Richly described, flawed characters who, despite their imperfections, come together to serve a bigger purpose than themselves.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store Hardcover book by James McBride; photo: Mercedes Vizcaino

James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is my first book review on Medium. I felt compelled to write about it because I was still thinking about the novel weeks later, even though I’d started another book. We know books are highly subjective because they tend to follow genres that readers gravitate toward or not. This particular novel weaves multiple genres, and the storytelling is so masterful you barely notice if it’s fiction, horror, or memoir — or all three! I bought the book earlier this year because I was intrigued by it. At the end of last year, I saw two editors on TV from two platforms (Amazon Editors and Barnes & Noble) gush about the story, the writing, and how the characters made them feel afterward, declaring it the best book of 2023.

They were right.

Anyone who asks who I’m currently reading or not, I recommend The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store novel.

So what’s the story about?

The book begins with the discovery of a skeleton with a Jewish mezuzah (a symbol that connects, protects, and unites Jews) in a well excavated by construction workers in Pottstown, PA, in the 1970s and flashbacks to 1936. The author tells the story of the residents of Chicken Hill, made up of African-Americans, Jews, and Christians, who are at odds with each other but find a way to coexist.

The owner of The Heaven & Earth Grocery store is Chona, a Jewish woman married to Moshe, a Jewish-Romanian theater owner who brought artists of all different creeds and religions to his performing arts space. Moshe and Chona Ludlow, although very religious, are accepting of the African-Americans in Chicken Hill, whereas other whites are not. Chona, a disabled woman with striking features and a heart to match, provides unlimited credit to the Black residents of Chicken Hill, often overlooking collecting the debt. She doesn’t subscribe to tenets of Christian nationalism, which many of the other white residents of Chicken Hill are susceptible to. As the white people in Chicken Hill prosper, including their Jewish friends, they move out to more affluent areas, leaving Moshe and Chona as the Jewish outliers who aren’t interested in wealth mobility or status.

Author and musician James McBride; photo courtesy of Riverhead Books.
When Moshe’s Black theater worker and best friend, Nate Timblin’s 10-year-old deaf nephew, Dodo, becomes the target of state investigation to send him to a state hospital for people with disabilities and mental illness (which the child does not have), Chona intervenes. She does everything within her power to keep the child safe, to her detriment. I won’t go on so as not to reveal too much so you can bask in McBride’s captivating storytelling. Not since Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking (dealing with the subject of grief) has a book left such a lasting impression on me. The themes of community and helping each other out no matter what background, religion, or walk of life people come from are prevalent and speak to a world we can aspire to live in one day.

Read this book, STAT! Digitally, audibly, or buy the hardcover.

Other BIPOC book recommendations:

Viola Davis’ Finding Me: A Memoir

Danny Trejo’s memoir, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood