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White Oleander
Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery, but their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison.White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humour, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can be. Tough, irrepressible, funny, and warm, Astrid is one of the most indelible characters in recent fiction. White Oleander is an unforgettable story of mothers and daughters, burgeoning sexuality, the redemptive powers of art, and the unstoppable force of the emergent self.
Audible Audio
Published August 3, 2006
6 people want to read
About the author
Janet Fitch
25 books88.9k followersJanet Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a family of voracious readers. As an undergraduate at Reed College, Fitch had decided to become an historian, attracted to its powerful narratives, the scope of events, the colossal personalities, and the potency and breadth of its themes. But when she won a student exchange to Keele University in England, where her passion for Russian history led her, she awoke in the middle of the night on her twenty-first birthday with the revelation she wanted to write fiction. "I wanted to Live, not spend my life in a library. Of course, my conception of being a writer was to wear a cape and have Adventures." She has acquired a couple of capes since then, and a few adventures. And books.
Her current novels, THE REVOLUTION OF MARINA M. and CHIMES OF A LOST CATHEDRAL paint a portrait of a young poet coming of age during the Russian Revolution. Her last novel PAINT IT BLACK was made into a feature film, available on NETFLIX. Her novel WHITE OLEANDER was an Oprah Book Club pick and made into a motion picture.
Her current novels, THE REVOLUTION OF MARINA M. and CHIMES OF A LOST CATHEDRAL paint a portrait of a young poet coming of age during the Russian Revolution. Her last novel PAINT IT BLACK was made into a feature film, available on NETFLIX. Her novel WHITE OLEANDER was an Oprah Book Club pick and made into a motion picture.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 3, 2025
Story : Not as deep as I remember. Almost every character is insufferable. I realize that’s kinda the point, but it made it difficult to enjoy the narrative.
Audiobook component : I LOVE Oprah to death, but she’s not a voice actor and her narration is a bit rough around the edges. She develops different accents and affectations for each character, but has a hard time keeping them straight so they all kinda bleed into one another. The audio editing is so janky that you can HEAR when they introduce a new take because the audio levels fluctuate significantly. Just poor production quality overall.
Audiobook component : I LOVE Oprah to death, but she’s not a voice actor and her narration is a bit rough around the edges. She develops different accents and affectations for each character, but has a hard time keeping them straight so they all kinda bleed into one another. The audio editing is so janky that you can HEAR when they introduce a new take because the audio levels fluctuate significantly. Just poor production quality overall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review