ClubTucker's Journal #1

The novel Where the Heart Is, by Billie Letts begins in a beat up car, with holes in the floor, carrying a seventeen year-old pregnant women, Novalee Nation, and her grumpy,condescending boyfriend, Willy Jack on their way to a new life in California. I get the impression that this novel takes place in a lower income area of Oklahoma because the main character talks about living in trailer parks her whole life. Also her and her boyfriend are quite short on money, he even protests when she asks to borrow five dollars to buy herself some shoes.I also think that this story takes place in the late nineties or early two thousands but it seems like it takes place earlier than that because the story takes place in a small town where the events and routines may not be as modern and exciting. They are more old-fashioned.

It is easy to see in the establishing dialogue throughout the first few chapters that the relationship between Novalee and Willy Jack is a tense one. When Novalee tries to bring up the topic of their unborn child with Willy Jack, he seems uninterested and irritated. This gives the readers the impression that he is not looking forward to the baby's arrival, and is not yet ready to be a father or a husband. Sure enough, the reader's assumptions are proved correct when Willy Jack drops Novalee off at a Wal-Mart on their road trip to use the washroom, and then leaves her there, pregnant, broke and completely alone, without even a goodbye.

Several other characters are introduced throughout the first nine chapters as both Novalee and Willy Jack grow accustomed to the new situations they find themselves in. Novalee meets characters such as Sister Husband, Moses Whitecotton , Benny Goodluck and Forney, who, without realizing it, teach her several small lessons that change her perspective on certain things or give her hope in her new living situations. Willy Jack also meets Jolene, who seems as if she may cause a little bit of trouble for him later in the novel. She seems smarter than she may come across and I think she may teach Willy Jack a lesson or two.

I predict that Novalee and Forney will end up starting a relationship and raising Novalee's daughter together. I also predict that Willy Jack will attempt to find, or at least get in touch with Novalee again later in the novel. So far, I like the characters in this book. I find them interesting and likeable. Novalee is easy to relate to, because she is almost the same age as me, yet she's experiencing much different things than I am currently going through. She has a sweetness and naivety that makes her quite likeable and really makes the readers and the other characters feel for her. The story is told in a quirky sort of way, from the character names to subject matter, which makes it more captivating and almost fairytale like. However the novel has kind of a sad and lonesome tone so far.These qualities make this book unlike other books I have read recently in my eyes.