Motley, a widowed retiree and the Reeves’s next-door neighbor who loans Stew Pot a Bible, which is seen by Stew Pot and many in the community as a friendly gesture. Most neighbors are skeptical of this claim, with one notable exception: Mrs. A frightening delinquent before being sent away, his return sends Parkland residents into a religiously infused tailspin, which only increases when Stew Pot announces that he experienced a religious awakening in prison. 'May’s expansive first novel reveals the complicated emotional economy that holds together a neighborhood in crisis…May’s vivid descriptions of the rhythms of life in the suburb…reveal vibrant lives in ordinary houses.'Īfter fourteen years in prison, Gerald 'Stew Pot' Reeves, age thirty-one, returns home to live with his mom in Parkland, a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Booklist, naming Bedrock Faith a Top 10 First Novel of 2014 Motley, a retired librarian, along with her close-knit, gossipy Chicago South Side community, dreads the return of the notorious Stew Pot Reeves.' 'In May’s vivid, suspenseful, funny, compassionate and epiphanic first novel, the decorous Mrs. As sturdy as a Chicago bungalow and bursting with life, May’s debut is perfect for book clubs.' 'In this vivid, suspenseful, funny, and compassionate novel of epiphanies, tragedies, and transformations, May drills down to our bedrock assumptions about ourselves, our values, and our communities. Named a Notable African-American Title by Publishers Weekly One of Five Books to Read Now, Chicago Tribune/Printers RowĮric Charles May was named one of 25 Writers to Watch by Guild Literary Complex and one of the by Newcity Longlisted for The Morning News’s 2015 Tournament of Books Shortlisted for the 2014 Great Lakes Great Reads Award One of O, The Oprah Magazine’s Ten Books to Pick Up Now, April 2014 One of the Chicago Reader’s Favorite Books of 2014Ī Women’s Book Group Discussion Selection, Women & Children First Bookstore One of Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels of 2014

Bedrock Faith by Eric Charles May