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

5.0

I’m such a James McBride fan now. Loved this! Slow build-up but rich context, and terrific character creation. Set in melting pot Pennsylvania in 1920s - Chicken Hill houses the black community and Pottsdown has the historical white community, but Chona and Moshe - Jews in the hill, are the bridge bw the two. And lots of scene setting in super creepy Pennhurst Asylum. Not necessarily a happy story, but there is redemption and a strong closing. Back half of the book picks up with action-packed, fast moving plot. I will definitely be reading more of McBride’s books. I wanted to draw out reading this it was so well done - book hangover achieved!