Billie Letts (1938–2014)

This was another "reread" book. I don't know when I read it first, but I do remember not liking it as much as the second time. The first time I found everything just a tad unbelievable, the people and plot a little unreal. I have since changed my mind. About everything.

When we first meet Novalee Nation, she is seven months pregnant and about to be abandoned by her no-good boyfriend. Luckily for her, Novalee's boyfriend picks a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma where Novalee decides to take up show more residence when she realizes Willy Jack isn't coming back. As a seventeen-year-old Novalee is incredibly conscientious. She keeps track of every item she takes from Wal-Mart while in residence (canned Spam, maternity clothes, a sleeping bag...) and during the day tries to be as inconspicuous as possible. No one questions this strange pregnant girl roaming around town. In fact, she befriends a few of the community members on the very first day by taking their picture. These caring, generous people will become Novalee's lifeline and family after her baby girl, Americus, is born. In a sea of goodwill there are a few tragic events that give a well-placed reality to the story.The town of Sequoya suffers a devastating tornado and later Novalee's best friend is brutally attacked by a man who originally seemed too good to be true. Finally, there is the return of Willy Jack. These events help temper the sticky sweetness of the rest of the plot. show less

This is a sad story of two children whose mother died, and their father left them with his girlfriend and took off for Las Vegas. When the girlfriend dies, rather than risk living in an institution, 15 year old Lutie takes her younger brother with her as she drives a car to Las Vegas to find their father.

Along the way, some nasty things occur to the down and out children. Traveling from Spearfish, South Dakota presents problems of running out of money along the way, foolish mistakes that show more land them in dangerous situations.

I've read other books by this author. She tackles difficult situations with a sense of realism and a smattering of real life characters that are struggling and trying to do the best they can.

Recommended show less

Book on CD read by Kathe Mazur

In 1972 the citizens of DeClare, Oklahoma were shocked by a brutal crime. Gaylene Harjo’s body was found in her trailer with multiple stab wounds, and her baby, Nicky Jack, was missing. Nicky Jack’s body was never found, though the sheriff dug up most of the land around the presumed killer’s home after finding the infant’s torn and bloody pajamas nearby. Nearly thirty years later, a tall man comes to town and claims to be the missing Nicky Jack. His show more reappearance stuns the populace, challenges long-held assumptions, and angers the sheriff who doesn’t like to have his crime-solving ability questioned.

Letts has crafted a fine mystery here. Originally intending only to meet the mother who gave birth to him and find out why she gave him up, Mark’s discovery that she died only leads to more questions. How did Mark Albright (a/k/a Nicodemus Jack Harjo) wind up adopted by a California couple? Who was his father? Who killed his mother? As he begins to dig for answers he is helped by his aunt, Teeve Harjo, his cousin Ivy, and a tenacious reporter turned true-crime author with an axe to grind. Along the way he finds love and has to make some decisions about how he’ll live the rest of his life and the man he’ll be.

This is the third book by Billie Letts that I’ve read, and I’ve enjoyed them all. She has a way with dialogue and dialect that really brings her characters to life. Even the minor characters are fully drawn and interesting. Her plotting is pretty good, as well – keeping the reader turning pages and busy trying to figure out the truth behind all those efforts to conceal and derail. And while I did guess the real culprit before Letts revealed the answer … I was only a page or so ahead of the characters as they uncovered the truth.

I have one tiny quibble … a doctor explaining the injury to a shooting victim states: ”Fortunately, it’s a through-and-through, didn’t involve bone, artery or nerve. Even missed muscle.” Huh? How can a bullet go through someone’s leg and involve absolutely NOTHING? (Note: Sorry for obsessing, but this just jumped off the page at me. I work for surgeons in a Level 1 Trauma unit, and I’ve read more than one report about gunshot wounds. A “through-and-through” should at least involve muscle – otherwise it’s just a grazing wound.)

Kathe Mazur does a fine job of the audio, although her voice is a little high-pitched for many of the male characters. Still, I enjoyed her performance. I admit that I stopped listening and read the text at about 2/3 of the way through the book. Not because there was anything wrong with Mazur’s reading, but because I wanted to get the book finished for a challenge. That experience really showed that it is really Billie Letts’s words that bring the novel to life. show less

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 show more 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. show less