Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me! It really means a lot to me! I can see what you mean...Would be great to read about her further journey, but to imagine it is also quite satisfying. Wishing you also good reading and good writing! Samantha

Saaamaaa wrote: "Dear Ms. Fitch,

I always wanted to write to you, but never knew how to start. So I will just begin with: When I was twelve years old I watched the movie "White Oleander". I didn't know it was bas..."

Thanks Samantha, for this note--glad things are going better for you these days! So glad you took the time to write to me. Yes, I can imagine her with a child, and being a far more caring parent. But also having certain ideas about conventionality that would be as hard for her as for her mother, a certain restlessness with how other people do things... more inner conflict than Ingrid ever had. Wishing you good reading, and all best! Janet

Dear Ms. Fitch,

I always wanted to write to you, but never knew how to start. So I will just begin with: When I was twelve years old I watched the movie "White Oleander". I didn't know it was based on your book until I was 19, but I have never forgotten about the story. I watched the movie multiple times because it made me feel understood and less alone. Later, when I had read the book, I felt the same way but was in a totally different place in my life. I was able to see everything from above now and not from the inside anymore. When someone asks me, which book in my life made me feel the most emotions, I always say it's the story of Astrid and her mother Ingrid. My childhood and youth were really tough sometimes but I'm very good right now and I just wanted to let you know, that you helped me a lot with coming to terms with everything. So, thank you for these beautiful, poetic words, for the memorable characters, for letting art take an important place in this novel and for sharing this story with us.
Sometimes I wonder, how Astrid's life would look right now...
Do you?
I imagine her with a daughter, being a very different mother than Ingrid, when it comes to parental care and warmth but also very much alike, talking about secrecy and gracefulness.
English is not my first language, so I hope you understand the bottom line of what I want to tell you.
I saw on you're Goodreads profile that you're very much into Russian literature and history. I must say, it didn't surprise me. But I was really happy to see it. One of my all time favorite stories is Anna Karenina. It also helped me grow a lot and taught me some important life lessons.
I hope you're very well and have a lot of stories in your life that touch your heart like yours will always touch mine.
Happy Easter and best wishes from very far away,

Samantha

Thanks Eugenia! Wish you good reading!

Hi Janet,
Thank you for accepting my friend request. I am honoured of being friends on Goodreads and I want to tell you how much I enjoyed reading White Oleander. It is such a beautiful book.

Eugenia

Hi Amy,
Thank you for taking the time to send me this moving comment. I'm sorry for the circumstances in which you discovered my novel, but very glad it was there for you. Books keep us company in ways nothing else can quite do. Appreciate this note and hope things work out better for you!
all best wishes,
Janet F.

Janet,
I discovered White Oleander this year in jail, of all places. How ironic for me-- The most beautiful book ever written unveiled to me through the darkest recesses of my life.
I want you to know that White Oleander got me through that time. I read, and re-read, and re-read, and re-read White Oleander, continuously, over the course of 5 months. I didn't know how something so beautiful could be found in such a lonely place, but alas, it was there-- unearthed from its grave in "true crime" novels.
Thank you for creating that world to be lost within.
~Amy

Steve wrote: "Thanks Janet, for accepting my friend request.

Steve"

Thanks for finding me here--hope you like the books!

Janet wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Hi, Janet!

I hope all's well with you and yours.:)

Thank you for accepting my friendship request, it's always appreciated. Also, I wanted to tell you that White Oleander has been ..."

Thank you for writing it! I think I will enjoy it.:)

Dustin wrote: "Hi, Janet!

I hope all's well with you and yours.:)

Thank you for accepting my friendship request, it's always appreciated. Also, I wanted to tell you that White Oleander has been on my "to read"..."

Hope you enjoy it! Good reading and happy holidays,
Janet

Angela wrote: "Miss Janet,
I am pretty sure I have written to you on here before but I am writing again because I believe this should be embedded into your heart like your book is embedded into mine: you were tru..."

