A review by onegalonelife27
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

 
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

And the lord doth said, “No body, no crime.”

Or at least that’s the impression I got reading the first chapter of the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Because right after a skeleton is discovered in an old well and the cops question an old Jew due to evidence pointing to him, a hurricane destroys most of the town and washes away all the evidence. Then we are sent back in time to see the “crime” for ourselves.

The main cast-especially the ones we root for-is mainly composed of the Black and Jewish immigrant community that lives on Chicken Hill of Pottstown, Pennsylvanian. Four characters really take center stage Moshe- theater owner keeping his head down and doing his best in America, Chona-the owner of said Heaven and Earth Grocery store with a big heart and little time for prejudices, Nate Timblin n a quiet handyman with his own secrets, and last but not least Dodo-a Black boy who was left deft after an accident and now faces being forced into the local asylum. This story centers around first Nate and Chona, much to Moshe’s worry, and their attempts of keeping Dodo out of the asylum. Then the second half centers around an injustice that gets Dodo sent there and the community rallying around freeing him. 

The prose reads like a magical realism kind of prose-minus the magical occurrences-with characters getting backstories and times to shine here and there. With the large cast, sometimes I did get confused on who each person is if they hadn’t shown up in a while. And I do have to admit some parts I had to reread because I felt like I wasn’t sure what the characters meant or what they were doing. However, I was glad how it was all settled and when the “crime” occurs I cheered-I guess the Lord does work in mysterious ways. 

Overall, this is more of a hard read but I feel like it’s worth it. It  has a very satisfying story and a very interesting cast.If you want to try something different, I recommend it! 
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