White Oleander

Janet Fitch

Sep 2006 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this ebook

The unforgettable story of a young woman's odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption.

“Liquid poetry.” —Oprah Winfrey

Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her beauty to intimidate and manipulate. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world of ritual and mystery. But their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother murders a lover, and is sentenced to prison for life.

Hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander follows Astrid through a a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in the world. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons. Astrid's journey investigates the nature of the mother-daughter bond, burgeoning sexuality, the redemptive powers of art, and the unstoppable force of self-discovery.

An Oprah's Book Club pick • A 2002 feature film starring Michelle Pfeiffer

Ratings and reviews

White Oleander by Janet Fitch is a haunting, beautifully written novel about identity, trauma, and survival. Through Astrid’s journey in the foster care system, the book explores the lasting impact of a toxic parent and the struggle to grow beyond that influence. Fitch’s prose is poetic and dark, and the characters, especially Ingrid, are unforgettable. It’s emotionally heavy but deeply rewarding, the kind of story that lingers long after the last page.

This book was very good until you got about four-fifths of the way through. The last few chapters seem like they are written by a totally different person and are kind of disjointed and inconclusive - not realistic at all. That ruins the whole story.. She wrote a good tale up until then.

I have lost count of how many times I've read it. You'll find yourself completely immersed into Astrid's world and its dark and so real it hurts. I'll always come back to this book. <3

About the author

Janet Fitch is the author of the novels White Oleander (Little Brown, 1999), an Oprah Book club selection translated into 24 languages and made into a feature motion picture, Paint It Black (Little, Brown 2006), also widely translated and made into a feature film, and The Revolution of Marina M. (Little, Brown 2017) set during the years of the Russian Revolution. A fourth novel completing Marina's story, Chimes of a Lost Cathedral, will be published by Little, Brown in summer 2019. Fitch lives in her hometown of Los Angeles with her writer husband Andrew Nicholls.