Title: White Oleander Author: Janet Fitch

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.

Astrid turns 13 years old buried, half-forgotten in the depths of L.A. foster care.  Her mother in prison for murder, her father barely a bedtime story, an enigma, gone when she was just a baby.  Foster care means getting used to new people, new places.  In her first, true foster home there are four other children already living there; two from foster care like herself, the other two, now returned to their mother, were also once part of the foster care system.  Her foster mother, Starr, `...busty and leggy, with a big smile...` lives just outside of L.A. in a trailer with `so many parts added on you had to call it a house.`

Astrid likes it there with the other children.  She goes back to school and even begins to attend church which her mother hates.  They communicate mostly through letters with the occasional visit.  Even with her mother behind bars Astrid experiences family life with Starr, her foster siblings, and Uncle Ray, Starr`s man, the father figure of nearly 50 who teaches her how to play chess.

`Dear Astrid,

Do not tell me how much you admire this man... Never lie down for the father. I forbid it... 

Mother.`

But Astrid knows her mother is far away and can`t control her anymore.

Starr suspects something is going on between Astrid and Ray behind her back and begins drinking again causing havoc among the family.  Her son breaks his arm and everyone has to lie about it to Social Services.  In spite of this Astrid continues to behave inappropriately, pushing Starr to her limit.  In a fiery burst of violence Astir is hospitalized and moved to a new foster home in Van Nuys.  `... a kingdom of strip malls and boulevards`where her `role in the... house was revealed... babysitter, pot scrubber, laundry maid, beautician` for Ed and Marvel Turlock.  There Astrid spends her days high on Percodan trying to heal from the wounds from her last home.  She chooses survival as her religion and tried not to hate her position in the household.  She becomes infatuated with their exotic neighbour, Olivia Johnstone, `a woman who would throw out a handmade tortoiseshell comb just because it was missing a tooth.` Astrid finds it in her garbage as she tried to find out more about the mysterious woman, a woman Marvel uses racist, derogatory language when talking about.

Astrid succeeds in entering Olivia`s life and is delighted when she offers to take her out for shopping and lunch.  They become what Astrid considers to be friends.  She lives for the days when she can be with Olivia and is nearly heartbroken to come home one day to find Olivia gone somewhere without saying where or saying goodbye.  Sullen and angry and alone on her birthday Astrid takes a walk to clear her head and finds herself in a dark alley with a pack of stray dogs.  They attack and Astrid winds up back in the hospital where they sew up the gashes on her face with black stitching thread.  In a way she`s glad the world can finally see her pain, that it`s no longer hidden.

It`s not until Christmas does Astrid venture back over to Olivia`s knowing her friend has yet to see the jagged wounds crisss-crossing her face and body.  Olivia is happy to see her but shocked to see Astrid`s mangled face.  Olivia pours them both a brandy to celebrate Christmas together.  Astrid drinks too much and wakes up with a pounding hangover, alcohol throbbing through her scars.  She tries to get home before Marvel knows she`s missing but Marvel is up, outside, and see`s Astrid leaving Olivia`s house.  Marvel goes crazy, dragging Astrid away, shouting obscenities and abuses at the woman next door, who is thankfully sleeping in the back of the house.  Marvel won`t stand for it and the first day back at school after the Christmas holiday the social worker shows up to take Astrid to a new home.

`[She] thought of the lies Marvel would tell the kids... that [she`d] died or ran off.  But... that wasn`t Marvel... She`d think up something... you could paint on a Franklin mint plate.  That [she] went to live... on a farm, where [they] had ponies and ate ice cream all day.`

Instead, she moves to a big, beautiful home in Hollywood where Amelia Ramos, seemingly refined, polite, nice, padlock`s the fridge and makes the girls go without food.  `Hunger dominated every moment, hunger and its silent twin, the constant urge to sleep.`  Astrid begins to salvage the remnants of lunches her classmates throw away, eagerly eating their discarded tuna sandwiches, cartons of yogurt.  Her mother writes demanding she call her social worker every day until they find her a new placement.  It works, she finds herself headed off to a couple who are looking to adopt.

