Published: March 2020 Genre: Fiction Themes: New York, housing projects, community, human frailty My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤ On the front cover it says that Barack Obama named this book as a favourite read for 2020, and it was also one of Oprah's book club top ten picks of the year, so it is hard to think of any endorsement better than that. The writing bursts off the page right from the start, and James McBride brings us a good story about a multicultural New York community living in project blocks just opposite the Statue of Liberty. The writing has a quick stride to it and characters are introduced as they gather around a flagpole at the base of the apartments. The flagpole is a magnet for all the residents, and in the morning the older people from Five Ends Baptist church catch up with the latest gossip on one benc...