WM Words & Wine Affinity Group (virtual)

November:  The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride

From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, 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. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.

As these 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.

Bringing his masterly storytelling skills and his deep faith in humanity to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride has written a novel as compassionate as Deacon King Kong and as inventive as The Good Lord Bird.

Contact Information for questions specific to event if different then group leadership: Rene Buggs, rbuggs@tubeliteinc.com 616-238-7963; Penny Streling, pstreling@tubeliteinc.com 616-826-7821

View Attendee List

Affinity Group Chairs
Rene Buggs, rbuggs@tubeliteinc.com, 616-238-7963

Penny Streling, pstreling@tubeliteinc.com 616-826-7821

Words & Wine Affinity Group

“Words & Wine” offers a relaxed gathering at a local restaurant to discuss recent reads and enjoy a lively interactive discussion. We meet at various local restaurants for food and a glass of wine (or any other beverage you prefer!) while taking the opportunity to network. The group encourages members to suggest books for subsequent monthly book club get-togethers.

Some examples of our most recent reads are “The Little Paris Bookshop”, Nina George; “Sense and Sensibility”, Jane Austen and this month we’re reading a selection from Reese Witherspoon’s book club “Where the Crawdads Sing”, Delia Owens. (Finishing the book is never a prerequisite for attending the club meetings!) Check out the Inforum Events page for upcoming meeting details. Happy reading!