Results tagged “whiteoleander”

The Santa Anas blew in hot from the desert, shriveling the last of the spring grass into whiskers of pale straw. Only the oleanders thrived, their delicate poisonous blooms, their dagger green leaves. We could not sleep in the hot dry nights, my mother and I. I woke up at midnight to find her bed empty. I climbed to the roof and easily spotted her blond hair like a white flame in the light of the three-quarter moon.

Continue reading "Janet Fitch Tonight at Skylight Books"

LA-based writer Jim Ruland had a story on NPR's Day to Day Wednesday about a book — The Third Policeman — that flashed in a brief scene in the TV show "Lost." The show's fans flocked to the book, a 1940 comic novel written by an Irishman, hoping to find clues to the show's mystery. Aha! People who watch TV do read.

In 1999, Los Angeles writer Janet Fitch's first novel White Oleander became a national bestseller, aided in part by its selection as a title read by Oprah Winfrey's influential book club. Deemed an "overnight success" at the age of 43, Janet obtained fame and recognition after spending more than 20 years quietly honing her craft as a writer. White Oleander showed readers unique and underexposed aspects of life in the county of Los Angeles as Astrid, the novel's heroine, made her way through the area's foster care system while her mother, Ingrid, served time in prison for murdering a feckless boyfriend.