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The Berry Pickers
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.
July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.
In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.
July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.
In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2023
14.3k people are currently reading
299k people want to read
About the author
Amanda Peters
2books1,702followersAmanda Peters is a writer of Mi’kmaw and settler ancestry. Her work has appeared in the Antigonish Review, Grain Magazine, The Alaska Quarterly Review, the Dalhousie Review, and filling station magazine. She is the winner of the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award (IVA) for unpublished prose and a participant in the 2021 Writers Trust Rising Stars program. Amanda has a certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto and she is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe New Mexico. Amanda is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Theatre at Acadia University. She lives and writes in the Annapolis valley Nova Scotia with her fur babies Holly and Pook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 20,979 reviews
May 23, 2024
What a book!! And to think that I didn’t even want to read this book, and it is now one of my all time favorites! Did the title appeal to me? No. The cover? Not so much. The synopsis? Not really. But when I opened up this book, each page just took my breath away. I can’t remember the last time I read a more magical, compelling book. I felt like I personally knew each character and experienced every sliver of pain, grief, and trauma that they went through. I didn’t ever want this book to end.
This story starts off with a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arriving in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Of the five children, Ruthie is the youngest at only four years old. One day while sitting by a big rock near her brother Joe, she suddenly vanishes. A search went on for weeks without much help from the local authorities. Ruthie was never found. Her brother Joe was only six years old at the time, but for all his years he held out hope that she was still alive. Joe also carried around a ton of guilt as he was the last person to have seen Ruthie before she vanished.
“And besides, when a person dies, there’s a finality to it, a heaviness that comes with all endings.�
We also have the story of Norma. Norma lives a very sheltered life, with a mother and father who keep a very tight leash on her. She is well cared for, but often feels that things just aren’t quite right. Norma also has recurring dreams that her mother tells her are just nonsense. Why does she feel an emptiness inside, and will it ever go away?
While we could guess where this story was going, it didn’t matter because it was so beautifully written. A friend of mine at work gave me this book to read, and because he’s an avid reader at 90 years old (yes you read that right), I couldn’t say no. All I can say is that he picks better books than I do, and moving forward I will be asking for more book recommendations from him because this book was a total winner 🏆 One that I highly recommend reading!
“Time quickens the older you get, as if the universe is trying to push you toward the finish line, to make room for the younger, the stronger, to mark your brief place in history and move on.�
This story starts off with a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arriving in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Of the five children, Ruthie is the youngest at only four years old. One day while sitting by a big rock near her brother Joe, she suddenly vanishes. A search went on for weeks without much help from the local authorities. Ruthie was never found. Her brother Joe was only six years old at the time, but for all his years he held out hope that she was still alive. Joe also carried around a ton of guilt as he was the last person to have seen Ruthie before she vanished.
“And besides, when a person dies, there’s a finality to it, a heaviness that comes with all endings.�
We also have the story of Norma. Norma lives a very sheltered life, with a mother and father who keep a very tight leash on her. She is well cared for, but often feels that things just aren’t quite right. Norma also has recurring dreams that her mother tells her are just nonsense. Why does she feel an emptiness inside, and will it ever go away?
While we could guess where this story was going, it didn’t matter because it was so beautifully written. A friend of mine at work gave me this book to read, and because he’s an avid reader at 90 years old (yes you read that right), I couldn’t say no. All I can say is that he picks better books than I do, and moving forward I will be asking for more book recommendations from him because this book was a total winner 🏆 One that I highly recommend reading!
“Time quickens the older you get, as if the universe is trying to push you toward the finish line, to make room for the younger, the stronger, to mark your brief place in history and move on.�
April 26, 2024
Unsatisfying and lacking in intensity. I only kept listening to find out the why behind Ruthie's disappearance, the rest of the story was too uneventful and unimpassioned to maintain momentum or really invest in the characters.
The interwoven story lines took a different route than I imagined. It's not that I was expecting a mystery, but I was thinking Norma would be more questioning about herself throughout and it would play a more central role to the entire book.
The story spans decades, often passing over large gaps in time, and felt too scattered to develop the characters or the narrative in a thorough and effective manner. I didn't find the writing to be descriptive enough of people or happenings, the characters were two-dimensional, and what you did learn about them was told rather than shown. I often felt like I was being given just the basic facts in a broad and sweeping outline.
