The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story by James McBride is a sad, poignant and moving novel. The story opens with a body being discovered when some construction is started and there is some difficulty identifying the body though many in the area seem to have some idea how it got there. It then goes back and tells the story of a young black boy named Dodo. He happens to be deaf after the family stove blew up, the same explosion that killed his mother. While staying with his aunt and uncle the state decides that he needs specialized care and should be put in a state hospital. Despite being deaf Dodo is otherwise perfectly healthy and his aunt and uncle decide to hide him instead of letting the state take him. His aunt and uncle’s employers, Moshe who runs the local theaters and his wife Chona who runs the Heaven and Earth grocery store, end up helping hide Dodo as well. The state seems to be rather relentless though and keeps on sending people to try and find him. Things start looking difficult and potentially dangerous when the local Doc starts getting involved as he seems to have a grudge with Chona.
This book was very moving as it shows how communities and people can come together to help overcome the worst of circumstances and events in order to survive and potentially even thrive. At the same time it also shows just how bad humanity can be both as individuals and as a society. This book is based less than a hundred years ago, but only barely, and while there has been significant progress made there is still a lot more to go. I will say that reading books like this helps to open eyes to what that kind of life is like for the people who live it. The events in this book are fiction but knowing that doesn’t change just how realistic the story is as I can easily picture something really similar to this having actually happened. I say that because the types of people or characters that are present are probably fairly similar to the types of people that were really around during this time frame, at least in terms of viewpoints and thought processes. These characters feel like they are real people and they have their own individual flaws and foibles just like everybody else. It is in large part because of this that the story feels like it is more than just a story. This is one of those books that you don’t just read and forget about because it is going to stick with you for a while. It is an incredibly well written story with well developed characters and an absolutely moving but also heartbreaking story. This may not have been an overly easy read, emotionally, but it was well worth it and is definitely a good book to consider reading. I am happy to give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This book is probably best classified as historical fiction with hints of contemporary fiction as it is set in the 1930’s. It is also very sad but also very moving so keep that in mind though if you enjoy this type of work I would highly recommend you try it. Considering the time period being depicted there are a lot of potentially problematic topics covered including a child being deaf, racism and anti-semitism, Ku Klux Klan membership, and child abuse. There isn’t a lot of overly graphic content though despite the warnings but I would recommend keeping them in mind before reading. I hope you will still consider trying it as the book is really good. Consider sharing your thoughts in the comments if you do.