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A review by tsunafish
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I remembering seeing this on Obama’s reading list so when I saw it at the library I picked it up!
It did take me a while to understand all the characters and how the story was structured (so many references to Jewish culture I did not understand so I had was on google a lot in the first few chapters), but once everything started to click into place the plot became really interesting and I found myself recognizing a lot of the set up/references to certain events in earlier chapters (so many “ohhhhhh that’s what that was” moments)
Similar to the book Good Omens I had just read, the book is told in an omniscient perspective and even within chapters it would switch between multiple perspectives so I think these kind of books are easier to digest for me in book format instead of audio book.
I don’t know much about the history of Jews and Blacks in the east during this time (pre WWII), but I really like the way it portrayed the experiences of these two different groups’ in wh*te America, and how they both had similar and different struggles.
It did take me a while to understand all the characters and how the story was structured (so many references to Jewish culture I did not understand so I had was on google a lot in the first few chapters), but once everything started to click into place the plot became really interesting and I found myself recognizing a lot of the set up/references to certain events in earlier chapters (so many “ohhhhhh that’s what that was” moments)
Similar to the book Good Omens I had just read, the book is told in an omniscient perspective and even within chapters it would switch between multiple perspectives so I think these kind of books are easier to digest for me in book format instead of audio book.
I don’t know much about the history of Jews and Blacks in the east during this time (pre WWII), but I really like the way it portrayed the experiences of these two different groups’ in wh*te America, and how they both had similar and different struggles.