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Quote by Janet Fitch

Work

White Oleander

White Oleander is a work of fiction that follows the life of Astrid Magnussen, a girl whose mother, Ingrid, is a brilliant but narcissistic poet. After Ingrid is sentenced to prison for murder, Astrid is placed into a series of foster homes across Southern California. Each home presents a different set of challenges and influences, shaping Astrid's identity as she grows from a child into a young woman. The narrative explores themes of resilience, the search for belonging, and the powerful, often destructive, bond between mother and daughter. The title refers to a poisonous flowering shrub, serving as a metaphor for Ingrid's beautiful yet dangerous influence on her daughter's life. more

Author

Janet Fitch
Janet Fitch

Janet Fitch is a renowned American contemporary author, born on November 9, 1955, in California. Her works are known for their profound character development and unique narrative style, with notable titles including 'The Geeks' and 'Paint It Black'. more

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“It was her first book, an indigo cover with a silver moonflower, an art nouveau flower, I traced my finger along the silver line like smoke, whiplash curves. ... I touched the pages her hands touched, I pressed them to my lips, the soft thick old paper, yellow now, fragile as skin. I stuck my nose between the bindings and smelled all the readings she had given, the smell of unfiltered cigarettes and the espresso machine, beaches and incense and whispered words in the night. I could hear her voice rising from the pages. The cover curled outward like sails.”

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“Usually, to be sure, man considers only the stubble field of transitoriness and overlooks the full granaries of the past, wherein he had salvaged once and for all his deeds, his joys and also his sufferings. Nothing can be undone, and nothing can be done away with. I should say having been is the surest kind of being.”

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“A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes - within the limits of endowment and environment- he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.”

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Book:Man's Search For Meaning, Gift Edition
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