White Oleander by Janet Fitch                                                                        Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes. As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces." Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down a path of sorting out her past and identity. In the process, this girl develops a wire-tight inner strength, gains her mother's white-blonde beauty, and achieves some measure of control over their relationship. Even from prison, Ingrid tries to mold her daughter. Foiling her, Astrid learns about tenderness from one foster mother and how to stand up for herself from another. Like the weather in Los Angeles--the winds of the Santa Anas, the scorching heat--Astrid's teenage life is intense.

My thoughts:

This is one of my top ten favorite books, the story, characters and writing style swept me away in a world that haunted me for weeks. Seeing how I still think of this story, its impact was substantial. Astrid and Ingrid's relationship is a deliciously messed up view of mothers and daughters and women in general. The book surrounds a young girl (Astrid) who is sent into a string of foster homes throughout her teenage years while her mother is serving a prison sentence for killing her lover. Ingrid was a horrid character but I found myself loving her one liner’s and words of wisdom... although ultimately her words of wisdom become her own lonely confinement. The dynamic between mother and daughter was interesting to watch fall apart as Astrid grew into herself and finally found her voice.

A movie version was created and I thought they did a good job sticking to the main elements of the story , i.e.…Star the first foster mother and Claire was right on, but the actress playing Astrid was made way to clean-cut for the part. An example, in the movie Astrid begins a scandalous affair with Star’s live-in boyfriend Ray, the actor was young in his 30’s and very good-looking- in the book Ray is much older, in his early 50’s very rough looking and is a Vietnam vet. Michelle Pfeiffer did an outstanding job portraying the vile Ingrid but the added elements of a soft exterior in the movie never surfaces in the book. In the movie Astrid and Ingrid’s relationship is shown through visits to the prison, in the book the relationship is shown through years of letters. So many crucial elements and details were left out and Astrid went through so much more than the movie portrayed, Id highly recommend the book before the movie…and if you’ve seen the movie to go pick up the book for a completely different version of Astrid’s story.