Janet Fitch's White Oleander' is one of the most fascinating and poetic
             novels to capture the attention of American readers in recent times. It is
             a well-written book depicting the life of a young American girl who
             represents the growing dysfunctional family system in the country. The book
             is not about foster homes or motherless children; it is essentially about
             American life and important social and moral values that it seems to have
             lost. Fitch tells the coming of age story of a young 12-year-old girl
             named, Astrid who grew up in various foster homes after her mother was
             imprisoned for killing her lover. The novel touches some important themes
             like American life, a person's sense of self worth, self esteem, mother's
             love etc but above still it remains essentially about life of an average
             American and this reminds us of the ugly possibility that the protagonist,
             Astrid could be any one of us. To a large extent, she represents one side
             The book is set in Los Angeles, where American life exists at its
             dysfunctional peak. This is a place which represents the erratic side of
             America and that is what Astrid's life is all about. It is not normal but
             then it is certainly American for each character has been developed
             carefully to depict various facets of American life and culture. The mother
             of Astrid, Ingrid represents a single desperate woman, in need of a good
             life partner yet deprived of real love. It is her inability to developed
             positive relationship that first turns her away from men completely and
             then turns her into an obsessive lover. Astrid is a sensible person but one
             who has experienced a little too much pain. She is a lonely figure,
             desperately looking for love and thus she tries to find love everywhere she
             goes. In a way, she is like Ingrid, who was also desperate for love but the
             only difference is that Astrid doesn't give up on love and tries to seek it
             wherever she is se...