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kellydothart 's review for:
White Oleander
by Janet Fitch
White Oleander is a beautifully written novel about a girl's teenaged years moving from one foster home to another while her poet mother spends time in prison for murder. The tragedies abound and the resilience astounds.
The lack of attachment to her primary caregiver in Astrid's earliest years leaves her yearning for attachment anywhere she can get it. A foster mother's sleazy boyfriend. Another foster mother looking to fill her own emptiness with a child. Foster sisters along the way who are also yearning for connection and love. Astrid spends six years in foster care in as many homes all across Los Angeles, learning life's many lessons in the hardest ways.
The novel matures right along with its main character. Symbolism proliferates. It's an unfortunate but eye-opening glimpse into the psyche of a child who is continually abandoned, used, and abused. While the foster care system is deeply flawed, it desperately needs good people to take in the most vulnerable of kids, to forge healthy attachments to counteract the many layers of trauma they face.
Heartbreaking page-turner, worth a read, but it's not an easy one, and is at times quite graphic. Not for the faint of heart.
The lack of attachment to her primary caregiver in Astrid's earliest years leaves her yearning for attachment anywhere she can get it. A foster mother's sleazy boyfriend. Another foster mother looking to fill her own emptiness with a child. Foster sisters along the way who are also yearning for connection and love. Astrid spends six years in foster care in as many homes all across Los Angeles, learning life's many lessons in the hardest ways.
The novel matures right along with its main character. Symbolism proliferates. It's an unfortunate but eye-opening glimpse into the psyche of a child who is continually abandoned, used, and abused. While the foster care system is deeply flawed, it desperately needs good people to take in the most vulnerable of kids, to forge healthy attachments to counteract the many layers of trauma they face.
Heartbreaking page-turner, worth a read, but it's not an easy one, and is at times quite graphic. Not for the faint of heart.