"The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store," by James McBride

This novel performed so well with our most recent future-selections poll that it had one of the strongest finishes ever for one of our polls! A literary fiction title set two states over in Pennsylvania, this mystery underlain with racial and ethnic themes will introduce us to a whole range of characters that various reviewers have considered "charming", "unforgettable", and "interesting". McBride is also a musician, and it's said that he translates that background by producing a narrative with a jazzy tone. Sounds like a filling read!

Regarding our location, if you need some extra landmark help, find your way to Belvedere Castle. Behind it you'll find two staircases diverging past fenced-in outdoor equipment. Take the left staircase, and keep bearing to the left after you get to the bottom of it.

Feel free to bring a blanket, chair, water, snacks, your friendly dog.

From Goodreads:

The new novel from the bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Oprah Book Club-picked, Barack Obama favorite James McBride.

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 neighbourhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows.

As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins 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.