I did like Joe's character, which was rather sad given Norma's prominent role, I should have liked her character more but Joe's character was more emotionally developed. I did wonder why the author chose to only share his and Norma's perspectives as it only seemed to hamper the author's possible objective.
I most enjoyed the first few chapters as they showed the family connection and also the last few chapters as they showed the family coming to terms with an altered family and how and where each person fit in. An okay book, with a real shortcoming in the fact that other themes lurking below the surface could have been explored more deeply and which would have likely bolstered the less satisfying parts.
The interwoven story lines took a different route than I imagined. It's not that I was expecting a mystery, but I was thinking Norma would be more questioning about herself throughout and it would play a more central role to the entire book.
The story spans decades, often passing over large gaps in time, and felt too scattered to develop the characters or the narrative in a thorough and effective manner. I didn't find the writing to be descriptive enough of people or happenings, the characters were two-dimensional, and what you did learn about them was told rather than shown. I often felt like I was being given just the basic facts in a broad and sweeping outline.
I did like Joe's character, which was rather sad given Norma's prominent role, I should have liked her character more but Joe's character was more emotionally developed. I did wonder why the author chose to only share his and Norma's perspectives as it only seemed to hamper the author's possible objective.
I most enjoyed the first few chapters as they showed the family connection and also the last few chapters as they showed the family coming to terms with an altered family and how and where each person fit in. An okay book, with a real shortcoming in the fact that other themes lurking below the surface could have been explored more deeply and which would have likely bolstered the less satisfying parts.
May 2, 2023
The Berry Pickers is an immersive and stunningly written debut novel by Amanda Peters.
Every summer, a Mi’kmaq family travels from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick berries. A few weeks into the season, the youngest child, Ruthie, vanishes without a trace. Her older brother Joe was the last person to see her. That fact will sit heavy with him for years to come.
Norma grows up in a wealthy household but is plagued with dreams that she cannot understand. And her loving but controlling mother refuses to discuss them. As Norma grows older, she realizes her parents are hiding something from her.
This beautifully written novel follows Joe and Norma’s perspectives. This is a moving and powerful story with sprinkles of Indigenous humour here and there.
It discusses the loss of language and culture, the threat of residential schools, and MMIW. But it also shines a light on the importance of family. Even with the heavier topics, there is a sense of hopefulness by the end.
The story slowly drew me in, and by the end, I wished there were more pages. Both of the main characters completely captured my heart.
I highly recommend adding this wonderful debut to your TBR as soon as possible.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Every summer, a Mi’kmaq family travels from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick berries. A few weeks into the season, the youngest child, Ruthie, vanishes without a trace. Her older brother Joe was the last person to see her. That fact will sit heavy with him for years to come.
Norma grows up in a wealthy household but is plagued with dreams that she cannot understand. And her loving but controlling mother refuses to discuss them. As Norma grows older, she realizes her parents are hiding something from her.
This beautifully written novel follows Joe and Norma’s perspectives. This is a moving and powerful story with sprinkles of Indigenous humour here and there.
It discusses the loss of language and culture, the threat of residential schools, and MMIW. But it also shines a light on the importance of family. Even with the heavier topics, there is a sense of hopefulness by the end.
The story slowly drew me in, and by the end, I wished there were more pages. Both of the main characters completely captured my heart.
I highly recommend adding this wonderful debut to your TBR as soon as possible.
Thank you to Harper Perennial for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 9, 2024
From the moment Ruthie, the youngest daughter of the Mi'kmaq family, goes missing from their berry farm, the mystery unfolds with gripping intensity.
Where did she go?
Is she still alive?
Why did she leave?
These questions haunt the family, revealing profound burdens of loss and unanswered questions.
The novel alternates between two perspectives: Joe, Ruthie's brother, whose life is shadowed by her disappearance, and Norma, a young woman uncovering unsettling truths within her seemingly proper family. Narrators bring Joe and Norma to life with exceptional skill, immersing listeners deeply into their emotional journeys.
What drew me most to this story was its portrayal of First Nations characters. Having personal connections to Indigenous communities, I appreciated how the novel sheds light on racial discrimination faced by these communities, echoing real-world injustices. The parallels drawn between Ruthie's disappearance and ongoing societal issues add depth and relevance to the narrative.
