The book story starts in Chicken Hill, a small town in Pennsylvania, where Black, Jewish, and European immigrants, rich and poor, old and young, collide - defending, fighting, entertaining, feeding, and sheltering one another.

 

This cacophonous melody of characters with all of their schemes and dreams reveal how home is where you make it - and how all of these “outsiders” are anything but.

 

With spunky detail, McBride masterfully makes you feel like you’re part of the neighborhood, that these are your neighbors, your friends, and enemies, drawing you in, so that you, too, know the secrets they keep, the grudges they hold, and kindness they offer.

Chock full of the social, racial, and ethnic politics of a small town.