A Goodreads user asked Janet Fitch:

Hello! White Oleander was a life changing book. Starr completely fascinates me. I feel like her heart was in the right place, but the core of her soul was so broken and muddled, she couldn't realise how much she was hurting others. Why did she ultimately pick Ray over her children? How do you feel a confruntation between her and Ingrid would look like? Also, do you think Ed was in depression?

Janet Fitch Thanks Michael, glad you enjoyed it. I think Starr was someone who was essentially a kind person, but had been derailed early in life by her beauty and people wanting to exploit it, was looking for some kind of spiritual handrail, but it was so external, it had never reached or healed the wounds she was carrying, She looked to other people and highs--drugs, sex, approval--to make her feel better, and when she slipped, her desperation was very very dangerous to all those around her. She thought she would have Ray and her children, I think. A confrontation with her and Ingrid would look very much like the one between her and Claire. Seduction and destruction. Ed, I think, was just one of those guys who doesn't want to be too bothered by other people's problems. He's married to a really awful woman, and just tries to disappear. Conflict avoidant.

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