Beyond its compelling mystery, explores profound themes of family dynamics and the enduring power of love amidst adversity. It's a soul-stirring journey that resonated deeply with me, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally rich experience. Bravo to Amanda Peters for crafting such a moving and impactful novel.
Where did she go?
Is she still alive?
Why did she leave?
These questions haunt the family, revealing profound burdens of loss and unanswered questions.
The novel alternates between two perspectives: Joe, Ruthie's brother, whose life is shadowed by her disappearance, and Norma, a young woman uncovering unsettling truths within her seemingly proper family. Narrators bring Joe and Norma to life with exceptional skill, immersing listeners deeply into their emotional journeys.
What drew me most to this story was its portrayal of First Nations characters. Having personal connections to Indigenous communities, I appreciated how the novel sheds light on racial discrimination faced by these communities, echoing real-world injustices. The parallels drawn between Ruthie's disappearance and ongoing societal issues add depth and relevance to the narrative.
Beyond its compelling mystery, explores profound themes of family dynamics and the enduring power of love amidst adversity. It's a soul-stirring journey that resonated deeply with me, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally rich experience. Bravo to Amanda Peters for crafting such a moving and impactful novel.
December 8, 2023
4.5�
In the early 1960s, four-year-old Ruthie, the youngest daughter of a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia, disappeared from a blueberry field in Maine where her family was employed for the summer. With almost no help from the authorities on account of their “transient� status, Ruthie’s family and their coworkers desperately search for her but to no avail. Ruthie’s brother Joe, six years old at the time, was the last to see her and her disappearance would haunt him for years to come. Devastated and heartbroken, Ruthie’s family struggles to hold on to hope that she is alive and will return to them someday.
“It’s funny what you remember when something goes wrong. Something that would never stick in your memory on an ordinary day gets stuck there permanent.�
Norma has vague memories of her life before she was five years old. Growing up in Maine, the only child of a judge who is a tad distant and an overprotective mother, she is an inquisitive and perceptive child. Her vivid dreams, hushed conversations between her family members and her mother’s nervous reaction to her questions about their family do not escape her attention. She senses that there is much about her life that does not feel right � a belief that follows her into adulthood. Years later, after both her parents have passed on, her aunt shares the truth about their family � a revelation that will leave fifty-four-year-old Norma with more questions than answers.
“Fate is a trickster. He likes to set up all the clues just to see if you can put them together and make sense out of things you never thought to make sense of in the first place.�
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters is an incredibly moving story that revolves around themes of family, identity, loss, hope and grief. Spanning fifty years, the narrative is shared from dual perspectives in alternating chapters. Despite the non-linear transitions between past and present timelines, the narrative flows well and is not difficult to follow. Please note that there is no mystery here, and it is the journey of these characters that takes center stage in this novel.
The structure of the narrative allows us to explore the contrast between the trajectories of Norma’s and Joe’s lives and how one traumatic event impacts their individual worldviews. The author’s strength lies in her character development and depiction of complex human emotions. Losing Ruthie casts a shadow on Joe’s life and his being the last one to see her before she disappears haunts him throughout his adult life, and though there are aspects about adult Joe that might not arouse sympathy there's no doubt that he is a broken man and the author compels us to take a deeper look into his heart despite his flaws. Norma’s life is one of searching for a sense of belongingness despite growing up in the security of an affluent family who cares for her deeply. Given her trajectory, Norma’s reactions were commensurate with her character, though at times, especially toward the end, I thought Norma’s perspective could have been explored in more depth. However, this does not detract from the overall impact of the novel. The author approaches sensitive topics such as grief, the loss of a child, alcoholism, discrimination, and terminal illness, among others, with much sensitivity and compassion. Overall, I found this novel to be a thought-provoking, compelling read that I would not hesitate to recommend to those who enjoy emotionally charged family sagas.
I look forward to reading more from this talented debut author in the future.
“Even people who exude light and happiness have dark secrets. Sometimes, the lie becomes so entrenched it becomes the truth, hidden away in the deep recesses of the mind until death erases it, leaving the world a little different.�
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch, who have done a wonderful job of breathing life into these characters and setting the tone for this beautifully written story.
Many thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for ALC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The Berry Pickers was published in the United States on October 31, 2023.
