JUST AS good as the movie which I ❤️ ❤️❤️❤️…
Such a great storyteller and I enjoyed it so much…
Cried and laughed various times.

now i’m off to watch the movie…

I read this in homage to one of the places I turned down a job - Oklahoma. Quick read, and the movie is almost exactly straight out of the book (for once). Really, if you've seen the movie I wouldn't even bother with the book.

An uplifting story I read years ago, my memory refreshed by a book mate who recently read it. Read the publishers description, and if you haven't read this heartwarming story, do so. It takes place in Oklahoma. There is never any doubt that it will have a happy ending but there are some wonderful characters you'll love meeting.

This was an Oprah book club selection of the late 90's.

Where The Heart Is ...By Billie Letts.... All Novelle wanted in life was a home. Her mother kicked her out. Her boyfriend dumped her out when she was seven months pregant at a Walmart parking lot. She still had her camera, which she used to take picture of people she met outside of Walmart. These people became her friends. They were helping her get by and she was learning life skills from them. She in turn gave back to them in kindness. One lady left her money in her will. She with the help of her friends built a small home for her and her daughter. After her exboyfriend was truthful with her; she could move on and be truthful with the man she truly loved.

Where the Heart Is is about a girl named Novalee Nation who is 17 years old, 7 months pregnant, and moving from Tennessee to California with her boyfriend Willy Jack. On the way there, Willy Jack abandons Novalee at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Novalee makes friends in the community and gives birth to her daughter Americus in the store, which makes her famous. She stars at the houses of other people in the town while trying to rebuild her life and watches Americus grow up into a beautiful young lady.

I know I’m a pretty harsh critic, and I tried to go easy this time, but I just couldn’t make myself like this book. It just seemed off to me for a ton of reasons. I know some people might like it because it’s a good old Southern book and has a nice homey feel and it’s a story of hope, all that stuff. But I didn’t like it and I won’t hold back on why.

First of all, the characters are so overdone that they’re parodies of themselves. I could just imagine Willy Jack’s heavy twang every time he said “Now, Novalee” and he wore COWBOY BOOTS. Seriously. Why’s every country boy wearing cowboy boots in these books? I’m from the Deep South and I can tell you, the real ones wear these cheap riding boots and talk with a bit of an accent, dropping the G’s and all that, but nothing special.

Second of all, it was a little detail, but I couldn’t get past the absurdity of driving from Tennessee to California in a broken down car with a hole in it. I looked it up and that drive would take over 30 hours at a regular speed. I’m from Alabama, and my home is longitudinally closer to Bakersfield than Tellico Plains, Tennessee, but even I wouldn’t think of driving there from where I live. I can’t imagine how a 7 months pregnant 17-year-old girl and her totally useless boyfriend could drive that distance in such a car.

Third, can we talk about the names? Americus? Novalee really named her daughter Americus? AMERICUS? It shocked me just reading it. Poor kid’s going to grow up and have to put that name on a résumé. She’s going to have substitute teacher after substitute teacher misspell or mispronounce it. Picture this:
Person: “What’s your name?”
Americus: “Americus.”
Person: “No, what’s your real name?”
Americus: “I told you. Americus.”
Person: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”
Americus: “Unfortunately not.”
Sigh.

Fourth, I didn’t like the totally inaccurate depiction of teen motherhood. Even if she had a baby in a Walmart, there’s no reason why Novalee would be welcomed and cared for and showered with *positive* attention. If anything, it’s a small town. People talk. If it was the present day, something like this might be tolerated, but this was like the late 80s. The prospect of not having a father figure was still a relatively shameful situation. Teen moms were not as common as they are today and were cast out a lot more during that time.

Fifth and finally, there was so much info dumping. I learned Novalee’s life story in the first chapter. There was a lot more explanation on their lives in Tennessee than there was action in the beginning of the book, and it was almost like the author was trying to get us to know Willy Jack before he was gone, but I would have preferred a more gradual approach to the discovery of their earlier lives. I mean, we did learn a little more about Momma Nell in the middle, but that was it.

I wouldn’t recommend this.

The upbeat side of tragedy comes through at every turn and the reader is pleasantly left with the optimism that good will prevail. A joy to read and emotionally satisfing along the way.

First of all, I would like to mention that I have no intentions to dissuade anyone from reading this book, as everyone has different tastes in what they enjoy to read. That being said, Where the Heart Is is the worst book that I have ever read in my entire life.

Overall, the premise of the story is quirky and could be enjoyable if executed well. Instead, I found myself exasperated throughout the entire novel. Where the Heart Is seems to only consist of clichés, predictability, and failed attempts at being profound. At no point in the novel did I ever feel engaged, or even able to care for many of the characters. Also, the time jumps in the book did not at all make me like it more, and they might have been confusing if the book was not so simply written.

The protagonist of the book is Novalee Nation, who is 17 years old and 7 months pregnant at the beginning of the novel, and is 25 years old by the end. Novalee is portrayed as naive at the beginning of her journey, when she is abandoned by her boyfriend, Willy Jack at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.

The reader sees a very changed Novalee by the end of the book than they did at the beginning, but in my opinion, her actual growth is scarcely evident (if it is evident at all). Instead, you see Novalee somehow become an independent woman that people go to for guidance, without knowing how she developed to this new person from the naive girl from the beginning.

