Purchased at a garage sale yesterday and added to my TBR pile!

I really enjoyed this book. it is well written and I hope to find other work by the author. As well, I would like to see the movie that has been made of it. I "caught" the book from my goatgrrl's TBR pile and have passed it back to her for her to read. - Len

CAUGHT IN NEW WESTMINSTER BC CANADA

In terms of my own personal biases, White Oleander really couldn't have had more strikes against it. It was made - within three years of publication - into a Hollywood movie with a blonde superstar in a lead role (Strike 1), I watched the movie on television before I read the book (Strike 2), and the novel was selected (and relentlessly marketed) as an Oprah’s Book Club selection (Steeeeee-rike!). So it was with some hesitation that I finally accepted Mr. goatgrrl’s recommendation (see previous journal entry) and began to read ...

White Oleander is a great book! Janet Fitch has created memorable characters in the teenaged Astrid and her mother Ingrid, both interesting and exotic enough to infuse a hackneyed dynamic (controlling mother/dependent daughter) with new, harrowing life. Their artistry, intellect and otherworldly physical beauty, together with Ingrid’s unpredictably violent nature, push the storyline into unexplored social territory - what is the cost for a daughter of having so coldly interesting and individualistic a mother? And what do we need from "childhood", anyway? (Astrid's experiences in foster care, particularly her sexual dalliances with the male partners of two of her foster mothers, pose related and challenging questions about the volitional nature of teenager/adult sexual relationships.)

I loved the Los Angeles setting for the novel, which might in other circumstances have become Strike 4 (what with the overexposure to California scenery that comes with a lifetime diet of American television). My fears about a "90210" backdrop were quickly allayed by Fitch's stark descriptions of a desperate, sweaty Hollywood, the noirish heritage homes of Los Angeles (I loved the colourful careers given to Claire's grandmother and great aunts, the providers of all that frozen jewellery!), and the "needle-cold" winds and clear vistas of the surrounding countryside.

You can read a 1999 interview with Janet Fitch in Salon magazine here. You may also want to check out the Oprah's Book Club write-up on White Oleander, with links to a clip from the show, readers reactions, etc. (beware the clip featuring an annoyingly dogmatic Oprah lecturing a stammering Fitch on what constitutes sexual abuse).

RELEASE NOTES:

I'll be leaving this book outside the White Spot on West Georgia Street, near the entrance, around 4:00 pm. Happy reading to whomever finds it!