White Oleander

By: Janet Fitch

Narrated by: Oprah Winfrey

The unforgettable story of a young woman's odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption.

Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery - but their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison.

White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.

Oprah Winfrey enjoyed this gripping first novel so much that she not only made it her book club pick, she asked if she could narrate the audio release.

Check out more selections from Oprah's Book Club.©1999 by Janet Fitch (P)16 9; 1999 Time Warner AudioBooks (Packaging Elements Only), A Division of Time Warner Trade Publishing

Critic reviews

• An Oprah Book Club selection

"...[an] impressive first novel.... her startlingly apt language relates a story that is both intelligent and gripping." (The New York Times Book Review)

This is an abridged version of the book

White Oleander is the best poetic, magical and enthralling book I've ever read. I've owned a copy of this for about twenty or so years now, not because it was one of the novels on Oprah's Book Club but because of the movie my mother had dragged me to as a child.

The movie is based on the abridged reading here, which is fine and dandy to someone who knows only about the movie. However, there are large sections that are missing to someone who has the unabridged/complete version, and cutting these areas out were unexpected for me. I didn't enjoy it any less but I do have to dock this one star for incompleteness.

Enjoyed listening - but not a favorite

The story was interesting and has the classic love/hate partental relationship. The abridgement made the story a bit scattered but I liked it. Characters are realistic, no super human fiction here.

one of my all time favs!

Janet Fitch captures and describes like no other author! Astrid and Ingrid are a mother/daughter duo that will pull at your heart strings!!

Captivating

every year I read this book. I dimply love it!!
A story of loss and the twisted versions of love some people have.

Excellent!

Love the book.Love the movie.Now? I love the recording.Well done and the reader keeps it alive!

Missing parts of the story

I’ve loved this book for years. Read it many times. I didn’t realize it was the “abridged” version. What’s the point of cutting out a large section of the book? Not impressed

Chapters are missing

I read this book when it originally came out. The Audible version is missing entire chapters!!

Incredible.

Incredible writing, superbly delivered by Oprah. From the first few Iines, I knew this was going to be an experience. The word choice is impeccable and Oprah's voice... Couldn't be better

You can't pick your family

Definitely a good story about family relationship, specifically mother and child. The story kept my interest because I really wanted to how this manipulative, unnatural hold would be broken.

drags towards the end

the book is ok.
narration is good
story is ok
drags a lot towards the end