After the funeral, Novalee finds out that she is the beneficiary of Sister's estate, totaling around $41,000. In her memory, Novalee shoots a picture of Americus and the still-standing buckeye tree amidst the damage from the storm. When a tornado blows through Sequoyah, Sister Husband is killed. After a spell in prison and traveling to Nashville, Willy Jack becomes a one-hit-wonder after a slow start with "Beat of a Heart," a song he wrote in jail, collaborating with cranky music agent Ruth Meyers ( Joan Cusack) who gives him a makeover and the stage name "Billy Shadow." Three years pass and Novalee, with Moses' help, learns to be a photographer. A couple (Mark Vogues and Angee Hughes) from Midnight, Mississippi, who had previously written an ugly letter to Novalee saying that Americus was an abomination because she was born out of wedlock, kidnapped Americus and left her at the church in the nativity scene. Realizing this, Novalee races to Sister's house to find that Americus has been kidnapped. While Christmas tree shopping with Forney, Novalee is reminded that it is Americus' five-month birthday. Sister Husband arrives and offers to take in Novalee and Americus. Her estranged mother, Mama Lil ( Sally Field), whom Novalee has not seen in over 12 years, visits her after seeing her on television but disappears with the money donated by well-wishers. Novalee instantly becomes a media darling, and while in the hospital, is befriended by Nurse Lexie Coop ( Ashley Judd). Forney, who had followed Novalee to the Walmart, smashes through the Walmart window to help deliver her child, whom she names Americus. Novalee also becomes acquainted with surly librarian Forney Hull ( James Frain) who cares for his alcoholic sister Mary Elizabeth (Margaret Hoard).ĭuring a thunderstorm, Novalee, alone at the Walmart, goes into labor. A sickly and homeless Novalee is forced to live in the Walmart undetected.
There, she meets Thelma "Sister" Husband ( Stockard Channing) who presents her with a buckeye tree, and Moses Whitecotton ( Keith David), a local photographer who advises her to give her baby a strong name. Willy Jack abandons Novalee at the local Walmart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma when she uses the restroom and buys new shoes. 17-year-old and seven-months-pregnant Novalee Nation ( Natalie Portman) and her boyfriend Willy Jack Pickens ( Dylan Bruno) are moving from Tennessee to California.