Book Review: Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

By Amanda Linsmeier

Where the Heart Is (Warner Books, 1998) by Billie Letts, is a novel that was also made into a movie. Usually it’s better to read the book first, but in this case, it was completed backwards. The novel was surprising and even though the film was enjoyable, the book was even better.

Novalee Nation is seventeen years old, seven months pregnant and on her way to California with her boyfriend, and the father of her baby, Willie Jack Pickens. To say Willie Jack is unenthusiastic about the upcoming birth of his baby is being kind. On a quick stop to an Oklahoma Wal-mart, Willie Jack ditches her and heads off to California on his own. There Novalee is, young, pregnant and stranded. She has no where to go, no place to turn. She starts to live in the Wal-mart, hiding out in janitor closets, eating cold peas out of cans, and showering at gas-stations, until the birth of her baby forces her out of hiding and into the spotlight. What happens next in Novalee’s life is a series of fortunate, and sometimes misfortunate, events that brings her close to the people from her past, then pulls them away. It pulls her into the lives of new people, who become her new family, who teach her things about life, happiness and love.
This novel contains beautiful language. Letts’ style of writing is more enjoyable as opposed to the movies’ “chick-flick” style. The book is deeper, more intimate, and more emotional. The book is an inspiring story of a positive woman who refused to give up and made her life into something great. Letts’ story is a fantastic read for women, pregnant and otherwise, photographers, romantics and those who strive for more.