Astrid meets and immediately feels welcome by Claire Richards `with her wide, love-me smile.`  At first it`s just Astrid and Claire.  Her husband, Ron, travels a lot for his job and is quite often away for long periods of time.  Astrid is anxious about meeting him knowing all too well how different his being there would be.  `Women always put men first.  That`s how everything [get`s] screwed up.`

After living with them for some time, enjoying her role as beloved daughter, Astrid realizes there is something wrong with Claire.  She watches as her new mother sinks lower and lower into depression.  Astrid tries to warn Ron, asks him to stay home more.  He leaves anyway.  Astrid tries to comfort Claire, spends the night with her to keep her from getting lonely, trying to pull her out of her black mood.  Unsuccessful, she wakes up to find Claire dead, the last few pills from a prescription medication bottle lying on the floor beside her.  Astrid is alone again, the only one left to keep Claire`s stories, her memories.  She takes them and what little belongs to her to the next stop; a temporary stay at Mac`s.  `MacLaren Children`s Center was in a way a relief.  The worst had happened.  The waiting was over.`

There she meets a boy, Paul Trout, a boy who understands her.  `The girls called him [her] boyfriend, but it was just another word it didn`t quite capture the truth. Paul... was the only person... [she] could talk to.`  It`s not long before he gets placed in another foster home, leaving her alone again facing the decisions of her future with no help at all.  She can`t stay at Mac so she chooses to go home with what will be her last foster mother, Rena Grushenka, a Russian woman with `coal-black hair... a hole in the charcoal afternoon.`  She is sexual, materialistic, eager to get and spend money.  They scour the streets on garbage day looking for clothes, small appliances, anything to sell.  Every hard earned penny goes to drugs, or booze.  Astrid barely recognizes her life and is content to get absorbed by her last year in foster care, her mother all the while clamouring for her attention from prison.  

White Oleander is a beautifully haunting book full of vivid description and intricate story telling.  

It is actually my favourite book and has been for years.

Click here to purchase White Oleander.

Title: The Great Gatsby Author: F. Scott Fiztgerald

We meet Nick Caraway as he rents a house 'in one of the strangest communities in North America... due East of New York... 20 miles... in the ... Long Island Sound' called 'West Egg.'

He has two friends, 'Daisy...[his] second cousin once removed' and her husband, Tom Buchanan who knew Nick in college.  At their house he meets Jordan Baker, a professional golfer, who suggests that since he lives on the West Egg he must know Gatsby.  She also reveals that Tom has another woman, a lover, in New York.  Nick has no desire to meet this woman, but being friends with Tom and new to the area he inevitably accompanies Tom to NY where he does meet the other woman.

'She was in the middle 30's, and fairly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously.  Her face... contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her.'  Nick is introduced and discovers her name is Myrtle.  They spend the afternoon in NY with Myrtle, her sister Catherine and their neighbours.  The party spends it's time drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes, though Nick is not eager to stay long, nor visit again. 

He spends most of his days watching the goings-on of his neighbour, who he found out from Jordan was Mr. Gatsby himself, thrower of extravagant parties.

'On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus bearing partiers to and from the city... people were not invited - they [simply] ended up at Gatsby's door... Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all...'

Nick, having been invited, attends one of these parties and after being overwhelmed by a myriad of people's faces, ladies dresses, sights and sound and smells from a thousand different sources, he is relieved to see Jordan, a familiar face in a strange crowd.  There's a lot of speculation about the host though no one seemed to know him at all, including Jordan and Nick.  Some think Gatsby was a spy in the army, that he'd killed a man.  During a lull in a later conversation, one of the men recognize Nick from serving time in the army.  They talk for some time about the army, life, the party.  Nick mentions that he got a hand delivered invitation from the host himself.

'For a moment [the other man] looked... as if he failed to understand.

"I'm Gatsby," he said suddenly.  "... I thought you knew, old sport."

