Pros: Astrid, the protagonist, has an intriguing plight. Fitch writes with an interesting, mesmerizing poetic tilt.
Cons: This is not a lighthearted novel. Also, while interesting, Fitch's poetic style can be overbearing.
The Bottom Line: White Oleander is a probing look at a girl without security, a victim of the foster system. I recommend this novel to readers who can handle grimness and devastation.
bupkiss's Full Review: Janet Fitch and Alyssa Bresnahan - White Oleander
"Oleanders could live through anything . . . So what did they need poison for? . . . Maybe it was a poison in the soil, something about L.A., the hatred, the callousness, something we didn't want to think about, that the plant concentrated in its tissues. Maybe it wasn't a source of poison, but just another victim."
White Oleander, Janet Fitch's troubled yet beautiful epic, is not the first Oprah selection I have read and enjoyed, and it probably won't be the last. (And I don't even like Oprah much.)
As a student of art history and English literature, White Oleander really captivated me. Fitch knows how to weave an intricate story of survival, identity, suffering, and starting over again and again, and she has a knack for allowing the reader to question the beauty we perceive as truth.
Astrid, the tale's young protagonist, is a sympathetic character prone to self-destructive moments as she desperately tries to find a place to call home while entrenched in the Southern California foster care system; Astrid's egomaniacal and demonic mother Ingrid, a poet, a murderess and the catalyst for Astrid's placement in the system, is a true ice queen, relishing in her "victimhood" as a lover scorned, and she continues to rule her daughter's life even through letters sent from prison (an excerpt from one of Ingrid's letters: "Don't tell me how much you hate your new foster home. If they're not beating you, consider yourself lucky. Loneliness is the human condition.")
While reading Oleander, I felt oddly in tune with Astrid's plight. Her experiences as sensitive and damaged drift in the disturbing Los Angeles foster maelstrom made me wince throughout the 467 pages of carefully crafted and introspective, emotional prose. And with each new foster assignment--assignments ranging from born again Christian ex-stripper to control freak hausfrau to delicate out of work actress to drunken Russian junk dealer--I wondered if Astrid would finally find a place to settle in, a place to feel truly loved and cared for with no strings attached.
But as with most Oprah novels, Astrid doesn't magically fall into happiness. Even when a new foster assignment seems idyllic or just surprisingly placid, it's simply a facade for something sinister, bizarre, or heart wrenching.
Still, Oleander possesses an appealing morbid beauty. Astrid is a talented artist, capturing the world around her through sketches, paintings, and sculptures. Although she claims to be solely an artist (her mother is supposedly the true poet, as Astrid reminds of this fact again and again), she manages to tell the story of her life vividly and with a brazenly poetic tone. California fits perfectly as the artistic backdrop for the novel, a perpetually sunny place where the soulless and the ersatz collide, where the worst human traits seem to be admired, yet also a place where Astrid seeks her true self, a place she yearns for when she finally manages to escape.
This book is not for everyone. Many of Astrid's encounters are depressing at best, hellish at worst. Astrid's longing for a niche has her adapt accordingly to each new environment she is forced upon, be it negative or neutral (she clings to a hypocritical church, to a college educated prostitute, to violent high schools, anything to have a sense of belonging). And even when given the chance to choose her foster placement, Astrid turns away from normalcy and suburbia, opting for probable chaos in the underbelly of L.A.
White Oleander is an ambitious novel, a bit too cerebral and lyrical at times, but definitely illustrative of a girl seeking knowledge of herself, a search for the missing pieces to her past, her concept of mother and father, and a hopeful future.
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