White Oleander

The book White Oleander is the story of a girl and her mother. Astrid Magnussen is the daughter of a beautiful, ethereal artist named Ingrid. Ingrid is irresponsible but strong, powerful, and commanding. “She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen…” Astrid says, “I know a lot of young girls think that when they’re small but she was the most beautiful woman most people had ever seen.” Ingrid has strength, a certain calloused cynicism about her shrouded in the illusion of realism. Astrid is young and impressionable, susceptible to the need for love and acceptance. In the beginning of the book Ingrid is incarcerated for murdering her ex-boyfriend and Astrid is thrust into the juvenile system. She moves from foster home to foster home struggling
Loneliness, survival, beauty. Astrid struggles with loneliness. After losing her mother at such a young age and having never known her father Astrid falls into an inappropriate relationship with her foster mother’s boyfriend. She desperately tries to connect to the people around her but her mother shames her for it. “Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space.” She stays strong to survive, finds strength in her beauty and in the absence of her beauty.

Janet Fitch has written a beautiful drama that was most likely originally intended for young adults but shifted into something that people of all ages could enjoy. Astrid’s growth and development from child to woman is a marvel and reading the book makes you want to know more about her. Ingrid is her moral compass for so much of the story that when she breaks away, becomes bitter and spiteful of her mother, it is a breath of fresh air. The complexity and depth of this mother and daughter relationship is captivating and heart