Connect with me! � � �
In the early 1960s, four-year-old Ruthie, the youngest daughter of a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia, disappeared from a blueberry field in Maine where her family was employed for the summer. With almost no help from the authorities on account of their “transient� status, Ruthie’s family and their coworkers desperately search for her but to no avail. Ruthie’s brother Joe, six years old at the time, was the last to see her and her disappearance would haunt him for years to come. Devastated and heartbroken, Ruthie’s family struggles to hold on to hope that she is alive and will return to them someday.
“It’s funny what you remember when something goes wrong. Something that would never stick in your memory on an ordinary day gets stuck there permanent.�
Norma has vague memories of her life before she was five years old. Growing up in Maine, the only child of a judge who is a tad distant and an overprotective mother, she is an inquisitive and perceptive child. Her vivid dreams, hushed conversations between her family members and her mother’s nervous reaction to her questions about their family do not escape her attention. She senses that there is much about her life that does not feel right � a belief that follows her into adulthood. Years later, after both her parents have passed on, her aunt shares the truth about their family � a revelation that will leave fifty-four-year-old Norma with more questions than answers.
“Fate is a trickster. He likes to set up all the clues just to see if you can put them together and make sense out of things you never thought to make sense of in the first place.�
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters is an incredibly moving story that revolves around themes of family, identity, loss, hope and grief. Spanning fifty years, the narrative is shared from dual perspectives in alternating chapters. Despite the non-linear transitions between past and present timelines, the narrative flows well and is not difficult to follow. Please note that there is no mystery here, and it is the journey of these characters that takes center stage in this novel.
The structure of the narrative allows us to explore the contrast between the trajectories of Norma’s and Joe’s lives and how one traumatic event impacts their individual worldviews. The author’s strength lies in her character development and depiction of complex human emotions. Losing Ruthie casts a shadow on Joe’s life and his being the last one to see her before she disappears haunts him throughout his adult life, and though there are aspects about adult Joe that might not arouse sympathy there's no doubt that he is a broken man and the author compels us to take a deeper look into his heart despite his flaws. Norma’s life is one of searching for a sense of belongingness despite growing up in the security of an affluent family who cares for her deeply. Given her trajectory, Norma’s reactions were commensurate with her character, though at times, especially toward the end, I thought Norma’s perspective could have been explored in more depth. However, this does not detract from the overall impact of the novel. The author approaches sensitive topics such as grief, the loss of a child, alcoholism, discrimination, and terminal illness, among others, with much sensitivity and compassion. Overall, I found this novel to be a thought-provoking, compelling read that I would not hesitate to recommend to those who enjoy emotionally charged family sagas.
I look forward to reading more from this talented debut author in the future.
“Even people who exude light and happiness have dark secrets. Sometimes, the lie becomes so entrenched it becomes the truth, hidden away in the deep recesses of the mind until death erases it, leaving the world a little different.�
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch, who have done a wonderful job of breathing life into these characters and setting the tone for this beautifully written story.
Many thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for ALC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The Berry Pickers was published in the United States on October 31, 2023.
Connect with me! � � �
April 30, 2024
Emotional damage
October 26, 2023
July 1962
A Mi’kmaq family in need of money traveled from Nova Scotia to Maine to work in the berry fields. One day, four-year-old Ruthie went missing. Her six-year-old brother, Joe, was the last person to see her, and he will be haunted for the rest of his life about her disappearance and the last minutes they spent before she went missing.
Norma grew up in Maine with a distant father and hoovering mother. She has recurring dreams that feel like memories. She has always had questions and will spend decades trying to uncover what secrets her parents are keeping from her.
This is a slow, sad tale about a family whose daughter went missing without a clue and about a woman who wants to uncover a family secret. Family is a major theme in this book about loss, secrets, anger, family, identity, and heartbreak. I appreciated how the author showed the aftermath of losing a child, of not having any answers, how it impacts the family as a whole and the individual family members. The author also showed how feeling different, having questions, and secrets impacted another individual.
I enjoyed this book, but it was lacking that little bit of something that would have made the book more enjoyable. I listened to the audiobook and struggled initially with the male narration. I am not sure if this impacted my thoughts on the book, but it was a struggle in the beginning. I found that I had a hard time connecting to the characters even with them experiencing great loss and the impact it had on their lives. Although this book does deal with some heavy subjects, it does end on a hopeful note.
Many are enjoying this book more than I did, please read their reviews as well.
