In my Grade 12 University English class, we have a novel study unit and students are permitted to choose from a selection of 10-15 teacher-approved books. Students peruse the books, rank their top three choices and list the peers with whom they'd like to work for this unit. This year, I added Where the Heart Is to the list of books and it was chosen by a group. The trouble is ... I hadn't read it myself! I've been meaning to read it for a while but when I've offered in the past, it's never been chosen by students, so I always put it aside for other books. But last month, in advance of the unit's beginning, I knew I had to read it before the students write essays and complete presentations on it. The other student selections, which include some great books like The Book of Negroes, The Catcher in the Rye, Room, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Handmaid's Tale, are books I've read and love so I was in the clear there.
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts is a fictional piece set in a small town in Oklahoma, USA where Novalee Nation, a self-proclaimed white trash 17 year old, is left literally barefoot and pregnant in a Wal-Mart by her redneck, no-good boyfriend, the deadbeat father of her baby. While traveling to California with Willy Jack to make a good life and live in a house, as Novalee dreams and has never experienced herself, that is not on wheels, she asks Willy to stop because Novalee, 7 months pregnant, desperately has to pee. Willy Jack begrudgingly complies by stopping at a Wal-Mart and he then drives away while she's inside.
Novalee, who is terribly afraid of the number 7, has only $7.77 left when she realizes that Willy Jack has abandoned her. In her desperation and homelessness, Novalee finds some very interesting ways to survive, such as secretly living in the Wal-Mart and eventually giving birth to her daughter there.
Like many small towns, there are some very kind souls, characters who are endearing and loving, who take in Novalee as family and give her a better life. Sister Husband gives Novalee a home and looks after her daughter while Novalee works, Lexi Coop and her children become extended family to Novalee, and Forney Hull opens Novalee's eyes to the world of books, knowledge, and unconditional love. Novalee finds herself at home in this new town and we follow her and her new friends' lives.
I read this book very quickly and not because I had to for my students, but because I wanted to. I had difficulty putting it down many nights and often read well past my standard 10 pm bedtime. So, I obviously highly recommend Where the Heart Is. However, I do need to forewarn you: There are some serious tragedies that occur in this novel. They are some exceedingly violent and horrific scenes too, some involving children. It was so shocking and unexpected that I had difficulty sleeping one night after one particularly gruesome scene. I thought this book would be primarily warm and fuzzy, but it is not. Most of the main characters whom you grow to love so easily experience real traumas.
What makes this book so compelling and "read-able" is that the characters deal with these tragedies in real and authentic ways. While I dislike the scenes and I especially dislike how quickly and unexpectedly they occur with the author writing rather cavalierly about them, I do appreciate that the responses of the characters are true to human nature and humans' unbelievable capacity for resiliency.
I rate this book 4/5 because it's funny, tragic, sweet, sad, compelling, and unique. But, I don't like the way the author presents these tragedies, often at the end of the chapter with few details provided until much later. I also could have done without the narration moving from Novalee to Willy Jack. While I understand the role Willy Jack plays in the novel, I would have preferred that the author didn't devote whole chapters to his miserable life and awful personality. What happens to Willy Jack is really not meaningful to me at all.
The day I started reading this book, I saw its movie on TV. I didn't watch it because I hate watching movies about books before I've read the book. So, I am hoping to watch the film this week or next to compare the novel and film. We'll see if it hols up to the book...
Book image: By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31711120
No comments:
Post a Comment