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Avg. Rating: 4.18
By: classicshunter This book is lyrical and painfully beatiful. Living in the mind of a child growing into a woman, her life anything but ordinary, you get swept away. I never wanted it to end.
Not a feel good book but you JUST have to read it... This is yet another thrift shop book that cost less than a dollar but unlike my previous purchase of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain," White Orleander is a book of high literary merit that you want to read over and over again because it is so addictive, like the scent of the White Orleander, and it's vicious but beauteous scent.White Orleander is about Mothers and daughters and the complex relationships we sometimes have with those we love but don't always like. It's a book about life, death, survival and the redemption of the soul. Astrid is the teenage daughter of Ingrid now in prison after murdering an ex-lover and Astrid finds herself at the Mercy of the Los Angeles foster care system that is both brutal and tender. From her first teenage love affair with one of her foster mother's boyfriend's to her life in Berlin as a cynical but gifted young Artist we have driven through a life filled with tears, laughter, and the uncompromising brutality of the human experience. Astrid is above all a survivor and she takes from her foster life experience a new way of thinking, of understanding those around her, the good, the bad and the downright ugly. For me the best part of the book was Astrid's artistry of life, along with her acute understanding of mother's selfish whims and desire to be "beautiful and wanted" by the world for her talents as a poet, even though she is languishing in jail. But Astrid is everything her mother is not, and her ability to carry her life with her in "museums," customised suitcases representing all those people that have influenced her life is wonderful, and you can feel the presence of Star, the God loving, drug taking foster mother, who shoots Astrid for seducing her man, the cowardly and weak Ray and other characters such as the racist Marvel and Olivia a woman for who men are no mystery, the suicidal Claire most beloved to Astrid, the greedy voracious Amelia Ramos, Yvonne a teenage mother with more dreams than sense, the streetwise Rena and Paul, Astrid's young lover in Berlin, like her a former foster child and writer. And threading its way through the novel always is the power of Ingrid, struggling to keep control of her daughter who is surviving the world without her. This is not an easy book to read, there is brutality, tenderness, betrayal, and deception in every page but you are compelled to read on and though the ending is far from satisfying it is what you expect. Read White Orleander, and pray that no one ever makes a suitcase for you that represents your life because if they do you might not like what you see... Incredible, hypnotic, seductive, I couldn't put it down. White Oleander simply touched me more than almost any novel I have ever read. Astrid was a realistic character. Anyone who thinks that this novel was extreme and melodramatic in its portrayal of foster care obviously knows nothing of foster care or displaced children from disfunctional homes. Having worked in inpatient psychiatric units with both children and adults in state custody, I am well aware of how realistic Janet Fitch's book was.The things that happened to Astrid happen to children every day in this country. In fact reality is a little worse. The novel also presented the fact that we all recieve blessings and curses from our parents. Ingrid was a sociopath who did whatever she felt like doing regardless of who got hurt. She ruthlessly dominated her child's life "I am your home" and seemed to feel justified in doing so. However she also was a brilliantly educated poet who passed on the gifts that helped Astrid to survive her years in foster care: strength, independence, and a love of learning, a sharp intellect. I saw Astrid as a survivor who was as together as anyone could be after 6 years in foster care. In life, and in White Oleander, there is no happily ever after, and there are always loose ends. Fitch made me laugh and cry with her liquid poetry. A testement to survival. Disturbing, yet awesome I absolutly loved this book. A friend recommended it to me and I couldn't put it down. Not only is the writing very well done, but the detail illuminates the story but without bogging it down. The horror of the foster care system this girl had to go through is totally disturbing (esp because it is so close to many problems with the real foster care system) but her journey through it is remarkable. I found myself on edge waiting for the movie which just didn't measure up. If you liked the movie you'll love the book even more!
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