48 pages • 1 hour read
Where the Heart Is
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Where the Heart Is was published in 1995 and is the first novel by award winning American novelist Billie Letts. The novel is set in Letts’s home state of Oklahoma and follows the story of teenager Novalee Nation and her ne’er-do-well boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens. The novel was chosen as a selection for Oprah’s Book Club in December of 1998. It also won the Walker Percy Award in 1994. The novel was made into a movie in 2000 starring Natalie Portman as Novalee Nation and Ashley Judd as Lexie Coop.
This study guide is based on the 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc. Kindle ebook.
Content Warning: This guide contains references to substance addiction and sexual assault, which are discussed in Where the Heart Is.
Plot Summary
Novalee Nation is 17 years old and seven months pregnant as she travels from Tellico Plains, Tennessee to Bakersfield, California with her boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens. They are in Oklahoma when Novalee realizes she has lost the only pair of shoes she brought with her. She convinces Willy Jack to stop at a Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma so she can buy some more.
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