Where the Heart Is (novel)
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| Where the Heart Is | |
 Paperback edition cover |
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| Author | Billie Letts |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Sceptre |
| Publication date | 17 August 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 368 p. (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-340-64698-5 (paperback edition) |
Where the Heart Is is a 1995 novel by Billie Letts. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in December of 1998.
[edit] Plot introduction
Where the Heart Is follows the lives of Novalee Nation, Willy Jack Pickens, and their daughter Americus Nation for a period of seven years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Above all, the book is detailing of the tribulations of lower income and foster children in America.
[edit] Plot summary
This novel opens with Novalee and Willy Jack, her then boyfriend, travelling from Tennessee to California. At the time, Novalee is seventeen and seven months pregnant, and highly superstitious about the number 7.
Novalee convinces Willy Jack to stop at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, so she can use the restroom and purchase a pair of sandals, as hers fell through the floor of their beat up car.
When Novalee comes out of the Wal-Mart, she realizes Willy Jack has left her with nothing more than her beach bag and the change, ironically $7.77 (Novalee is superstitious about the number 7).
With nowhere else to go, Novalee spends the afternoon at the Wal-Mart and meets three people who will play important roles in her life:
'Sister Husband', a kind and spunky woman who runs the towns "Welcome Wagon." Sister Husband has a deep faith and hands out chapters of the Bible to people she meets. When they first meet, Sister Husband "mistakes" Novalee for a girl named Ruth Ann Mott, and gives Novalee a Welcome Wagon basket. Sister Husband also tells Novalee she's welcome to visit her house any time.
'Moses Whitecotten', a photographer who shoots portraits at the Wal-Mart. Moses tells Novalee to give her baby a name "that will mean something" and "withstand a lot of bad times", as well as a photo album.
Benny Goodluck is a native american whom Novalee meets in the parking lot. They chat for a bit, and Benny Goodluck gives Novalee a Buckeye tree and tells her they're good luck. He has the tree because his family owns a nursery.
Since she has no place to go, Novalee begins sleeping in Wal-Mart. She hides during clean-up and showers in the bathroom. Novalee writes down everything she "borrowed" from Wal-Mart because she intends to repay the money.
Novalee soon discovers, due to the unsuitable conditions, the buckeye tree that Benny Goodluck gave her in the parking lot after they had a talk, is sick. She then heads to the town library where she meets Forney Hull, an eccentric "giant of a man", who also plays an important role in Novalee's life. Forney tells Novalee exactly what to do to save the tree.
Since Novalee can not plant a tree in Wal-Mart, she goes to Sister Husband (who then realizes that she's not Ruth Ann) and asks her to plant the tree. Sister Husband thought that Novalee's apartment complex didn't allow trees, because she didn't know that she lived in Wal-Mart.
Novalee began going to see Forney at the library every day. When Novalee goes into labor Forney jumped through the window of Wal-Mart to deliver her baby: a little girl named Americus.
Novalee struggles to become self-sufficient and construct a life in the midst of the circumstances she is faced with: a single mother with no education or family support. Just the support of complete strangers: Sister Husband, Forney Hull, and Lexie Coop.
Lexie Coop was born to a religious middle class family. Her parents disowned her when she became a pregnant teenager. She meets Novalee as she is a nurse in the hospital where Americus is born. One of Lexie's aims is to find her children a father. However, she keeps getting disappointed and used by men.
