I really love James McBride. I read Deacon King Kong a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so it was no surprise that I felt similarly about The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. McBride’s books are filled with so much heart! There are a lot of characters and it isn’t always totally clear to me why they are part of the story, but he has a way of weaving everything together that always (okay, by always I mean for the now 2 books I’ve read of his lol) moves me so much. 

 

I will say, this one has a lot of characters. At some points I would forget who was related to who and eventually I just kind of let go of trying to keep everything perfectly straight. I probably should have taken notes or something. I also felt like it got off to a bit of a slow start with keeping my attention. The plot definitely feels secondary to the many characters so sometimes it was hard to keep up with the story. But, by the end of this book, I felt moved. I knew to trust where it was going. I have to be in a certain sort of mood to keep up with McBride’s writing, but I know there is always a great payoff at the end.