The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

A Novel

By: James McBride

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

THE RUNAWAY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

FROM ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2024

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR/FRESH AIR, WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, AND TIME MAGAZINE

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023

“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.”—Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review

“We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a 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 neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.

As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.

Bringing his masterly storytelling skills and his deep faith in humanity to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride has written a novel as compassionate as Deacon King Kong and as inventive as The Good Lord Bird.

©2023 James McBride (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“I keep thinking every time I read one of his books, ‘That’s his best book.’ No. THIS is his best book.”—Ann Patchett

“This is one of those novels that becomes a part of you. It’s a great book. Every character is rich; every detail is rich. I can’t recommend this one highly enough. He’s a great author and I think this is his best work.”—Harlan Coben

“He writes about deep American wounds with love, rage, and a sense of wit that flies like a falcon in large leaping circles, riding the invisible winds of history.”—Ethan Hawke

One of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever listened to!

A little long, but worth ever second of listening pleasure. An absolutely beautiful story! Loved it!

Complex human drama

I couldn’t figure out if I liked this book but something about the characters kept me going. There were times I almost put it down because it tended to be a bit too much melodrama for me but the characters are complex and the situations real particularly for the time setting so I kept going. I thought the ending was great though. Worth it to keep listening.

Historical perspective.

A wonderful story. Having grown up in Mississippi, albeit White, I knew as well as I could how difficult life was for the Black community. Our family was new to the state and the town, not well to do and my father did not hold a prominent job. So even within the White community we were nobodies. So, in a way, we experienced a modicum of the shame and indifference heaped on Blacks. But we were lucky, we were looked down upon and considered unworthy but ignored. Our Black brethren were far from ignored. When old enough to understand I hated that I grew up in the South. How could I convince anyone I did not condone the social order that played out between the races.

Many little stories create a world.

The narration of the story was impeccable. One of the best narrators I’ve ever listen to. 
The story itself was a tapestry woven of delights and sadness. Mystery and love, just as life always is.

Character Development

I loved the characters introduced in the story and learned some history. This is a moving story you won’t forget.

Magnificent

This is one of the best books I have ever listened to. The writing is superb and the reader is absolutely perfect.

McBride + Hoffman

My favorite combination and I’m already impatiently waiting for their next collaboration. Another great story. I so love when the smallest detail ultimately has its full circle moment to bring it all together. Brilliant storytelling.

wow. what a beautiful moving and magnificent book

had i been younger i would have called my daughter SHONA.
characters are alive, complex and full of humanity

A story to follow to the end!

Great narrative of early American tumult of identities and miseries shared. A confirmation that “the past is prologue”.

Wonderful!!

I loved this story. I could see everything. Mr. McBride is an excellent weaver of story.