White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) by Janet Fitch
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Book Reviews of White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: White Oleander A Novel Of Highest Quality
Summary: 5 Stars
White Oleander exposes truth about a subject rarely written about, the plight of a little girl in foster care. It shows what these children go through ina smart, sensitive, and painfully truthful manner.Ingrid is a woman who prides herself on being strong and dominant. Manipulative and cold she has never allowed herself to feel any real positive emotion for fear it will make her weak. She teaches her young daughter: "We are the Vikings, we are the ones who sacked Rome", and to "never apologize, never explain". She meets a man and falls in love for the first time. Her lover leaves her and she gets revenge. She poisons him and is sent to prison for life. Meanwhile she leaves behind a young daughter who is not wise to the survival instincts of her mother.
White Oleander shows us the hardship this child must go through and how she finds ways to survive. It speaks of the strength of the human spirit. Ingrid must survive prison life and Astrid must endure foster hell. She encounters memorable yet sad characters such as Starr, a bible thumping mama who is all but saintly. She also meets Claire who teaches Astrid how to love and be loved. Rena shows Astrid about the ways of the world.
White Oleander is beautifully written and the author displays wisdom far beyond her years. It is a novel of the highest quality and will stay with you long after you've read it.
Book Review: A modern day novel of young girl's survivial and transformation
Summary: 5 Stars
After Sept. 11, I couldn't focus and read stories for a while. So it was significant for me that I found this book and this was the first novel I was able to absorb. I just loved this book. White Oleander is a tale of surviving and so much more. Fitch's Astrid reminds me of a modern day character from a Bronte Sisters' novels; from Jane Eyre's Lowood Institution or maybe even a female Healthcliff that finds some inner peace . Fitch's characters reflexs her understanding that there are layers of complexity regarding the motives of why people do what they do from passive aggressive acts to blatant violence and the fall out -- which makes this story of creative endurance fascinating. Astrid is a survivor and this is a story of a young woman that is failed by mother, "the system", and so many supposed "care givers" that it is amazing she can take a leap and have faith. Her mother is a destructive dynamic force and in this tale it is easy to see what Alice Miller is talking about in her new book. Separation is necessary -- separation in one's mind, not just "geography"- "separation in the geography of one's mind" for all of us if we are to come into our own but more so for Astrid. Astrid becomes an emotional black belt -- her school the school of hard knocks. Her gifts are her acute intelligence, heart and her art. How Fitch uses "art" to resolve this book is poignant.Book Review: A Masterpiece Composed Of Tragic And Haunting Beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
I had the privelege of meeting the author, Janet Fitch, casually, accidentally during a rummage sale. This was years ago, before she had written the novel "White Oleander" and before the film was released. She is a woman with keen perception of human nature, with brilliant intellect and literary knowledge. Her first novel is a masterpiece composed of tragic and haunting beauty. The novel follows the life of the artistic, emotional Astrid, the daughter of a single mother, Ingrid, who is a sensational character. Ingrid claims descent from Vikings, some say an excuse for her violent and erratic behavior. Ingrid extracted revenge on an unfaithful boyfriend, Barry, through his murder with poison oleander. Ingrid is put in prison, but continues to communicate with her daughter through short visitations and letters.Astrid's journey is a classic coming-of-age story, retold in a highly realistic, modern fashion. Astrid is taken from foster home to foster home, each woman who cares for her a strong survivor in her own right (i.e. the prostitute). Astrid learns how to survive, but her intensity subsides with the nurturing and loving relationships she develops with all of these "foster" mothers. The book is well written, with engrossing imagery, with fatalism, with provoking prose. Janet Fitch is a truly gifted writer and we hope to see more of her works in the future.
Book Review: Love, Loyalty, Survival, Life
Summary: 5 Stars
When reading White Oleander by Janet Fitch you are brought into a world that most authors could not capture in this way. You experience the love, envy and compassion that Astrid has for her mother, Ingrid. You are also brought to almost envy Ingrid yourself. Her beauty is compared to an, "edge of a very sharp knife." Beauty was Ingrid's, "Law, her religion. You could do anything you wanted, as long as you were beautiful, as long as you did things beautifully. If you weren't, you just didn't exist."(pg.11) Ingrid drummed this belief into Astrid's head over and over. After Ingrid poisons her lover with white oleander she is sentenced to life in prison leaving Astrid to experience the roller coaster world of foster care. Astrid is left to forge her own personality despite the presence of the strong willed women who come along in her life. Weather it's a jealous born again Christian, a con-women, or well-off wife of a TV producer Astrid learns how to become her own person despite the changes and influences she is forced to go through. It is an adventure to experience these different settings with Astrid and learn how she deals with each different situation. This is a story that is both Haunting and Heartwarming. It is a story about life, love, loyalty, survival and the need for a place to belong.Book Review: The white oleander,from the eyes of a fifteen year old girl.
Summary: 5 Stars
The white oleanderThe white oleander, is a novel about a poet ,Ingrid and her daughter,Astrid.Ingrid falls for a man called Barry Kolker,all goes well untill Barry loses intrest in ingrid and leaves her for a twentytwo year old blond La bimbo.Ingrid falls in to a rage and starts to stalk barry,she would shop at the stores he shopped at,eat at the restaurants he ate at,atend the same partys she wanted him to see what he had done,she wanted revenge.Then one morning,Astrid wakes up to police officers arresting her mother for the murder of Barry Kolker.Astrid is clueless,what has happened?had her mother really killed Barry?what will happen?Then another knock at the door,a social worker has come to take Astrid away,away from her house and away from the life she shared with her mother.Ingrid is put in to prison,and Astrid is put into foster care.The novel is about Astrid's diffrent expieriences in her diffrent foster homes,and her visits with her dictating mother.I found The white oleander was quite intrieging to read but very bizarre.I recomend it for people from the age of fifteen to 45.It is hard to identify with the characters, because they are so bizarre,I can't even identify with Astrid even though we share the same name.I would like to thank Janet Fitch for writing such an amazing novel,
Thankyou.