Search - White Oleander : A Novel

A peek into a world that is mostly unknown to the average person. An artisticly inclined women and her daughter of like quality, are ripped apart after her mother's fatal decision. A story filled with unimaginably sad twists and one youth's fight to survive.

Having picked this up at a book sale and full well knowing even before I started reading it that it was an Oprah Book club book, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. Although sometimes overly dramatic, the overall plot is interesting enough to keep you reading and thinking about it even when you have to put the book down. If you would like to read something that is not necessarily the "average" fiction novel, you should try this one.

One of my favorite books. Well written, with a poetic, lyrical style. Outshines both the movie, and Fitch's second book. Have read this at least twenty times...

I read this years ago and enjoyed it. It's not a happy story, but it's an intriguing one.

This was another choice for book club and one that I did not enjoy that much. I found this book to be really dark and depressing and it left me feeling emotionally drained. I felt even worse after I watched the movie. While it is well written, it was not a book that I will read again.

This novel follows Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes while her mother is imprisoned. Each foster home is unique and disturbing in a different way. We experience the physical and emotional changes that Astrid endures. The language of Janet Fitch's writing is beautiful and intriguing. An incredible read, much better than the movie.

Loved it...beautifully written, characters fully developed coming to life as the narrative flows.

This is the best novel EVER!! Definately reccomended to anyone with the patience to finish a LONG story (totally worth it)

loved it - how could you not.

Oprah can't be wrong..from her book club!This Novel is haunting,engaging...avivid story complete with conniving characters and dramatic twist into a teenage girl's life throu fostercare as she becomes so bitter...

The story of a girl's trials and turbulations in foster care.

Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes.
As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces." Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down a path of sorting out her past and identity. In the process, this girl develops a wire-tight inner strength, gains her mother's white-blonde beauty, and achieves some measure of control over their relationship. Even from prison, Ingrid tries to mold her daughter. Foiling her, Astrid learns about tenderness from one foster mother and how to stand up for herself from another. Like the weather in Los Angeles--the winds of the Santa Anas, the scorching heat--Astrid's teenage life is intense. Fitch's novel deftly displays that, and also makes Astrid's life meaningful.

Strange but compelling story.

An Oprah's Club book, made into a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer.