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The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride

Start date: November 1, 2025

Finish date: November 30, 2025

Discussion: Buddy Reads

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* Buddy Reads 2025
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 128 posts · 22 views

last updated Aug 03, 2025 05:15AM

* Historical Fiction Timeline Tag
By Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴… , Founding Retro Chick · 250 posts · 27 views

last updated Oct 20, 2025 01:03PM

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What Members Thought

Jun 22, 2024 Maureen rated it really liked it

Shelves: nyt-best-books-21-centuty

This is a beautifully story. It is set in 1930’s in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in a dilapidated neighborhood called Chicken Hil. Jewish immigrants and Afro Americans live there together.
The story starts in 1972 when a skeleton is found in an old well along with a mezuzah . Whose body did this skeleton belong to and what happened?
This book has a cast of characters which I felt at times was hard to keep up with.
The heart of the story is Chona a Jewish woman who owns the Heaven and Earth Grocery stor ...more

42 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2024 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: concierge, strong-women, library, social-commentary, book-club, racism, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, abuse, audio

Book on CD read by Dominic Hoffman

McBride begins this work of historical fiction in 1972, when skeletal remains are discovered at the bottom of a dry well by a construction crew. From there the story goes back to the early 20th century and the thriving community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where immigrant Jews who originally settled the area are moving out as the African Americans move in. But Moshe and Chona, who run the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and live in the apartment abo Book on CD read by Dominic Hoffman

McBride begins this work of historical fiction in 1972, when skeletal remains are discovered at the bottom of a dry well by a construction crew. From there the story goes back to the early 20th century and the thriving community of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where immigrant Jews who originally settled the area are moving out as the African Americans move in. But Moshe and Chona, who run the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and live in the apartment above the business, refuse to leave. They continue to serve the African-American community and are comfortable with their neighbors.

The crux of the story revolves around Dodo, an African-American orphan who is deaf (as the result of the gas stove in his residence exploding), and whom the state wishes to consign to the notorious Pennhurst Asylum. The efforts of Dodo’s aunt and uncle, Addie and Nate, and of Moshe and Chona, to keep Dodo away from that hellish environment is the basic plot.

But the novel is less plot-driven than character-driven. McBride paints a colorful and intricate landscape, of two equally strong cultures co-existing because of the strength of character of their leaders. They rely on and support one another. They show compassion and empathy and love. And, yes, anger and disdain as well. There were times when I wanted McBride to “get on with it.” But I was invested in all these characters, even the unlikeable ones. I recognized that I needed to know all of them to understand the dynamics of Chicken Hill. At its heart, this is a story of community, cooperation, tolerance and respect.

The hardest section to stomach was the part set at Pennhurst. My heart broke for Monkey Pants, and I wanted to throttle Son of Man (and the administrators who allowed him to prey on the helpless).

Readers should definitely read the acknowledgement section at the end, where McBride tells of the real-life heroes and mentors who inspired this work of fiction.

Dominic Hoffman does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. He has a lot of characters to deal with, but he is up for the task. I was rarely confused about who was speaking (and when I was, it was MY fault, for not paying attention).
...more

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May 06, 2024 Celia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2024-kindle-counted, kindle-list, historical-fiction-read, vero-book-club, 2023-pub, 2024-read, ten-year-challenge, bookey, 2024-sp-rcc

A fantastic book based on the author's own heritage. McBride was born of a white mother and a Jewish grandmother. The theme of different cultures coming together to make community is prevalent throughout.

The story starts in 1972 when workers digging the foundations for a new development, find a skeleton at the bottom of a well. The next day, Hurricane Agnes, destroys all evidence of the death. This is justice at work, since the man deserved to die.

