The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

The story starts with the discovery of a skeleton and a mezuzah in a well at a construction site in 1972. How did that skeleton get there? The story takes the long way around to tell us that. The setting is mostly in the 1920s and 1930s in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in the neighborhood of Chicken Hill. Chicken Hill's residents are mostly Black and Jewish immigrants. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is a central location the characters frequent.
The characters are varied and many. And their names are great (Dodo, Monkey Pants, Fatty, Big Soap, Paper, Snooks, Miggy). The characters in the story are so well developed that you really get to know them.
Throughout the story the characters face many social issues, such as racism, antisemitism, prejudice, disability. We also see the characters support, care for, and protect one another. The residents of Chicken Hill mostly stick together and look out for each other.
Amongst all the serious issues and injustice, there is plenty of humor and good.
I very much enjoyed this book; could hardly put it down.