In the early twentieth century, theater manager Moshe Ludlow meets and falls in love with Chona, a high-spirited, book-loving rabbi's daughter. When the two marry, Chona and the grocery store that she runs become beloved fixtures of the local African-American community—until the predations of a lascivious doctor and Chona's attempts to save a deaf boy named Dodo from a hellish institution bring disaster. James McBride's latest brims with exuberant detail and Dickensian storytelling verve—the villains are shiver-inducingly nasty and their comeuppances well-earned.