White Oleander

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I discovered White Oleander this year in jail, of all places. How ironic for me-- The most beautiful book ever written unveiled to me through the darkest recesses of my life. That was the thing about words, they were clear and specific-chair, eye, stone- but when you talked about feelings, words were too stiff, they were this and not that, they couldn't include all the meanings. In defining, they always left something out.” Claire Richards: Astrid's fourth foster mother, who notices Astrid's artistic talent and encourages her to pursue school. Claire has a weak relationship with her husband, poor self-esteem, and commits suicide after encouragement from Ingrid.

Astrid Magnussen: the main character, she is twelve years old when the novel opens. Artistic, shy and in the sway of her manipulative mother. The novel depicts her loss of naivety, sexual awakening, and attempts at self-definition. Thank you so much for accepting my friend request && for actually B E I N G my first actual friend here in Goodreads.com :D

Ron Rash is renowned for his writing about Appalachia, but his latest book, The Caretaker, begins ... Astrid is thrusted into a myriad of unmerited situations- the foster homes. One evil stepmother leads to another in this tale of adversity and just when Astrid’s prospects brighten under a shining sun‚ the clouds roll in and it begins to rain. " White Oleander" is a Cinderella story with all the ingredients of misery and misfortune but the wrong ending. My protagonist, Marina Makarova, is a young poet the same age as the century, fiery and headstrong with an enormous love of life. We meet her in 1916, in the midst of the First World War, as Russia sinks further and further into military disaster, economic stress and social unrest. The daughter of a liberal intelligentsia family, Marina comes to champion the cause of the suffering underclass. As the old world begins to unravel, she finds a new freedom in which to explore a new self, testing the boundaries of her life, both politically and personally. Loneliness is the individual at odds with his society. As such, they are absolutely modern. Traditional societies co-opt the individual. There is no place for individual consciousness when the village needs to get the wheat in. For better or worse, they operate free from the patriarchy. I want you to know that White Oleander got me through that time. I read, and re-read, and re-read, and re-read White Oleander, continuously, over the course of 5 months. I didn't know how something so beautiful could be found in such a lonely place, but alas, it was there-- unearthed from its grave in "true crime" novels.

I did work awfully hard on W.O.... still like it. Sad to think Oprah's book club is all over, it was quite an experience. Thank you for taking the time to send me this moving comment. I'm sorry for the circumstances in which you discovered my novel, but very glad it was there for you. Books keep us company in ways nothing else can quite do. Appreciate this note and hope things work out better for you! One day, Claire quarrels with her husband, who is constantly on business trips, but now he decides to divorce her. Despite all requests and pleas of his wife, he goes away, leaving Claire with Astrid. This is the last straw, because Claire’s husband is a meaning of her life. In the morning, Astrid reveals that Claire died from an overdose of drugs. Astrid understands that her mother is guilty of Claire’s senseless death, because Ingrid slowly prepared Claire for her suicide. The daughter decides not to visit her mother anymore and she determines herself in the orphanage, with which family she will live on. If you, like me, have been remiss and ignored this book up until now, then don’t wait any longer! I’ve considered watching the film adaptation, but I think I’m going to leave it alone. I watched the trailer and I just don’t think it will do the novel justice. But I would kill to read another book with this wondrous prose! I see that the Revolution of Marina M. might be an option for me. I think I’ll go for it. 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.I'm pretty sure I know where that embarrassment comes from, too: it's rooted in some pretty deep-level misogyny and discomfort about my most womany womanliness, or something like that anyway.... When Ingrid is imprisoned Astrid is fostered out to a series of homes in Los Angeles, her mother, an ever present part of the baggage that she carries with her. Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. An intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”