Tag: 1930s

Review 2487: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

~ whatmeread ~ 10 Comments

In 1930s Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the Jewish residents are beginning to move away from the Chicken Hill neighborhood where they’ve always lived with their Black neighbors. But Chona Ludlow refuses to leave the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store that her father established even though her husband Moshe would like to live in a neighborhood where the streets aren’t muddy and there is running water and sewage.

Chona is beloved by most of her neighbors for her kindness. She runs a tab for anyone who needs it and hands out marbles and small toys to the neighborhood children.

There is always some kind of trouble on Chicken Hill. Chona herself constantly writes letters to city officials complaining of unfairness to various Jewish or Black residents. But trouble from higher up arrives when Moshe’s trusted friend and employee, Nate Timblin, and his wife Addie take in his 12-year-old deaf nephew Dodo, whose parents have died. The trouble starts when Dodo stays out of school because he can’t hear the instruction and is being mocked. Officials decide to institutionalize him by placing him in a horrible insane asylum called Pennhurst under the assumption that since he can’t hear, he’s an idiot.

Nate, who is Black, asks Moshe if he will hide Dodo at the store. So Dodo moves in and helps out at the store and hides in the cellar if the authorities come by. But word gets out that Chona is hiding Dodo.

A combination of criminal and tragic events result in Dodo being caught. Can he be rescued from forces against him, including the racist Doc Roberts, a prominent member of society and also of the Ku Klux Klan?

McBride tells a great story, peopled with lots of colorful characters. There’s a lot going on in Chicken Hill, and it makes for fun and sometimes touching reading.

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Review 2469: Turn, Magic Wheel

~ whatmeread ~ 2 Comments

I became interested in Dawn Powell after hearing a story on NPR about her being buried in an unmarked grave in Potter’s Field after being a well-known writer. That made me look for one of her books, and I found this one, a social satire about 1930s New York.

Dennis Orphen has just published his latest book, based on the life of his best friend Effie, the ex-wife of a famous Hemingway-like writer, and only thinly disguised. It is not until he sees Effie’s reaction that he realizes she might not take it well.

Although Andy Callingham left her years ago for Marlene, Effie is still waiting for him to return. His likes have become hers, and she endlessly talks about their past. Dennis reflects that she was once independent enough for Callingham to leave, but he wonders what is left of the Effie she was before.

While Dennis meets his married lover, Corinne, visits the social scene (whose members are probably easily recognizable to Powell’s contemporaries), and visits his publisher in a series of fairly brutal satiric scenes, Effie is summoned to Marlene’s hospital bed. Marlene has fled because of Andy’s interest in a young Swedish actress, but now she is dying. The hospital calls Effie because they share a last name.

For the first time since he left, Effie contacts Andy to summon him to Marlene’s deathbed. While they wait, Effie is subjected to Marlene’s ramblings, just as besotted as Effie’s own. Will Andy come or not? If he does, who for?

For me, the funniest thing about this book is its depiction of “Hemingway,” who I always knew was an egotistical jerk. I’m sure if I was more familiar with the 30s social scene, I would recognize other characters. No one in this novel is absolutely likable, although Dennis comes out better than he starts, and Effie is simply deluded.

As for the writing, it’s sharp, with witty dialogue, betraying a wicked eye.

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