White Oleander was written by Janet Fitch and first published in 1999. It is a young adult realistic fiction novel that functions as a bildungsroman and focuses on the story of a young girl who is separated from her mother and placed in a series of dysfunctional foster homes. The novel was chosen for Oprah’s Book Club in 1999 and achieved national bestseller status afterward. It was also adapted into a 2002 film of the same name.

This guide utilizes the 2000 Back Bay trade paperback edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

White Oleander begins in Hollywood, California, and sees protagonist Astrid and her mother, Ingrid, living together during the Santa Ana winds, which dry the air so that the only flowers that sprout are the oleanders. Astrid depends on her mother and admires her deeply, but Ingrid is aloof and often with various superficial lovers. Ingrid sometimes talks to Astrid about herself and their Norse heritage or imparts nuggets of wisdom.

When Ingrid meets Barry, she breaks her rules about staying disconnected from her lovers. Astrid hopes that Barry will become her new dad. Instead, Barry moves on to another woman. Ingrid begins stalking Barry, breaking into his house (with Astrid in tow), trying to poison him with oleanders, and whispering cryptic threats. Barry retaliates and tries to break into Ingrid’s house. When Ingrid threatens his life, he is scared off, but Ingrid soon finds a way to poison and kill him. The first time Astrid visits her mother in prison, she seems vacant, like a zombie.

Astrid moves from a group home to a “permanent” home with Starr, a pseudo-Christian who lives in a trailer park with her two biological children (Carolee and Davey) and her two foster sons. Starr buys Astrid new (but cheap) clothes, and Astrid bonds with the boys there. Starr’s boyfriend, Ray, tells Astrid how beautiful she is. Astrid, young and naïve, welcomes the attention, and the pair eventually have sex. Because Astrid is only 13, this is statutory rape.

At this time, Ingrid seems happy and hopeful. She is taking control over her position at the prison, and the other inmates seem intimidated by her. Ingrid and Astrid are overwhelmed with joy to be reunited, and Ingrid seems deeply interested in Astrid for the first time. She warns her to stay away from Ray, but Astrid ignores her. They decide to begin writing to one another.

Astrid attends church with Starr, gets baptized, and temporarily becomes Christian, preaching to her mother in letters and feeling guilty for not warning Barry. Ingrid rejects Astrid’s religious assertions, reminding her of the importance of following her own path.

Starr becomes suspicious of Astrid and Ray, and her behavior escalates. She begins drinking and yelling, and she beats her son, Davey. Driven by jealousy, she shoots Astrid twice in the middle of the night. Davey calls the ambulance, and Astrid is taken away. Astrid spends time at the hospital, fading in and out of consciousness and reading letters from her mother.

Astrid, using a cane, is taken to Marvel and Ed’s house. They have two young children, and Astrid babysits, cleans, and does Marvel’s hair. She is grateful to live somewhere seemingly normal but misses her mother and feels lonely. Astrid also worries she will never be understood. One day, Astrid sees a sophisticated-looking Black woman, Olivia, who lives next door. Astrid delivers a missed package to Olivia and tells her about her experiences thus far. Olivia admits that she has multiple boyfriends who provide her with income and that she values money and experience over love. She tells Astrid she can have anything she wants, whenever she wants.

Astrid tries to be like Olivia and performs oral sex on a boy for some cannabis, but Olivia warns her that she has the wrong idea. Olivia then takes Astrid shopping. Astrid starts to feel more like a woman each day, gaining weight, filling out, and maturing through her experiences. When Olivia disappears without telling Astrid, Astrid feels desperate and alone, as if people are nothing but disappointments. On her 15th birthday, she wanders around at night and is attacked by three stray dogs. Astrid wears wounds all over her face and body for weeks afterward. She approaches Olivia again at Christmas, and Olivia gives Astrid a bottle of perfume that reminds Astrid of being a child. When Astrid wanders home the next morning hungover, Marvel finds her and beats her severely. The police arrive later, but Marvel turns their attention to Olivia. In the end, nobody is arrested, and Astrid stays with Marvel, being watched and unable to go anywhere alone.

Next, Astrid is taken to Amelia’s, a woman from Argentina who takes in girls for the money. She works the girls and only feeds them one meal a day. Astrid starves, unable to focus on school. She searches for food in the garbage or steals it from the kitchen. After making several calls to social services and waiting weeks, Astrid begs a caseworker, Joan, for a new placement. Joan takes a special interest in Astrid, feeding her and getting her intelligence tested (only to find that Astrid exceeds the average).

Joan takes Astrid to Ron and Claire’s house, who live in Melrose. They have no children, and Ron is often out of town for work. The house seems perfect, and Claire spoils Astrid. Ron seems normal enough, but Claire suspects he is having an affair. Ron hints to Astrid that Claire has mental health struggles, and Astrid has witnessed her pacing and crying often.

