The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel

This novel is set in Pottstown, PA, a grimy eastern Pennsylvania factory town, not far from where I grew up. The characters (in the 70's) are the town's black residents and Jewish immigrants living on "Chicken Hill" which is the "wrong side of the tracks." The town's chief doctor marches feebly disguised as the Grand Wizard of the Klan (and as you know they aren't any fonder of Jews than black folks) and people are going through that struggle to create a business and make a go of life in the United States, away from the horrors of Europe or the Jim Crow South--and creating their own heaven-or hell on Earth. The book has an almost fairytale or fantasy quality to the story telling, the characters are roughly drawn with larger-than-life attributes; an ability to tell the future, a hunchback or lame leg, a boy deafened by a domestic accident. The quality of the storytelling is also rather timeless--it could have been set in the 19th century, as well as the mid 20th. I started reading and couldn't put it down for a minute--grabs you page one. So if you love any other of McBride's books or the stories of Alice Walker or Toni Morrison or E. Annie Proulx, you'll love this too.

This book is about faith in all forms, and how sometimes we let our trust in God, either as an excuse or as a balm, keep us from taking agency in our own lives. There's an interesting divide between characters who put their faith in prayer and an overarching plan and God's timing, and those who have different beliefs, maybe sharing space with more traditional religion in their souls, who are spurred to act when needs must. The titular grocery store in the book is run by Chona, who lives her convictions, calling out injustice and extending credit and charity to the community around her in the once-mixed but mostly Black area where she lives. The good she puts out in the world touches every other character in the book, and when she dies, every other character is spurred in some way to action. She and her husband are hiding an orphan boy who the state wants to institutionalize in their store, he is discovered under terrible circumstances, and stories converge around it. This is one of those books where the author skillfully plants tiny seeds throughout and they grow and tangle together until all the disparate plots and threads comes together in the end. The writing is lovely, with talk of the town's founder's "portrait looming in every town building, the old man's face peering over every citizen's shoulder like a ghost taking attendance" and "slices of his memory fluttered back like pages in a book." The book takes place for the most part in the 1930s, except for a couple instances of flash forward references to the (our present) future, with "they didn't realize it but one day there would be cell phones or school shootings" asides. I just didn't see how we needed it. This book is about the cancer of white supremacist thought and the mistreatment of immigrants, the injustice of the carceral state especially how it affects Black people, and the shocking small mindedness and protective husbanding of who gets to live the American Dream in the 1930s. I think I can follow the breadcrumbs to present day fairly easily without anyone pointing the way. The author is undeniably good, and the story was important and interesting. The mixing of Black and Jewish immigrant neighborhoods, and how that stands in contrast with the "older" white parts of town is an area of American history I hadn't spent a lot of time in. But it's a rough read, particularly when we see the playbook that motivates the worst characters here being used in society today. I do, however, wish I had the gravitas to pull off "Come set down here and feel some of the Lord's quiet." when people are talking too much. CW for two attempted/initiated SA on page, and description of CSA off page in past.

“Moshe had few friends. Most of Pottstown’s Jews had left Chicken Hill by then. Nate was a friend, but he was a Negro, so there was that space between them.” (p62) This is a brilliantly written, extraordinary story: at once sad and hopeful, tragic and humorous. It absolutely lives up to all the accolades. Despite “the skeleton in the well” mentioned in the first line of the book, this isn’t a conventional who-done-it. Yes, the mystery of the skeleton hovers quietly over the story, but it’s largely in the background in a narrative about the difficult lives of a diverse group of small-town, lower-class folks trying to get by. Prejudice and discrimination mix with accommodation and friendship, suspicions and mistrust bump up against shared experience and the best of humanity. And the dialog – oh the dialog! “So he balled up his fist…and I mean that white boy reached back and sent that big fist of his rambling through four or five states before it said hello to Fatty. It started in Mississippi, gone up through the Carolinas, stopped for coffee in Virginia, picked up steam coming outta Maryland…and boom! He liked to part Fatty from this world.” Or this: “Bernice had the kind of face that would make a man wire home for money.” And this: “…it’s not technically illegal. But we gotta do it at night.” Ultimately this book is an invitation to appreciate the value of empathy and respect. It’s a powerful reminder that we’re all in this together. And yes – it’s a delight to read.