He smiled understandingly - much more than understandingly.  It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it...'

Since they reside next door to each other Nick and Gatsby become pretty good friends.  He asks Nick, in an extremely round-about way to personally invite his cousin, Daisy, over for tea, just the three of them.  He reveals that he knew Daisy years before and that he is still in love with her after all that time.  He liked to throw the parties hoping she'd come, but she never has.  Nick agrees and ends up chaperone to the lovers first date since they were young.

After the rendezvous Gatsby manages to invite her and Tom to his next party.

'Tom's arrogant eyes roamed the crowd.  "We don't go around very much," he said.  "... I don't know a soul here."'

Daisy allows him to sit and eat dinner at another table, allowing her and Gatsby time to sneak away. Tom is unimpressed with the party, with Gatsby.

'"I'd like to know who he is and what he does," insists Tom.  "And I think I'll make a point of finding out."'

After they leave Gatsby is disappointed with the evening. 

'"She didn't like it," he insisted.

He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she... go to Tom and say: "I never loved you."

"I wouldn't ask to much of her," [Nick] warns.  "You can't repeat the past."'

But Gatsby is determined to find a way to turn back the clock inviting Daisy over for afternoon tea on many occasions. One day an invitation arrives asking both Gatsby and Nick to Daisy's for lunch the next day where Daisy makes a show of kissing Gatsby when Tom is out of the room.  Jordan, who is also a guest for lunch, whispers to Nick that Tom is talking to his girlfriend on the phone.  Tom is none the wiser to the speculations of his lunch party and hospitably offers Gatsby a tour of the home.  Daisy, sick of the stifling summer heat, suggests they all go into NY.  Tom becomes annoyed at the obvious chemistry between Gatsby and Daisy and challenges her offer by insisting everyone go.  Tom insists on driving Gatsby's car.

'"... you take my coupe and let me drive your[s]..."  The suggestion was distasteful to Gatsby.'

Daisy offers to ride with Gatsby while Nick and Jordan go with Tom, though he promises to refuel the vehicle for Gatsby.  They stop, not far, at Myrtle's husband's gas station.  There he tells Tom they want to head out west.

'"Your wife does!" exclaimed Tom, startled.

[Wilson] reveals he's found out something funny about his wife a few days ago.

"That's why I want to get away," remarked Wilson.'

Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic.  His wife and his mistress... were slipping precipitately from his control.'

The party ends up at the Plaza Hotel.  There, in the oppressive heat Tom confronts Gatsby.  He accuses him of trying to steal his wife.

'"Your wife doesn't love you," said Gatsby quietly.  "She's never loved you.  She loves me."'

Daisy is caught in the middle of a battle of love between the past and the present.  She breaks down accusing Gatsby of asking for too much and Tom for being so vulgar.  Gatsby insists that she's leaving Tom for him.  That's when it all falls apart.  Daisy, not used to such raw, exposed feelings, retreats back into herself, back into her comfortable world.  Seeing himself the victor over his wife's heart Tom demands she and Gatsby return in his car, alone offering to take Jordan and Nick in his coupe.

On the way back to the West Egg they pass Wilson's garage where they previously refueled the car with gas.  There they find 3 or 4 cars and a crowd of people.  After stopping to investigate what's shook their tiny community they discover the body of Myrtle Wilson wrapped in a blanket, motionless, dead, struck by a speeding, yellow vehicle which sounds suspiciously like Gatsby's car.  The police are there asking questions, taking notes, statements.  Tom does not tell them the car belonged to Gatsby, though he makes sure Wilson knows exactly who car it was who struck and killed his wife.  This, coupled with the fact that he knew his wife was cheating on him, Wilson draws the conclusion that Gatsby is the culprit and vows to take revenge on the man who took his wife.

Being Gatsby's closest friend Nick finds himself alone with the truth.

The Great Gatsby brings the raw emotion of lust, betrayal, societal pressures and the truth about people, about friends.  The novel succeeds in tearing away the gossamer veil that money can but to reveal the bitter, savage truth about the human condition.

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