“The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store ” By James McBride
“The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store ” By James McBride
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania were digging foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of the well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighbourhood where Jewish immigrants and African Americans lived side by side.
In this novel about small town secrets and the people who keep them, James McBride shows us that even in dark times it is love and community that sustain us. The novel has been described by some as historical fiction and by others as a historical mystery.
The majority of the Page Turners almost forgot about the ‘body in the well’ and felt that the murder mystery element of the story was inconsequential. Instead, they enjoyed the description of life in a small community, the melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. There were many characters described in the book and it was difficult at times to keep up with them all and remember where they fitted into the story. Indeed, it was felt that many of the characters could have been the subject of a book in themselves!
A lively discussion was generated from the historical element and the effects of the Jim Crow laws on discrimination; to the delights of living in a community that felt at times like Wenvoe. Overall, the book was given a score of 7.