The story then reverts to 40 years earlier to de ...more

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Apr 16, 2024 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

James McBride's "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" is a fascinating look into Jewish and Black relations in early twentieth-century Pennsylvania. The story features many characters with unique backgrounds that weave the plot together. The book examines not only Jewish/Black relations but also how the town's White population treated them. In addition, the story explores the treatment of different abled persons and provides views into the notoriously brutal Pennhurst Asylum. The book is not an e ...more

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Sep 12, 2025 Flo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 4-star

This book was big a couple of years ago and I knew that a lot of people had liked it, but it had never seemed like quite my thing, so I put it on the backburner till now. I read it to fulfill both a GR and PBT group challenge, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I also realized that I've read this author before back when I was in high school. We had to read The Color of Water for our history class in 12th grade which (admittedly) I really don't remember anything about, but it's cool th This book was big a couple of years ago and I knew that a lot of people had liked it, but it had never seemed like quite my thing, so I put it on the backburner till now. I read it to fulfill both a GR and PBT group challenge, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I also realized that I've read this author before back when I was in high school. We had to read The Color of Water for our history class in 12th grade which (admittedly) I really don't remember anything about, but it's cool that I'm reading him again 16 years later.

While this book didn't really have a found family vibe exactly, there was an aspect of that in the community that came together, which I always enjoy. The first part of the book was a bit confusing, since the author kept introducing new, seemingly unrelated people every other chapter or so. I just wanted him to get on with the actual plot. But eventually, all these unrelated people came together and it made sense within the larger context of the story, and I was like OHHH. I really enjoyed the way that the author ultimately weaved everything together. I'm always impressed when authors can take disparate threads and turn it all into one cohesive story.

This book is also about power, and who has it, and who doesn't, and how those who don't sometimes try and get close to those who do in an attempt to get power (like the Jewish families moving off the Hill in order to be more ~mainstream). There was also a lot about the "American Dream" and those who are able to attain it, and those whom the system works against. That is unfortunately very relevant for the political world we live in today, and I appreciate that the author grappled with those ideas in this novel.

While I always felt a little bit like I was viewing the characters through a window, meaning that I never felt like I was in it with them, I still felt like I got to know them more or less. It just felt a bit like there was a barrier between us where I didn't feel a full connection with any of them, even the main characters, so there wasn't a full emotional payoff when (view spoiler) or when (view spoiler). I think the only time I really felt emotional when I was reading this was when I was super mad at Doc for being super racist/intolerant/rapey and just a generally terrible person. (view spoiler)

I struggled with the time jumps in this novel. I would occasionally become confused about where in time we were, because the jumps would happen with essentially no label or smooth transition, and it would completely throw me out of the story. I also felt like the ending was a bit abrupt. While we were told what ended up happening with Nate, Dodo, and Moshe, I wish that we had gotten more "showing, not telling" with them, because the climax essentially suddenly ended and we got a short epilogue saying what everyone was up to years later. It was almost like the author was suddenly over it and decided to just sum everything up.

Still, the friendships, community, and Black and Jewish communities coming together was very sweet. I always enjoy watching different people coming together to solve problems with their own skills/abilities, and we had that here in the case of managing the water supply problem to the Jewish shul and (view spoiler). I also really enjoyed the way that the author writes about how different people from different communities and with different disabilities manage to communicate, because they are all human and looking for connection first and foremost. Despite all the flaws I noted, I gave it a pretty high rating because the book was ultimately heart-warming, and sometimes, that's just what I love in a novel. ...more

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Feb 27, 2024 Lory Sakay rated it liked it

Unpopular opinion loading...this book and story was just okay. I appreciate the premise of community, diversity, and humanity but it just seemed to get too muddled in the roundabout way this story was told. Each character, and there were sooooo many, was introduced with a backstory that digressed from the plot and didn't necessarily serve to add to the story. The intention was to build the community of Pottstown and the interconnectedness of all of its residents going back from way back then but ...more

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Jan 19, 2025 bunny ୨୧ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: want-in-my-house, top-100-nyt-readers

Now this will be a book that will certainly stay with me for a long time. I will think about these characters for days, weeks, months to come. All my life I've had a vague notion of what the "Great American Novel" should be and I managed to find it with McBride. This is exactly what I was looking for.

The characters were so rich and well-defined, I would kill to read a book about every single one of them. The mystery presented in the beginning nearly slipped my mind many times, but I was too caug ...more

1 like · Like · see review