, Astrid's mother remains a constant in her life, sending letters or people to track her down when she feels her daughter may be straying from the sphere of her emotional and intellectual control. As Astrid tries to negotiate the harsh realities of her young life and becomes a young woman, she must also try to find her own place in the world, without bitterness, and with her own moral compass. I loved this book. The writing is incredible and I felt the words like liquid mercury, both luminous and toxic. While you're reading Oleander, you will taste the smoke. A darker take on the coming-of-age story.

I read this book for the first time in high school. I bought a copy for myself and read it so many times I need 2 more copies. The book is amazing and gives people a look into how children can be treated when they are in foster care.

This is a fantastic read. You won't be able to put it down. The emotions you go through with the main character are so very poignant and deep. This was a book that I felt like I was living when I was reading it. Phenomenal.

The raw brilliance of this novel is overpowering. From behind the rough exterior of the story's plot comes a true "coming of age" tale, told with the most beautiful and articulate language of words. I never believed that a book could truly take hold of your emotions and exhilerate your senses, but this story drew me into the folds of surprise, heartbreak, and amazing prose.The story is told from Astrid Magnussen's point of view. She is a young girl (story goes from age 12-18), who lives with her mother, Ingrid, who is a smooth, freeminded poet. They live in an apartment in Hollywood, California. They go to museums, read books by Dmitry and Dostoyevsky, and do poetry readings. Ingrid uses her charm to lure in men and have carefree relationships, but she gets too serious in one of these relationships. After the man breaks it off with Ingrid, she kills him. She is then put into prison and sentenced for life.So begins Astrid's life of foster care and life altering changes. Throughout the story, Astrid is at 6 different homes, including a children's center. Each home is filled with people and experiences that all take their toll on Astrid and her upbringing. These include: getting involved with a MUCH older man, gun shot wounds, starvation, and a death, to name a few. During her time at these homes, she corresponds with her mother with letters, in which Ingrid is still trying to shape her daughter...even through prison. Astrid soon realizes that her mother wants her to remain unhappy in these homes, so she will still be "needed" by her daughter, and so that she can still influence Astrid into becoming like her.This is a book where you hope and plead for a good ending, but you're never sure if it will happen or not. This books is remarkable. You'll be mesmorized by Astrid Magnussen adventures (or perhaps this is the repeated story of many fostered children throughout the world).

I could not put this book down! "White Oleander" was wonderful from the very first sentence to the very last and I have Oprah to thank for bringing author Janet Fitch to my attention. The story is narrated by Astrid - a teenage girl - who suffers through years of living in the foster care system while her mother Ingrid serves a life sentence for murdering her ex-lover. (I can just envision a younger Angelina Jolie-type playing the role of Astrid in the film version.) Each family that Astrid lives with has its own unique (yet sometimes cliched) cast of characters that are instrumental in shaping and transforming the young woman she becomes. This is a novel of self discovery the hard way. I personally cannot imagine the loneliness and terror that Astrid experienced while bouncing from home to home to home. Ingrid stays present in Astrid's unstable life through letters and occasional visits and their strained relationship is key to Astrid's development. The character are so real, the writing style is beautiful, the plot moves swiftly and the story weaves the reader through every human emotion possible. While I'm not a fan of the Oprah Winfrey show, I am a fan of her book club and this novel ranks up there as one of her best picks.

This was one of these books that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like; I tend to be a bit snobbish about the Oprah picks. However, this book was a wonderful read with vivid characterizations that have really stayed with me. The heroine really grows as the story moves along, and the way her understanding of her completely self-absorbed mother develops and changes is very interesting and realistic. Her travels through the child foster care system are pretty harrowing, but what really engaged me was that even as a young girl she was a strong character, even when she was a "victim" she somehow wasn't - she was a real survivor. She just rang true to me. I loved this book.

I found this book to be amazing. Probably the best part of the book was Astrid's mother, Ingrid. Her character was developed so well, it made me wonder how Fitch could think up all of her narcissistic qualities. The absurd things Ingrid wrote in her letters to Astrid made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Although the book starts out a little slow, it quickly picks up with a captivating plot line and diverse characters.

White Oleander simply touched me more than almost any novel I have ever read. Astrid was a realistic character. Anyone who thinks that this novel was extreme and melodramatic in its portrayal of foster care obviously knows nothing of foster care or displaced children from disfunctional homes. Having worked in inpatient psychiatric units with both children and adults in state custody, I am well aware of how realistic Janet Fitch's book was.The things that happened to Astrid happen to children every day in this country. In fact reality is a little worse. The novel also presented the fact that we all recieve blessings and curses from our parents. Ingrid was a sociopath who did whatever she felt like doing regardless of who got hurt. She ruthlessly dominated her child's life "I am your home" and seemed to feel justified in doing so. However she also was a brilliantly educated poet who passed on the gifts that helped Astrid to survive her years in foster care: strength, independence, and a love of learning, a sharp intellect. I saw Astrid as a survivor who was as together as anyone could be after 6 years in foster care. In life, and in White Oleander, there is no happily ever after, and there are always loose ends. Fitch made me laugh and cry with her liquid poetry. A testement to survival.