Today, we will be reviewing The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. Keep reading for our review of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and see if it lived up to the hype!
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store Summary
Moshe and Chona Ludlow live in Pottstown in the 1920s and the 1930s. They own the local theater that has a dance hall and a grocery store named The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. One day, The Ludlows are asked to hide a young Black deaf boy named Dodo from authorities by Nate Timblin. Timblin works at the grocery store and is a trusted friend of Moshe.
The Ludlows shelter Dodo from the town physician who is a part of the Ku Klux Klan and is avoided by the Black residents of Pottstown. The novel follows the relationships between the Ludlows and the Black residents as they try to protect Dodo from the racist policies and people living in Pottstown.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store Tops 2023 Lists
You know you have written an amazing novel when it is the first novel on former President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2023 list. The novel made various end of year lists and should win a couple of awards in the near future.
If you haven’t read a novel by McBride, then you are missing out on some of the best writing out there. I enjoyed The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and loved the characters in this book as well as the tight-knit community that McBride writes about. Few authors can make you vividly imagine a place as well as McBride does.
Simply put, this is a novel about people coming together against an evil force. We see a community that comes together against all odds and fights for what is right. They overcome race and class and showcase what friendship truly looks like.
Conclusion
I am glad that this novel and McBride got the recognition that they deserve. This is a powerful novel that captures the best and worst of mankind. And no author does it better than McBride. If you had to read just a few books from 2023, make sure this is one of them. Happy reading!
Just got this on my Kindle! I’m readlly looking forward to reading it 🙂