Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – Book Review

Title:- The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

Author:- James McBride

Date published:- August 8th 2023

No. of pages:- 380 pages

Genre:- Historical Fiction/Literary Fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating;- 4/5

The new novel from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Oprah Book Club-picked, Barack Obama favourite James McBride.

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.

As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us.

This book is one of the books I have always wanted to read–this book was one of Amazon’s best sellers, Goodreads nominated book and Barnes and Nobel highly recommended the book as well. Even Barack Obama liked the book too! I really like the plot life and the racial barrier that is described in the book and so I was really happy when I got my hands to this book. I actually liked the book.

Synopsis – In 1972, when a hurricane swept through the small town of Pottstown Pennsylvania, the workers who were digging the foundation discovers skeletal remains and a bizarre necklace next to the remains. The mystery of who the skeleton was and the connection to the necklace was kept secret by the people living in Chicken Hill–a mixture of African Americans and Jews who have newly migrated to this town long time ago.

Good points– The story is beautifully written–the writing was good. One of the things I liked about this book is how this book manages to capture the reading audience and draw them closer to the story. I also liked the unity between the African Americans and the Jews living in Chicken Hill. Chona is one of the strongest characters in the story and who despite her courageous natures suffers from polio and my other favorite character in the story was Dodo, a deaf and dumb boy. I just liked how the dialogue between the African American, the whites living in the neighborhood. There are other characters such as Nate, Addie, Moshe who is Chona’s husband and Malachi. The book is a blend of Jewish and African American culture. The story is based on before and during the Depression era and I like how the author made the book sound as realistic as possible even though it is a work of fiction.

Bad Points – The only thing I found the bad thing about this book is there are too many unnecessary characters and the fact that there are also chapters based on these characters as well thus making the reading slightly bored although towards the end of the chapter only the connection that these characters have towards main characters is revealed. Also even though it starts off with a mystery, this is not a mystery book and it does not end as a mystery either. More like a literary fiction.

Overall verdict- This is actually a really a great book and also an emotional book as well. The book was well written and engaging although the presence of too many characters that are really unnecessary in the book brought down the rating from a five star reading to a four star reading. If you are into literary fiction or African American fiction, I recommend you to try this book out. Worth four stars.