The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

From James McBride, the bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of The Good Lord Bird, comes a masterful novel about small-town secrets and the transformative power of community. In 1972, workers digging in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, unearth a skeleton in an old well, bringing the long-buried secrets of the Chicken Hill neighborhood to the surface. Flashing back to the 1920s and '30s, McBride introduces the vibrant residents of this dilapidated enclave where immigrant Jews and African Americans live side-by-side, sharing joys and sorrows. At the heart of the community are Moshe, who runs the town's first integrated theater, and his compassionate wife Chona, proprietor of the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state threatens to institutionalize Dodo, a young, deaf Black boy orphaned and in the care of neighbors Nate and Addie, the intertwined lives of Chicken Hill's residents converge in a daring act of protection. Revealing the hidden histories that connect them all, McBride delivers a profound, moving, and often humorous story about the resilience of the human spirit and the conspiracies of love that defy prejudice in unlikely places.

Why You’ll Love This Book

Discover the novel celebrated as the Barnes & Noble 2023 Book of the Year, winner of the Kirkus Prize, and named a Best Book of the Year by countless major publications. James McBride's storytelling genius shines in this rich, compassionate portrait of a forgotten American community, filled with unforgettable characters who navigate hardship with humor and heart. If you cherish intricate, character-driven literary fiction that explores themes of empathy, justice, and the extraordinary bonds forged in ordinary places, this book is a revelation.