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White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club)

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White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) Cover

ISBN13: 9780316284950
ISBN10: 0316284955
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Autumn is lovely. Not only do the leaves turn the most astonishing hues, coloring the hills and valleys yellow, red, purple, but they're so happy, friendly even, chattering amongst themselves as they fall, full of compliments and encouragements, never forgetting the end is nigh but also, well, let's just enjoy this one beautiful day. And it is a good day, for over at Powell's you can buy two featured titles — and get a third absolutely free.

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A bestselling first novel about a young woman growing up the hard way, this is a powerful story of mothers and daughters, their ambiguous alliances, and the search for love and identity. When a woman murders a former lover and is imprisoned for life, her daughter must navigate a new reality — that of a series of foster homes, each its own universe, each with its own limits and dangers.

Review:

"A ferocious, risk-loving novel." Los Angeles Times Book Review

Synopsis:

Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes-each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned-becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
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About the Author

Janet Fitch's first novel, White Oleander, a #1 bestseller and Oprah's Book Club selection, has been translated into 24 languages and was made into a feature film. A native of Los Angeles, Fitch currently teaches fiction writing in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Cherie Vivian, March 15, 2013 (view all comments by Cherie Vivian)
White Oleander. A brilliant,lyrical masterpiece by Janet Fitch. It was her first novel and to date, her best. Fitch's words are like poetry, piano music, a visual sonata with a jazzy underbelly. The opening setting of the "Santa Ana winds blowing in hot from the desert" stirs just the right amount of provocative foreshadowing and poison. The main characters are vivid and haunting: an artistic mother with borderline personality disorder who decides the remedy for her cheating lover is his lethal consumption of oleander; a young daughter coming-of-age whose life is forever altered by her mother's narcissism. Fitch explores the California foster system and delves into the demons of each of her characters, major and minor, with raw passion. Fitch is a consummate storyteller. It is a story that touches the soul. Much overlooked, one of those great American novels which whispers its subtle genius.
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Kelly A, April 15, 2010 (view all comments by Kelly A)
The characters in this book are real and deliciously contradictory, embodying Walt Whitman's statement that he can contain multitudes. No one is all bad or all good and the "victim's" story does not stop there or end predictably with vindication.
The portrait of Los Angeles is fascinating enough to make the city itself one of the characters.
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bthompson12603, June 10, 2008 (view all comments by bthompson12603)
I am a fan of Oprah's Book Club books, but this one didn't always keep my attention. Not one of my favorites but it was ok. It was a bit slow for my taste, I had to re-read a few parts because I would drift off and be thinking about other things while reading. But the good parts are good...I just wish it was all that good.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780316284950
Author:
Fitch, Janet
Publisher:
Back Bay Books
Location:
Boston
Subject:
General
Subject:
California
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Los angeles (calif.)
Subject:
Mothers and daughters
Subject:
Young women
Subject:
Women murderers
Subject:
Foster children
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2000
Edition Description:
Paperback
Series:
Oprah's Book Club (Paperback)
Series Volume:
EDO-HE-1999-9
Publication Date:
20000531
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Language:
English
Pages:
464
Dimensions:
8.25x5.35x1.33 in. .94 lbs.
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Related Subjects


Featured Titles » Fall Reading
Featured Titles » General
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
History and Social Science » American Studies » Popular Culture

White Oleander (Oprah's Book Club) New Trade Paper
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Product details 464 pages Back Bay Books - English 9780316284950 Reviews:
"Review" by , "A ferocious, risk-loving novel."
"Synopsis" by , Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes-each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned-becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
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