Where the Heart Is

Willy Jack Pickens is the second protagonist in the novel. Letts interweaves Willy Jack’s story with Novalee’s, highlighting the bad luck he brings on himself with his selfish behavior. In the beginning of the novel, Willy Jack is an eighteen-year-old boy looking for a get rich quick scheme. He is taking his pregnant girlfriend across the country in the hopes of getting a job with the railroad and then cutting off his finger to get a court settlement for the injury. Less than halfway there, Willy Jack gets tired of Novalee and abandons her at a Walmart, only to quickly run out of money and find himself stranded in a small New Mexico town. Willy Jack is arrested within a few hours and realizes Novalee is his alibi, but he cannot get ahold of her.

Willy Jack is a small guy, standing just a few inches over five feet. He is handsome, with some comparing him to John Cougar Mellencamp, and an aspiring musician. If he was a little less focused on himself, he might have become a country star after he wrote a song that saw steady radio play when recorded by another artist. However, Willy Jack’s selfishness tends to get in his way far more often than not. He is arrested because he does not bother to check out the girl he’s decided to take cross country with him after abandoning Novalee. He loses his music career because he feels his agent is moving too slowly, and he tries to break his contract and hire another agent. Willy Jack is constantly running out of money and making bad choices, eventually leading him to an accident with a train, ironically enough, and living the rest of his life without the bottom section of both legs.

While Novalee thinks she has bad luck whenever the number seven is involved, Willy Jack is his own bad luck—and it comes often for him. He is the perfect opposite of kind, gentle Novalee, though neither of them is aware of just how opposite their lives are. Willy Jack believes his bad luck comes from outside forces, just as Novalee does, but his confidence in himself is strong and often leads to his selfish choices that bring his bad luck on. On the other hand, Novalee lacks confidence in herself, judging herself just as harshly as society does because she does not have a proper education. They are both their own worst enemies; this brings their interconnected stories together again at the end of the novel and allows them both to bring their own story full circle.

Forney Hull is a tall, thin, and handsome man. He is quirky, often responding to situations with odd responses, such as poetry in response to questions about growing a buckeye tree. However, Forney, like Novalee, is kind and gentle; he is the kind of guy who gave up his education to care for a sister who is twenty years older than him and suffering from alcoholism. He is also a man who places himself in the role of father to a child who is not his, even though the child’s mother is not in a romantic relationship with him. It takes a special kind of man to take on another person’s child, and Forney proves himself to be that kind of special when he becomes a fixture in Novalee and Americus’s life.

Forney is not always presented as a central character in the novel. He is often mentioned as an afterthought, a friend who happens to be there every night to read to Americus, or the friend who accompanies Novalee to pick out a Christmas tree. However, as the novel progresses, Forney is present constantly in Novalee’s life; it just seems as though he is a side character because that is how Novalee sees him until close to the end of the novel. He is reliable but only as a friend. As compared to Willy Jack, Forney is the most reliable man Novalee has ever had in her life, except for her two father figures, Moses and Mr. Sprock.

Forney comes from an old, wealthy Maine family. His home in Sequoyah is a small mansion that houses the town library. Forney attended Bowdoin University in Maine, a school that educated some legendary names. These are all impressive things that separate Forney from Novalee’s reality. She sees him as someone who deserves to continue living in mansions and pursuing multiple degrees. She does not believe she fits in with Forney’s world, even though Forney has made Novalee and Americus the center of his life for nearly seven years. Forney loves Novalee, but he is reluctant to tell her because he cannot commit to her while his sister is still alive. However, he does tell her how he feels shortly after his sister dies, but Novalee does not respond as he had hoped. Forney makes it clear that returning to Maine or college were not in the plan he had for himself as he settles in Chicago and works at a bookstore. Forney, as quirky as he is, is just a guy who wants to be surrounded by books and be with the girl he loves.

Sister Thelma Husband is an older woman with blue hair and an outgoing personality. She is the town’s welcome wagon, a role she takes seriously. Sister Husband is a recovering alcoholic and as such embraces a higher power as she was taught in Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). She takes her religious beliefs further than most people in AA because of her brother’s relationship with religion; she became a believer just before his death. Sister Husband is always willing to help people and is a strong sponsor to others in her AA group.

Sister Husband takes Novalee into her home after Momma Nell disappears with Novalee’s money. She becomes a surrogate mother to Novalee, providing her with a place to stay, supporting her in raising Americus, and guiding her through advice and emotional support. Sister Husband never asks Novalee for anything and does not push her religion on her, even though she provides babysitting duties, housing, and food. She is the embodiment of kindness, and her kindness is mirrored in Novalee and Americus during their time together. Sister Husband’s death is a shock to Novalee, but it seems the woman took her relationship with Novalee to heart, as she made Novalee the beneficiary on all her insurance policies. Novalee finds a home thanks to Sister Husband—first as a welcome member of Sister Husband’s home, and then using the money from the insurance to build a home “fixed to the ground” (265).