This story is engaging and Janet Fitch's prose draws you into every single page. I read this for the first time 6 years ago and I still love this book.

I started reading this book and couldn’t put it down (I didn’t get dressed until noon and I finally turned the light off at 2:00a.m. but only because I felt guilty not because I was falling asleep). Every time I thought I would read until the next break, I couldn’t stop because of the way she writes and pulls you back in.
The main character is Astrid, a thirteen-year old girl put into foster care after her mother is sent to prison. It follows her story through 6 foster homes:
-Starr, the reformed and religious ex-stripper and alcoholic
-Marvel and the nazi family, who live next door to Olivia, the hooker and mentor
-Amelia, the lady from Argentina that locked the refrigerator and made money to remodel from all the foster girls she took in
-Claire, the one she loves, but who isn’t strong enough to survive
-the children’s center, where they put the worst cases
-Rena, the flea market queen who listens to loud music and lives a gypsy life in the middle of nowhere
All the homes are what shape Astrid into what she becomes. She’s an artist. In the last part of the book she tells about the suitcases she makes from each period of her life, what she received and what she remembered.
They have made this into a movie due out in September. Michelle Phieffer plays the mother - physically the author must have had her in mind for the part - the Nordic beauty. Robin Wright Penn plays Starr - that’s who I could picture after seeing the previews. Renee Zeilweger as Claire doesn’t fit the description physically but I can see her playing the part.

Astrid narrates this tale of her journey through a series of foster homes in the six years following her mother’s imprisonment for murdering an ex-lover.
Ingrid Magnussen is the quintessential free spirit. Pale, with vivid blue eyes, and nearly white blond hair, she is wraithlike and beautiful; a single mother who is devoted to her only child, Astrid. Ingrid frequently spouts her philosophy that women should be strong and that they do not need the love of a man to flourish. Then Barry Kolker enters their lives, and Ingrid falls hard. When Barry stops calling, Ingrid cannot let go. Eventually her obsession with revenge leads her to concoct a poison of oleander blossoms, and Astrid is left to the foster care system when Ingrid is sent to prison.
Astrid’s experiences are at times horrific, but there are moments of warmth as well. She finds the strength to survive and even flourish for a while. The result is a young woman who is still far from the promise of her talent and intellect, but able finally to confront her mother.
It’s a powerful story, and well-written. The ending feels a little forced, however, wrapping up a bit too quickly.

We'd heard a lot about this book. One of our members even read it before, but she was the only one who liked it. The story and characters never grabbed us. The writing just wasn't that compelling.