The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - Paperback

by James McBride (Author)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store – Paperback by James McBride is a richly layered historical novel about community, race, faith, justice, and the secrets that bind people together. Set in the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the story brings together Black and Jewish residents living on the margins of society during the 1920s and 1930s. 

As the community faces discrimination, corruption, poverty, and institutional cruelty, its members work together to protect a young deaf boy named Dodo. Their efforts reveal hidden loyalties, long-held secrets, and the strength of people who refuse to abandon one another.

Blending historical fiction, literary mystery, humor, tragedy, and social commentary, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store explores how love and collective action can sustain a community during difficult times. The novel received widespread recognition, including the Kirkus Prize for Fiction and selection as both the Barnes & Noble and Amazon Book of the Year.

Book Highlights

• Written by James McBride
• Paperback edition
• Historical and literary fiction
• Set in Pottstown, Pennsylvania
• Focuses on the diverse Chicken Hill neighborhood
• Features Black and Jewish community members
• Includes a mystery involving a skeleton found in a well
• Explores community, race, faith, justice, and belonging
• Combines family drama, social history, humor, and suspense
• Winner of the Kirkus Prize for Fiction
• Named the 2023 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year
• Named the Amazon Book of the Year
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: July 29, 2025
• Number of pages: 416
• ISBN-13: 9780593422953

Author Biography

James McBride is the author of the New York Times-bestselling novel The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, the Oprah's Book Club selection Deacon King Kong, the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, the American classic The Color of Water, the novels Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna, the story collection Five-Carat Soul, and Kill 'Em and Leave, a biography of James Brown. The recipient of a National Humanities Medal and an accomplished musician, McBride is also a distinguished writer in residence at New York University.