Astrid feels like part of the family, with museum visits and camping trips a part of her life now. She begins an art class in 11th grade. When Astrid finds Claire rifling through her mother’s letters, she tries to show Claire that Ingrid has psychopathic tendencies and does not care about anyone but herself. Claire begins writing to Ingrid, suggesting that she and Astrid visit. When they go to see Ingrid, Ingrid manipulates Claire, finding her vulnerabilities (Ron and superstitions) and making Claire miserable.

By spring, Claire has lost weight and stopped working. Ron is out of town more, and Claire starts talking to Astrid about suicide. When the holidays arrive, tensions rise, Claire starts drinking heavily, and Claire and Ron have a major fight. Ron blames Claire for everything as she begs him to stay. After Ron leaves, Claire continues drinking, sobbing to herself behind a locked door. Astrid tries to comfort her and is eventually allowed inside, where she lies with Claire as she falls asleep. Astrid realizes that Claire is the only person who ever believed she had a future but that Claire’s future is uncertain. She begins to understand that she cannot rely on someone so fragile.

The next morning, Astrid finds Claire dead. Claire overdosed on pills during the night, and Astrid is distraught. She throws things, screams, and cries. Eventually, she calms down enough to dress Claire and arrange her on the bed in a dignified way. She waits all day before calling Ron. Ron comes home in despair, and Astrid blames him for not loving Claire enough. Astrid decides to leave the house despite Ron’s offer to stay and gets in a car with a social worker that night, not caring about what happens to her next. At the group home, Astrid feels relieved to be unattached to anything. She meets a boy named Paul Trout, who takes an interest in her and her art, but he is soon sent out to a new placement. Astrid herself denies an offer from a seemingly perfect couple, fearing that she will forget her roots and experiences if she attempts to start over. She chooses instead to go with Rena, who lives in a rough neighborhood and houses two other girls, Yvonne (who is pregnant) and Niki. Rena lets the girls drink and smoke, feeds them only take-out, and takes them out in the mornings to collect valuables from peoples’ trash. Astrid resolves to get through the year so she can move out on her own and no longer depend on people who hurt her. Rena makes Astrid sell all of the clothing she received from Claire. She is later assaulted by one of Rena’s friends as Rena and her boyfriend lay drunk and is forced into performing a sexual act on the couch; Rena does nothing to help. Astrid starts to distance herself from her past but begins to receive letters from Paul and her mother, drawing her back in.

Ingrid writes to guilt Astrid for losing touch and brag about how strong she is to survive segregation. She describes how horrible prison life is and how pathetic Astrid is for crying, telling Astrid that she wishes she were dead, so she did not have to dream of losing her. Astrid has come to view Ingrid as self-absorbed, dishonest, and manipulative. Astrid decides to sever her connection with her mother. Astrid cuts up the letters and rearranges the words into a poem that details her disdain for Ingrid. Ingrid writes back, telling Astrid her attempts to separate herself are in vain. She brags about the fans who visit her in prison, whom she refers to as her new children. Two of these fans later show up at Astrid’s doorstep, inviting her to live with them. They claim that Ingrid is not a murderer, or if she is, that she must have been justified. Astrid sends them off, knowing that her mother will corrupt them eventually. Susan D. Valeris, Ingrid’s lawyer, tries to manipulate Astrid to lie for Ingrid. Astrid realizes she has power over her mother for the first time.

Astrid graduates high school and helps Yvonne give birth to her baby. The labor is painful and tense, but Astrid supports Yvonne through it, thinking of what a truly motherly person would be like. Yvonne never gets to meet her baby, and weeks later, she moves out of Rena’s house with her new boyfriend. Astrid feels like she has made a friend in Yvonne and will miss her dearly. She feels skeptical of her future, thinking it is most likely that she will end up as nothing more than average. Rena sees a promising art career in Astrid’s future.

The next fall, Astrid finally visits Ingrid again. She demands details about her father and learns that Klaus was an alcoholic who often left her home alone and that she almost burned alive one night as a result. She also learns that Ingrid left her for a year with a neighbor named Annie when she became overwhelmed by the pressures of motherhood. Astrid demands to know if her mother would sacrifice everything to reverse her mistakes and brings Astrid back to her former self; Ingrid admits that she would. They hug for the first time in years. The novel’s conclusion sees Astrid living in Berlin with Paul. Years have passed, and Ingrid is finally released from prison without Astrid’s help. Astrid creates suitcases for each person she has known over the years, adorning each with symbols that remind her of them. Astrid loves Paul and her life with him but secretly pines for California and her mother and knows she always will.