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

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

5.0

This was quite an astounding, complex, layered, clockwork mechanism of a book. Like in Deacon King Kong, McBride creates a huge and intricate community. In 1930s Pottstown, PA, the black residents are segregated onto Chicken Hill and neglected by city leaders and infrastructure; white protestants cling to power, privilege, and the false Mayflower-tinged history they believe justifies it; and the Jewish community, made up of both long-established families and recent immigrants, is caught in the middle of the town's hierarchy. Of course, when there's racial hierarchy, the middle is not so different from the bottom, and there are untold ways to experience cruelty and discrimination. 

There are lots of mysteries in the plot, and I don't think I understood all of them, but the story didn't suffer for it. It's hard, and there's a lot of ugliness, individual and societal, exposed. But there's kindness, triumph, and joy, too. Truly everything between heaven and earth is present in these human beings, and in us, too. The world we inhabit can be both deeply broken and full of wonder at once. 
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