BOOK REVIEW: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Our book group’s next pick is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. 

The novel begins with a prologue set in 1972, when a skeleton and a mezuzah are found in a well – a murder mystery. But then Hurricane Agnes hits, any possible additional evidence is destroyed, and any possible witnesses scatter.

The novel then begins again, about 50 years earlier. A story is told about the inhabitants of Chicken Hill, a poor neighborhood of Pottstown, PA. It is a community of Black and Jewish residents, primarily Jewish immigrants. Most of the earlier Jewish residents have moved down the hill into Pottstown to be more “American.” The people largely self-segregate, but there is a connection between the two groups. Moshe owns a dance and music hall and often brings in Black musicians. He hires Black workers. But the main point of connection is Moshe’s wife, Chona, who runs The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, endlessly extending goodwill and credit. Everyone loves Chona.

The plot loosely revolves around a teenage boy who was deafened in an accident in his home. His mother has recently died, and he has gone to live with his Uncle Nate and Aunt Addie. Nate does odd jobs and works for Moshe (and he has a secret past). Because the boy is deaf, he no longer goes to school. Presumably, this is how he was reported to the government. Now, the government keeps sending men to carry him off to Pennhurst, which everyone knows is a horrific institution. The Chicken Hill community bind together to, first, hide him, and then, rescue him. 

Along the way, the reader is introduced to a whole host of characters. New characters keep coming out of the woodwork, bringing in their involved backstories to help explain their roles in the increasingly complicated narrative. At times, it reads as a string of character sketches in search of a plot. Nevertheless, McBride ties it all together in the end as the murder victim and murderer are revealed. The murder mystery is the framework, but it is the character sketches that are the heart and soul of the work, showing the full range of human goodness, flaws, and evil.