I think it was the bad doctor’s body that was found later.

I think Malachi just disappeared. He was good at leaving places and starting over

Whose bones were found in the house (this is the mystery that is introduced in the first chapter)?

Whatever happened to Malachi?

I read about 1/3 of it and dropped it. Too slow moving for me.

Anonymous wrote:This list should help keeping the (many!) characters sorted out:

https://www.bookcompanion.com/qe_the_heaven_&_earth_grocery_store_character_list

I loved the book and our group had a lively discussion about it. It's possible I liked "Deacon King Kong" a bit better but there's a lot of soul in Heaven & Earth. James McBride is a fascinating author with an incredible backstory, you can read about his own mother in "The Color of Water".

Thanks for the link to bookcompanion! Wow - this is a really helpful site, esp for those of us who don't read on Kindles (searchable).

I loved Color of Water - one of my all-time favorite books, actually. But I agree with the general consensus on Heaven & Earth - jumbled, sprawling, etc.

I can highly recommend his other books though! Song Yet Sung, Miracle at St. Anna, 5-Carat Soul. All really good (and better, IMO, than either Deacon KK or Heaven & Earth).

Just finished it and I liked it. I do have some thoughts.

So far, I have read The Color of Water and loved it, and did the audio book for Deacon King Kong and did not like it at all. Now that I've read a tiebreaker, I think McBride is an incredible talent.

I do agree that it needed some editing and there were too many characters.

I thought Chona and Nate were incredible characters -- so well done that I could practically see them. So were some of the smaller characters -- Addie, Paper, Doc, and poor Dodo and Monkey Pants.

I am somewhat familiar with that area, and I thought he did a good job painting that picture, too.

It took me quite a while to read it, and I didn't feel much emotion until the epilogue. Then, I cried. So, I think it touched me more than I was aware while I was reading it.

Anonymous wrote:Warning: spoilers ahead

OK. People, I found this book really confusing. Way too many different characters to keep track of. Anyone else? I was listening to it most of the time so maybe not having the visual material contributed to that.

And I have a question… What happened to Monkey Pants? It said only his finger was left in the morning. Does that mean literally what it sounds like?

I read this a couple of months ago, so it's not fresh and i don't have it to refer back to, but yes Monkey Pants died. I interpreted the finger sentence to be that they were still holding/linked by the fingers when [i've forgotten the kid's name] woke up but monkey pants was gone (ie, dead) and all that was between them was this connection in their fingers.

I mostly enjoyed the book but it was a little too big and too messy for me. Just too much going on. I've forgotten this character, too, but the dancing immigrant Jewish peddler/turned failed baker character? At my book club I said they could have done away with him altogether and it would have done nothing to the story except taken away pages. But another book club person said he was her favorite, so, everyone picks up on different things in big messy books, I guess.

This list should help keeping the (many!) characters sorted out:

https://www.bookcompanion.com/qe_the_heaven_&_earth_grocery_store_character_list

I loved the book and our group had a lively discussion about it. It's possible I liked "Deacon King Kong" a bit better but there's a lot of soul in Heaven & Earth. James McBride is a fascinating author with an incredible backstory, you can read about his own mother in "The Color of Water".

Anonymous wrote:It is about love, caring, and a community coming together to protect a vulnerable member of their community. Chona inspired the town to come together and bring out them best in themselves. That's why I'm the PP above who said I adored it. It was about love as a community. We need that now.

Agree. I loved it as well. The music hall bits were especially interesting to me.

Anonymous wrote:I love this book so much. I can’t remember all the plot points, but: 1) I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic and made the characters come alive (he also read James). I would probably be in the camp that found the book jumbled/confusing if I’d read the book. 2) I read this not long after reading Color of Water, his memoir of growing up Black with a white Jewish mother. The memoir really added to the nuances relationships he explores in Heaven and Earth. I can see why people don’t like it, but for me it was a win.

I read Color of Water after this book and felt like if I'd done the reverse I would have had more of an appreciation for Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. I saw him at the National Book Festival this year and he was such a great speaker that I liked the book more after hearing him speak.

It is about love, caring, and a community coming together to protect a vulnerable member of their community. Chona inspired the town to come together and bring out them best in themselves. That's why I'm the PP above who said I adored it. It was about love as a community. We need that now.

Anonymous wrote:This book SUCKED. It needed editing so bad. Jumbled, disjointed, the ending was so rushed. I cannot explain how much I hated it.

I’m trying to read this book right now and this is exactly how I’m feeling. I’m on mat leave, so I need pretty easy to read books right now, but I still think this one would have lost me in normal circumstances.

I love this book so much. I can’t remember all the plot points, but: 1) I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is fantastic and made the characters come alive (he also read James). I would probably be in the camp that found the book jumbled/confusing if I’d read the book. 2) I read this not long after reading Color of Water, his memoir of growing up Black with a white Jewish mother. The memoir really added to the nuances relationships he explores in Heaven and Earth. I can see why people don’t like it, but for me it was a win.