Library Reads: Janet Finch's White Oleander

While a really good book Janet Fitch it also a really depressing book with characters who just sort of seem to wallow in their problems. They don't really try to change the patterns, but instead show how the mistakes of other become the ones that others will repeat after them as an example.  With the foster home setting it almost reads as an observation of the broken human condition, and the need to survive than one of someone overcoming those setbacks to become someone to break those patterns.

Astrid watches as her mother falls in love with a new man, but when things go awry in her relationship she murders him, and is sentenced to time in prison. This leaves Astrid to the mercy of foster homes, after vying for her mother's attention for so long. Now she is in a mixture of environments where sometimes she finds love, and sometimes she doesn't. Most the homes all have some sort of problem if they seem perfect. Astrid is growing into a young woman in an environment where she begins exploring her sexuality dangerously, forming a raw view of men, and strives to fulfill the want of a mother figure she never had.


White Oleander is an interesting case study over Astrid who really seems at the mercy of the world, and as a young girl she needs attention. Her creativity isn't well nurtured, and once she is out from under mother's wing she learns the ways of men. Along with that as most children she is growing up, but still wants to know what it is like to connect with an adult as if they are her parent.

Astrid's mother never becomes too likable of a character. She seems to bash other women a lot, and doesn't even seem like a great encouragement to her daughter. She seems to forget she let let a man ruin her life when she chose to murder him yet she bashes other womens' weaknesses. At the end we get a little breakthrough, which is appreciated. The novel just reads as an interesting analysis of how these environments have effected the people living in them. After many brutal homes it seems Astrid finally lands in one most suiting to who she has become after the loneliness of the past ones have settled in.

The relationships formed, and the story seem realistic, but sometimes you wish things could just be a tad happier at points. The romances themselves are really sad even if the two seem very compatible. The situation of the man that Astrid forms relationships though are highly disturbing. There is never any sentiment of how she has been taken advantage of, and how dangerous those situations were, not just because she was sleeping with someone's boyfriend.

Janet Finch has put together a novel that is very realistic, and feels natural as far as storytelling. It has some disturbing parts, and always chooses to stick with one vibe where things never quite look up. You can always expect some problem to be lurking not too far away from the new life that Astrid has found. Her only outlet seems to be the place she has found with painting.

Rating 7 of 10.