• White Oleander

  • By: Janet Fitch
  • Narrated by: Oprah Winfrey
  • Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,087 ratings)

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White Oleander  By  cover art

White Oleander

By: Janet Fitch
Narrated by: Oprah Winfrey
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Publisher's summary

The unforgettable story of a young woman's odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption.

Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery - but their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison.

White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.

Oprah Winfrey enjoyed this gripping first novel so much that she not only made it her book club pick, she asked if she could narrate the audio release.

©1999 by Janet Fitch (P)16 9; 1999 Time Warner AudioBooks (Packaging Elements Only), A Division of Time Warner Trade Publishing

Critic reviews

  • An Oprah Book Club selection

"...[an] impressive first novel.... her startlingly apt language relates a story that is both intelligent and gripping." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about White Oleander

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Oprah Winfrey magnificent read

What did you love best about White Oleander?

The story was fabulous but Oprah reading it added so much to it for me, sometimes I didn't even recognize her voice, I loved it so much. Great, great read.

What other book might you compare White Oleander to and why?

no comparison

What does Oprah Winfrey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her own take on the characters, bringing them to life. It was truely fabulous

If you could take any character from White Oleander out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I'll come back to this one. It wouldn't be so much any of the characters but Oprah and then to talk about the book and the parts we liked/disliked etc.

Any additional comments?

I have yet to have a bad read from any of the audible books regardless of author or reader.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A favorite

I have always adored this book. At first I was not crazy about Oprah reading it, but ultimately she did a great job.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My fav book

White oleander (Janet fitch in general) has always been my favorite. I was so pleasantly surprised at Oprah’s performance! She was absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to listen to another book performed by her!!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not the Right Audio Voice for this Story

I would have appreciated a note in the description that this is an abridged version - was disappointed when I got a few chapters in and realized that huge chunks of the story were being skipped. The story would also have been better served with a different narrator. Oprah's deep voice, while nice in itself, was not a great fit for a teenage Astrid.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great book, dissappointed about it being Abriged.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The book, yes, this version, no. I felt there was a lot that was missed by having it abriged.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love this story but...

I own the hardcover and love this story. However, it sounded like there was some stuff left out and I don't understand why Ingrid kept having an accent

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

Oprah's narrative was wonderful. I couldn't press the stop button on my mp3. The story carried you along and kept me captivated. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Janet Finch

First time coming across a Janet Finch book. Well-written. Oprah is amazing with the audio!!!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

BEWARE,NOT FULL AUDIOBOOK

I thought this would be a great audio (correct me if I’m wrong but it’s the only one) to listen with this book, turns out there’s multiple parts cut out, definitely an edited version

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Eh

The narration was great, but I was extremely disappointed that this was a shortened version of the book. They skipped key plot points in the story

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