I have read three books by this author and each has been a well told story with a poignant view of the lives of his characters. This book takes a good look at the inhabitants of Chicken Hill--a place near Pottstown, PA-- that is home to "Negroes, Jews, and immigrants who cannot find a place to live" in the town. The title is an accurate description of the grocery store up on Chicken Hill; but it is a reference to the inhabitants some of whom are heavenly in their generosity and concern for their neighbors and others who are down right lowlifes--mean, selfish, and leaning towards true criminality. The book deals with all of them but centers on the misfortune and the attempt to save a very bright young boy who is smart, but deaf. (He has taught himself to read lips and can speak.) It explores how the people of the town look at the inhabitants of the Hill and how the inhabitants eke out their lives by helping each other. I read this book because it was the selection of the month for the bookclub to which I belong. Everyone during our discussion of the book could relate to the conditions they had seen during there lives and the way the leaders of Pottstown (Yes, there is a town in Pennsylvania where the story takes place) view the people who live on Chicken Hill, excluding those folks on the Hill from the activities of the town. We all found the book realistic and a thought provoking read.

Wow, so many people hurt! And yet, one nice woman who made a difference to many. The tough parts included the pain, and the recognition that, almost 100 years later, have we come very far? Not anymore. Sometimes it was also hard to read and remember every single detail provided about every single character... Just sayin.

Five starts does not do this remarkable read justice. I could see and hear the characters…as if watching a movie. It pulls you in to feel…it pulls you in to the sights and sounds…the smells. I could see the town. I laughed, I cried, I got angry and then I laughed again. To be-able to write characters and objects that seem so alive and real is outstanding. The author does a great job at addressing the ignorance and entitlement, the laziness…all while integrating educated and sympathy along with hard work…to show the actual balance in real society. The justice given where sometimes the justice is not due and the injustices as to where that injustices is not due and it pulls you to feel the venerability and the need to save when the injustices is so outlined. The author gives characters room to change the narrative and shuts off that room to characters whom couldn’t care less about changing…unless it was to their benefit…again true to life. All in all this is a must read but be prepared to set your emotions on a journey. Word of advice…let yourself dive in those shoes…because even today in 2025 those characters are real and their struggles and thoughts are real…and some…their hate and their twisted mind (hence towards a child) is real. Also, by no means did the author fall short on the outcome…because it’s about balance and the universes way of righting a wrong…it opens up the possibility that as long as there is a breath…there is hope…there is justice…even if it’s called karma

This is a well written book with a good story . The beginning chapters were rough. They didn't flow well as the cadence was off and therefore the story felt like it stumbled along . It needed better descriptions of physical characteristics of the people and places in the novel . It also desperately needed humor. The book is grimly compelling. There are many profound and memorable moments in this book. 1930's America was not the promised land of easy living for immigrants and it still isn't today. The book does a decent job of portraying life for people who are not male WASP in 1930's Pennsylvania. It takes place in a community on the outskirts of the main town. The people of the Hill, who are viewed as " less than " by the mainstream WASP town people, are vibrant and hardworking people who are important to the town even if the town does not acknowledge that. The community on the Hill is diverse. Their are many different types of Jewish people, "Disabled" ,Blacks, Germans, Italian , and Latino people living there all tied together by Chona, Moshe, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and the Theater. Chona, "Dodo", and " Monkey Pants " are what keeps the story hopeful and compelling. The book does have the underlying message of "White Privilege" makes it almost impossible for anyone other than able bodied male WASP to arrive at their full potential and that immigrants lives are hard. At times the reader feels like this is just a message on continuous repeat. Although on the surface the message of book is that is that if you are not Male, White, Anglo Saxon Protestant like the original founders of the United States Constitution life is hard, it is really a book about community and how we can all make life better for one another if we stay united and work together. It's a good " book club" read but needs humor.

