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Loading... Where the Heart is (edition 1995)by Billie Letts
Work detailsWhere The Heart Is by Billie Letts
 Marlene-NL | Apr 12, 2013 |  true love prevails after a 17 yr old girl gives birth at a Wal Mart, lots of intense scenes (  ) lilwolfmisty | Apr 11, 2013 | I was hesitant to read this at first. It seemed a little too much like a tear-jerker/romance kind of thing. But I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it. ( ) JG_IntrovertedReader | Apr 3, 2013 | I had previously read [b:The Honk and Holler Opening Soon|48183|The Honk and Holler Opening Soon|Billie Letts|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170350859s/48183.jpg|1650770], which I really enjoyed, so I wanted to read this book to see why everyone I knew said it was such a good book. Well, I did enjoy it. I felt bad for poor Novalee. 17, pregnant by a man who so obviously did not want the responsibility of being a father, abandoned in a Wal-Mart thousands of miles from anyone familiar with less than $10 to her name, Novalee couldn't fall much further. But, thanks to her love for her baby, and the friendship and support of a community (which at times almost seemed too perfect), Novalee was able to build a life for herself. Billie Letts is one of those authors that has the rare talent of "showing" the story so completely that the reader forgets they're reading. Several times while reading this book, I'd all of a sudden realize that I'm not really seeing Oklahoma's residents, I'm reading words on a page. I love that. Although, at one point, after Lexie Coop tells the story of how she ended up in the hospital with a broken jaw and several other serious injuries, I almost wished that I could stop seeing. Her description was simple, but so staggering that I felt like someone hit me in the stomach. I do wish that there was a little bit more of an "ending" to the story, at least regarding Novalee and Forney's relationship. It's pretty clear where it went though, and a proper wrapped-up ending wouldn't have fit the story, since it was about Novalee's struggle to create the life she'd always dreamed of. Wrapping up the ending would have almost seemed like saying that she had nothing more to live for, and that was certainly not the case. (  ) TheBecks | Apr 1, 2013 | i love this book. just as good the second time around. (  ) Punkfarie | Mar 31, 2013 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0446672211, Paperback)Oprah Book Club® Selection, December 1998: A funny thing happens to Novalee Nation on her way to Bakersfield, California. Her ne'er-do-well boyfriend, Willie Jack Pickens, abandons her in an Oklahoma Wal-Mart and takes off on his own, leaving her with just 10 dollars and the clothes on her back. Not that hard luck is anything new to Novalee, who is "seventeen, seven months pregnant, thirty-seven pounds overweight--and superstitious about sevens.... For most people, sevens were lucky. But not for her," Billie Letts writes. "She'd had a bad history with them, starting with her seventh birthday, the day Momma Nell ran away with a baseball umpire named Fred..."Still, finding herself alone and penniless in Sequoyah, Oklahoma is enough to make even someone as inured to ill fortune as Novalee want to give up and die. Fortunately, the Wal-Mart parking lot is the Sequoyah equivalent of a town square, and within hours Novalee has met three people who will change her life: Sister Thelma Husband, a kindly eccentric; Benny Goodluck, a young Native American boy; and Moses Whitecotton, an elderly African American photographer. For the next two months, Novalee surreptitiously makes her home in the Wal-Mart, sleeping there at night, exploring the town by day. When she goes into labor and delivers her baby there, however, Novalee learns that sometimes it's not so bad to depend on the kindness of strangers--especially if one of them happens to be Sam Walton, the superchain's founder. Where the Heart Is oddly mixes heart-warming vignettes and surprising, brutal violence. Novalee's story is juxtaposed with occasional chapters chronicling Willy Jack's downward spiral into prison, disappointment, and degradation. And even in Sequoyah, sudden storms, domestic violence, kidnapping, and deadly fires punctuate Novalee's progress from homeless, unwed teen mom to successful, happy member of the community. This is not a subtle book; there's never any doubt that our heroine will make a home for herself and her baby or that Willy Jack will get what he deserves for abandoning them. Still, Billie Letts has created several memorable characters, and there's always room for another novel that celebrates the life-affirming qualities of reading, the importance of education, and the power of love to change lives. --Alix Wilber (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:43:34 -0500) A pregnant girl abandoned by her boyfriend hides in a Wal-Mart store, gives birth and becomes a celebrity as the mother of the Wal-Mart Baby. Help flows from everywhere as people jump on the publicity bandwagon, then the baby is kidnaped. (summary from another edition) |
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Bought this from Ebay. Arrived today 21/01/04
I really loved this book.It was very hard for me to release it,but i managed.I have been reading English for about 1 year now, But I only read true crime. While reading this book,i realized it's not good to only read True crime, which are quite depressing books most of the time,but change genre sometimes.This book made me laugh,cry but most of all, made me think! (I gave it a 9 out of 10) (