White Oleander, the debut novel by Janet Fitch, is a story of love and loss, of the beauty and power of nature. The novel tells the story of Astrid Magnussen, a teenager whose mother is sent to prison for the murder of her ex-boyfriend. After being sent to foster care, Astrid is forced to endure a series of inappropriate and abusive households that threaten to destroy her. It is through her tenacity and understanding of the natural beauty of the world around her that Astrid eventually finds solace and emotional maturation.
The novel begins in 1960s Los Angeles, where Astrid lives with her mother, Ingrid. Ingrid is a narcissist and manipulative woman who has been involved with many men over the years, including the father of Astrid’s best friend, Rebecca. One day Ingrid assassinates her latest lover, who has refused to marry her, and is sent to prison for life. With no other family and nowhere to turn, Astrid is placed in a series of foster homes, one of which is run by the cruel Starr, a woman who exacts punishment through manual labor. Astrid treks along, learning how to handle her situation in an often harsh environment, growing increasingly introspective and suffocated by her own pain and anger; her only solace comes from the natural beauty around her in the form of flowers, the stars, and the ocean.
Astrid is eventually placed in the home of appropriately named Tanya, a kind and understanding woman who truly cares for her. It is here that Astrid begins to form her own identity and find peace and solace. Astrid is also reunited with Rebecca—although Rebecca’s father, who was Ingrid’s former lover, has recently died—and the two of them form an inseparable bond.
Throughout her foster care experience, Astrid discovers beauty and strength in nature that she uses to survive the instability of her life. The ocean, the sky, and the stars become her constant compass and her solace, guiding her through tough times and providing her with an identity that not even foster care can erase. Astrid ultimately discovers true love and acceptance in the unlikeliest of places, learning to forgive and to embrace her uniqueness.
White Oleander is an incredibly powerful and moving story of a young woman’s journey through foster care, her struggle to find a sense of identity and self-worth, and her passionate embrace of nature’s beauty. Janet Fitch’s vivid prose is beautiful and poetic, painting a vivid and sorrowful portrait of life and its injustices. Fitch also captures the exhilarating joys that life can bring, a discovery to which we all can relate. White Oleander is a stunning novel about identity, love, and the strength that can be found in the most unexpected of places.