Hi Angela,
Thanks for this lovely post. HOpe you have a chance to read Paint It Black while I'm busily finishing up the new book! Wish you good reading and thanks for the shoring-up!
all best,
Janet

Hi, Janet!

I hope all's well with you and yours.:)

Thank you for accepting my friendship request, it's always appreciated. Also, I wanted to tell you that White Oleander has been on my "to read" list for a couple years now, and I'll finally be reading it in a couple weeks. I'm very much looking forward to it!



Have a wonderful day, enjoy the rest of your week!!

Miss Janet,
I am pretty sure I have written to you on here before but I am writing again because I believe this should be embedded into your heart like your book is embedded into mine: you were truly meant to be a writer. Your words are lyrics to the soul. White Oleander is my favorite book of all time, and every time I read it, I find something else to love and relate to. You will never understand how much this book has helped me because there are no available words. I consider you a blessing for writing it and motivating me to pick up a pen myself. I keep hoping and praying for another book from you, whenever you are ready. Until then, I will continue hold my several copies of White Oleander near and dear. Thank you for having the courage to publish such a beautiful piece.
Always a fan,
~Angela.

Janet, thank you so much for accepting my friend request. I read White Oleander when I first started college. It reminded me a lot of my own relationship with my mother. It's one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it twice, and I plan to read it again and again. Both times I've read it, I have taken away something new. I had been looking for a long time for Paint It Black, and finally found a copy last week. I can't wait to read it in a few days. Thanks again for accepting my friend request!

<3

Hi Janet. Glad to be your friend.

Hi, Janet! Thank you so much for accepting my friend request. It was such a pleasure to escort you, Julie Otsuka, and Christopher Tilghman at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC on April 21st! I hear great things about "White Oleander," I must add it to my "Books To Read Before I Die" list!

I can't praise you enough for White Oleander. It was amazing and your words are still with me! I like to think of myself as a phoenix now.....

Thank you!

Thanks for accepting my friend request. :-)

THanks David! Look forward to following you, loved comparing the books and seeing that long skein of overlap--and then fun to see the rest. I just stopped by Petersburg to see if anyone had read it. It was like wrestling an active, slender, brightly colored snake...
all best and good reading
Janet

Dear Janet,
Thanks for the add and like on Biely.
Your shelf is exquisite, especially the Russians.
Loved "White Oleander."
Please stay in touch.
Cordially,
David

Thanks for being my friend

Thank you for adding me. White Oleander is a book which reached me on a profound and inexplicable level. I first read it 8 years ago when I was 17; I was submerged in a very dark, lonely, desolate period of my life. I could not put the book down, I brought it with me everywhere until I finished it. I felt very connected to Astrid. I remember sitting in one of my classes reading the final scene with Claire as the tears streamed down my face. And when I finished the book, I felt this clear and overwhelming sense of fulfillment within my heart. I wished it never had to end because it filled a void that had only been deepening by the day. I am so grateful that someone captured the experiences of this young woman and the mother-daughter relationship in a way that moved me deeply, and for which I aspired to convey myself (as I am also a writer). White Oleander is truly a gift. Thank you for writing it.

Thanks for adding me as a friend! White Oleander is my favourite book of all time!!!!

I'm sure you are asked this every day... when will the next book be out?
Meghan

I love your choice of reads.

thanks for the add, janet! i love white oleander! the references in and around los angeles really amused me since i grew up in the area. my friend and i were really excited about the thrifty in alhambra, haha. :)

x
jeane.

Miss Janet,
Thank you so much for accepting my friend request && for actually B E I N G my first actual friend here in Goodreads.com :D
BTW, I loved White Oleander. (:

-Maggieeee. :")

Thanks for the add! The Sheltering Sky, indeed.

Dear Janet, I loved White Oleander. Nahid Rachlin

Oh, Janet, How fun and funny that we get to be friends this way too.