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.
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