Where the Heart Is

How does Letts comment on the way poor people are treated within this novel? How does she use physical scars to represent this treatment? In what way are some of the characters renamed within in the novel? How does this represent condescension on the part of the person doing the renaming?

How does Letts use education and intelligence as a barrier in this novel? For what reason? Is it a shameful thing to be educated? How does Novalee, as an uneducated woman, see herself through the eyes of educated people such as Forney? What impact does this self-doubt and lack of acceptance have on Novalee and Forney’s relationship?

Novalee is abandoned multiple times during the novel. How does each instance of abandonment impact her life? How does Novalee’s response to these abandonments illustrate her depth of character? How is “abandoned” defined in this novel, and does it apply to incidences that go beyond Willy Jack and Momma Nell’s actions?

Novalee and Lexie are both teen mothers who were both abandoned by their families and their partners before the birth of their children. Are they good mothers? Where did they learn to be the mothers they are without guidance from their own mothers? Would they have benefited from support from their biological families? Where do they find support for themselves and their children?

Sister Husband is a woman who often feels free to share her opinions and beliefs. She is also always willing to help people out. How does Novalee meet Sister Husband? Why does Sister Husband take Novalee and Americus in? What does Sister Husband expect from Novalee? In what way does Sister Husband become a mother figure to Novalee?

Home is a theme of the novel. How is home defined in this novel? Why does Novalee take her idea of home from magazines? Do these magazine pictures really represent the home Novalee eventually makes for herself? How is home really defined in this novel?

Two significant traumas take place in this novel: the tornado and the attack by Roger Briscoe on Lexie, Brownie, and Praline. Why do you think Letts introduced these tragedies into the novel? How do these events change the characters within the novel? Do those changes remain permanent?

Beliefs in superstition and religion are explored in this novel. Why do you think Letts used both? How did Novalee’s superstition in the number seven define her behavior throughout the novel? How did it make her more susceptible to seeking out trouble? Did Novalee ever notice that good came from some of the bad she associated with sevens? Why did the religious couple from Mississippi kidnap Americus? How did their beliefs compare to Sister Husband’s beliefs?