Review: Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I truly enjoyed this book! While I’ve always loved the movie, the book was so much better. There was more depth to all the characters, plus so many characters we didn’t get to see in the film. Lexie was a much more complex character than I’d imagined, and the trials her children go through are heartbreaking. While I do love Novalee as a character, she was so unbelievably perfect at times. Everyone loved her. Everyone helped her. Everyone loved Americus. I found those aspect difficult to suspend disbelief over, and she walked the line of Mary Sue too much for my liking most times. Willy Jack was a much more nuanced asswipe in the book than he was in the movie, and I found his moment of redemption more fulfilling in the book. He took responsibility for his life, knew he wasn’t a good man, and he tried to bring light to his lies.
Forney was a delightful man in the book, and it was so good to see him wanting to bestow knowledge on Novalee and Americus. His joy in learning and books touched on my same love for reading, the joy of immersing oneself in knowledge so readily available for free. The slight love story at the heart of this book was tasteful and sweet, and it didn’t lessen everything else around it.
All in all, this is a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys women’s literature, as I highly enjoyed the quick read it provided me.