Another issue I had with the book is the relationships Novalee forms. She meets numerous unique characters who help her improve herself and get on her feet, but they all appear to be tools for furthering Novalee’s character rather than authentic characters with their own lives. There is Sister Husband, a mother figure to Novalee who helps her take care of Americus shortly after having the baby. Sister tragically dies, but it seemed forced to drive the plot so Novalee could get money to build a house. Also, after Sister dies, she is barely mentioned again. Moses Whitecotton, a kind and elderly photographer, is another character she meets, and he is actually a very endearing character, but is only mentioned a few times, so does not improve my opinion on the book. Another character is Lexie Coop, who becomes a best friend to Novalee, and they both help each other with their children. Lexie is obsessed with men and relationships with them, and it is close to the only subject she and Novalee talk about other than their children. I found this uncomfortable because they are both caring mothers who, in my opinion, do not need to define their self worth based on their relationship to men.

This leads to one of the characters I am most uncomfortable with: Forney Hull. Forney Hull is Novalee’s love interest in the novel. He is a shy librarian, but when you get to know him, he is supposedly very sweet and caring. He is also a character who could be endearing if written well, but instead, I found him creepy (to say the least). For most of the book, his age is not stated, but when it is, I immediately grew even more uncomfortable with him. When Forney is 36 years old, Novalee is 24 years old. That is an age difference of 12 years. Meaning, when Novalee first met Forney, she was a teenager and he was 30. That makes the birthday party he organised for her even more creepy. He had dinner alone with a pregnant teenager he barely knew who he served alcohol to. Also, I found what might appear to be endearing devotion to be close to stalking. While Novalee lives in the Walmart, he simply watches her, and one day that creepy behaviour comes into use because Novalee is about to give birth, and Forney breaks the store window and delivers her baby. Forney seems to be in love with Novalee since Day 1, but the reader never actually sees Novalee fall in love with him. Instead, she loves to read, loves photography, loves her daughter, and loves Forney as a close friend. Then suddenly, they sleep together right after Forney’s sister dies (which I found very unsettling and predictable). Forney leaves after this due to a cliche about Novalee denying her deep feelings of love (that she seemed to develop out of thin air) because she is not worthy of the love of a man, and her reaction to Forney leaving the state seems to be more painful than when Sister Husband died. Whether or not this was the case, that was how the author chose to write it, which I think could have been done better.

Novale finally realizes that she is worthy of Forney after speaking to Willy Jack in the hospital. Throughout the book, his story continues, and while he is an awful person who does not impact Novalee at all until the end, his narrative is refreshing compared to the rather boring life of Novalee. I personally did not find the end to be impactful (or any of the book, for that matter).

There are also many strange unnecessary elements to the novel that are frustrating to read about. Firstly, Novalee superstition of the number seven being unlucky. I am not sure why it is part of her story, but I do not grasp the significance at all. The problems relating to sevens felt so forced to the point of being aggravating. Also, Americus’ kidnapping. It happened, and there did not seem to be any significance in that, either.

On the subject of Americus, I found that she did not play a significant enough role in the book that one would expect considering she was supposed to be the centre of Novalee’s life. That did not make sense to me, but at the same time, I found the way Americus was written to be annoying, so I am not too upset that she was not more involved in the story.

Overall, I understand why someone would not hate the book. Perhaps if someone wants to read something light and quick with no substance, just to pass the time, they could read this. On the other hand, if someone is looking for a book that will positively impact them, and make them feel smarter after reading it, I would recommend steering clear of this book.

Once again, this is only my opinion, and I am sure there are good qualities to this book, I simply cannot see any of them.

Closer to 31/2 star

This was such a great story. I can't believe I waiting so long to read it.

You could watch the movie of this, but you would not get the full effect of the pure unadulterated, classic happy ending. The movie adaption of this book has fallen into average 90's sappy rom-com status, I believe this is so because the movie does not fully evoke the greatness of Billie Letts' characters. This book is an angsty feel good romantic coming of age story, but it has a great set of characters sometimes doing terrible things, and coming off all the more realistic because of it.

Most people know the basics of the plot: teenage southern girl gives birth in Wal-Mart and raises her baby, learning to love and be loved along the way. There is also drama and angst and nerdy lovers galore. Forney Hull I believe is one of the great nerd dreamboats. I love this book not for its revolutionary plot, or technical skill of the authors writing, but because I am a sucker for a plain Jane happy ending, and warm feelings in my gut, which this book provides in spades.

Though... I thought the ending was a little anti-climactic and very abrupt so that decreases from the rating but I'm not sure that it decreases a full star.

I really enjoyed the literary passion of the characters, particularly that of Forney Hull. The book definitely put me in the mood to visit my local library and that was really cool.

When to read this: This book is figurative sunshine, read it on a sunny day in a sun room overlooking a garden and shady yard with a tall glass of iced tea or sugar water and appreciate not living in Tornado Alley.

I know this is an older book but I just got my hands on it and couldn't put it down. The first 3 sections were especially fun--always something going on and always surprising. The 4th section was a bit rushed and while the ending wasn't dissatisfying, I thought it could have been better but overall, probably one of the best books I've read. Some may disagree but it was my kind of book.

“Tell them that our lives can change with every breath we take. Lord, we both know that. Tell them to let go of what’s gone because men like Roger Briscoe never win. And tell them to hold on like hell to what they’ve got—each other, and a mother who would die for them, and almost did. …Then tell them we’ve all got meanness in us, but tell them we’ve got some good in us, too. And the only thing worth living is for the good. That’s why we’ve got to make sure to pass it on.”