“Forty-seven years before construction workers discovered the skeleton in the old farmer’s well on Chicken Hill, a Jewish theater manager in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, named Moshe Ludlow had a vision about Moses. Moshe had this vision on a Monday morning in February as he was cleaning out the remnants of a Chick Webb one-night stand at his tiny All-American Dance Hall and Theater on Main Street.”
That’s the opening passage to the second chapter of James McBride’s novel The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. Pottstown is home to a variety of people: immigrant Jews, African Americans and some prejudiced whites who march in Ku Klux Klan parades. Most of the story takes place in 1939.
Moshe’s Dance Hall and theater thrives, but when he tries to convince his wife Chona to close down her grocery store and move from the upstairs apartment, she won’t hear of it. She’s one of the kindest people in the town and uses her grocery store to help those in need.
When a young deaf African American boy loses his mother, Chona hides him to keep the authorities from committing him to the local mental institution. There are other unique characters in the story including two men who work to correct a water issue for the local temple.
This is an incredibly well told tale about a small town and its residents who worked hard to overcome its bigotry. In his acknowledgement, the author reveals that the inspiration for his novel was a man who was the director for a Camp for Handicapped Children and “the one principal he gave his life for: equality.”
If you’re looking for an immersive read about a small-town community in the 1940’s, then you must read The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.
