Melanated Women Read: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

Melanated Women Read is a book discussion group by and especially for Black women. This month we talk about James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, 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.

As the 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.

About James McBride:

James McBride is an accomplished musician and author of the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, the #1 bestselling American classic The Color of Water, and the bestsellers Song Yet Sung and Miracle at St. Anna. He is also the author of Kill ’Em and Leave, a James Brown biography. In 2015, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama “for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in America.” He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

About Melanated Women Read:

Melanated Women Read is a virtual book group that is by and especially for Black women. The purpose and focus are on inspiring, uplifting reads, and providing a safe space for Black women to speak, vent and enjoy honest and open conversation.

The group chooses from books written by Black authors. The goal of this community-based group is to introduce a variety of Black writers who will help build a love of reading in a positive environment while meeting new people and gaining new perspectives.

Melanated Women Read meets virtually on the first Monday of each month.

Monday, June 03, 2024 | 06:30 PM - 08:00 PM
Zoom webinar

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