James McBride is an accomplished saxophonist/jazz musician. I knew that going into the book. (Oh, digression--did you know that he also played with the band, The Remainders? That’s a band with other writers like Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, Maya Angelou and several others who played for charity and fundraising). Anyway, I mention his musicianship because I see it all over the pages of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. This is the first book I’ve read by McBride (definitely more to come), so pardon my schoolgirlish, giggly first crush for the way that his writing lifts me up, how his words and characters opened my heart, only to break it, and then put it back together in a most absolute and tender way. James McBride is a kind, gentle soul, and his writing reflects this—his ability to bring the world together in a novel. He honors humanity. We are all connected, and this author compels that naturally from his characters. Now, how great is that, yeah? I want to put this in your hands and promise you a magnificent reading experience. It starts off in a shaggy dog kind of way, with an ensemble of characters, several who possess whimsical names like Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants, Dodo. And their names fit flawlessly to their nature. The story starts with a 1972 prologue—a human skeleton is found in an old abandoned well, and then the body of the story begins in 1936 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a place called Chicken Hill, where Jews, immigrants, and Black folks lived side by side, sometimes in harmony, other times in discord, but here’s the thing—the goodness of people, the kindness of their hearts—that is what ultimately rises to the top. For the story to unfold, there has to be some sinister aspects, too—aren’t we still fighting the fight of ignorance, bigotry, corruption, meanness? But, in the McBride world, well, we also follow the long stretch of yarn as it wends around this way and that, through streets and backyards, dirt roads, onto hills and a shul and a church, through tunnels and a dance hall. And The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I don’t need to rehash the plot, but there are a few fun facts about this book worth mentioning in a review. Such as, there are an abundance of characters introduced early on, and then again later on, before the plot actually launches. That’s the shaggy part. We don’t get to the plot too quickly—instead, Mcbride takes his time, builds the characters. They are already leaping off the pages by the time the plot rolls in. There are subplots, too, but in the end, they all weave their chords and come together. McBride may slow your roll at first, but it’s a winning bonanza of breadth and depth, from the smallest detail to the broadest design. Scenes that seem initially inconsequential become key notes later on. Early on, we meet the arresting Jewess, Chona. Chona is an unforgettable female protagonist—I’m keeping her in my journal of best. female. characters. ever. She is handicapped with a limp—but her limp doesn’t stop her strength of purpose, her fierce dignity, her bounteous benevolence, her gentle grace, and her consummate integrity. You will fall in love with her, just like Moshe, the theater and dance hall owner, did. Moshe and Chona dared to welcome change and inclusivity to their part of the world. At this time, in the 1930s, Black people were almost exclusively cast in menial jobs. But Moshe books Black jazz bands to play at his theater, and successfully includes all tribes together at the dance hall, who “frolicked and laughed, dancing as if they were birds enjoying flight for the first time.” Chona runs the grocery store, and extends credit to anyone who can’t afford to pay; she rarely keeps a record of their debt. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store may lose money, but it is rich in goodwill and kindness. Back to this being like a musical book—a jazzy book. Jazz music conjures that raspy, soulful, edgy flavor, blended from a mix of cultures and harmonies. McBride embraces those diverse, insistent, zingy, soul-stirring rhythms and blues into the narrative threads of his novel. I can hear the swing and the chase, the boogie and the blues, the sounds that go everywhere at once and jelly roll the story within a complex set of fusion and feelings. It’s also just a damned good story! The narrative pulls you here and there, up and down, and when you meet Dodo, the sweet and barely teenaged deaf kid, your protective instincts will wrap yourself around him and never want to let him go. And, when Dodo meets Monkey Pants—well, this right there—the heart of the novel that will break you in pieces. At times, I had a wellspring of tears—not just for joy or anguish. Sure, comedy and tragedy fill these pages. But McBride’s natural humanity and gentle nature is the colossal, phenomenal heart of the book. The author steps aside, he doesn’t ever intrude. The core of the narrative are the characters. Their cacophony becomes a coda for living large. This tale made me want to be better, to do better, to open my eyes to all the missed connections, to fix the broken chords and forge new ones, and seek eternally to strengthen them. We are humanity, we are the essential substance to add love to the world, one modest good deed at a time. That is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.