This book will have triggers for some as it deals with loss, addiction, miscarriage, illness, and kidnapping to name a few.
Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at
A Mi’kmaq family in need of money traveled from Nova Scotia to Maine to work in the berry fields. One day, four-year-old Ruthie went missing. Her six-year-old brother, Joe, was the last person to see her, and he will be haunted for the rest of his life about her disappearance and the last minutes they spent before she went missing.
Norma grew up in Maine with a distant father and hoovering mother. She has recurring dreams that feel like memories. She has always had questions and will spend decades trying to uncover what secrets her parents are keeping from her.
This is a slow, sad tale about a family whose daughter went missing without a clue and about a woman who wants to uncover a family secret. Family is a major theme in this book about loss, secrets, anger, family, identity, and heartbreak. I appreciated how the author showed the aftermath of losing a child, of not having any answers, how it impacts the family as a whole and the individual family members. The author also showed how feeling different, having questions, and secrets impacted another individual.
I enjoyed this book, but it was lacking that little bit of something that would have made the book more enjoyable. I listened to the audiobook and struggled initially with the male narration. I am not sure if this impacted my thoughts on the book, but it was a struggle in the beginning. I found that I had a hard time connecting to the characters even with them experiencing great loss and the impact it had on their lives. Although this book does deal with some heavy subjects, it does end on a hopeful note.
Many are enjoying this book more than I did, please read their reviews as well.
This book will have triggers for some as it deals with loss, addiction, miscarriage, illness, and kidnapping to name a few.
Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at
June 26, 2023
For the first time in some time, I read a book that totally absorbed me and drew me into a carefully and very successfully created world. The Berry Pickers is a story about one family, but it is also the story of a time, a place, a people and the very real impacts of the colonial notion that Indigenous kids are up for grabs, quite literally in this story. Peters writes with a steady and consistent understated grace. Can't wait for what's next from this extremely promising Indigenous author.
November 10, 2023
It’s about a little girl getting kidnapped and spending decades of her life with doubts. On the other side we have her family, specially one of her brothers, living and wondering about her. Really nothing unique or breathtaking happens through this book. We just read about two main characters struggles and suddenly someone decides to tell the truth and Ruthie goes back home with no much trouble.
Well I got bored 😑
Well I got bored 😑
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2024
4.5 stars!
A heavy and unforgettable read.
July 1962. A Mi’kmaw family from Nova Scotia that travels to Maine each summer to pick blueberries is devastated when their 6-year-old daughter, Ruthie, goes missing. Ruthie’s parents and siblings never stop their search for her as the years and decades pass without any answers.
There are two powerful narratives in this debut novel. Equally heart-wrenching and emotional, the author did a phenomenal job fleshing out each of these main characters, making them highly impactful narratives. I was invested in this story from the very start and my interest never wavered.
The plot is heavy, yet hopeful. Packed with atmosphere and emotion, this story shares insight into the lives and societal treatment of migrant workers.
This is a slow burn filled with hardship. Best read in larger chunks of time where you can truly immerse yourself into the family dynamic and setting. Each character is brilliant in their own way. The writing is beautiful and many themes were very relatable. Several times I paused after reading a deeply impactful sentence or paragraph. It is so impressive that this is a debut novel!
This easily makes its way onto my 2024 Favourites Shelf. I highly recommend!
A heavy and unforgettable read.
July 1962. A Mi’kmaw family from Nova Scotia that travels to Maine each summer to pick blueberries is devastated when their 6-year-old daughter, Ruthie, goes missing. Ruthie’s parents and siblings never stop their search for her as the years and decades pass without any answers.
There are two powerful narratives in this debut novel. Equally heart-wrenching and emotional, the author did a phenomenal job fleshing out each of these main characters, making them highly impactful narratives. I was invested in this story from the very start and my interest never wavered.
The plot is heavy, yet hopeful. Packed with atmosphere and emotion, this story shares insight into the lives and societal treatment of migrant workers.
This is a slow burn filled with hardship. Best read in larger chunks of time where you can truly immerse yourself into the family dynamic and setting. Each character is brilliant in their own way. The writing is beautiful and many themes were very relatable. Several times I paused after reading a deeply impactful sentence or paragraph. It is so impressive that this is a debut novel!
This easily makes its way onto my 2024 Favourites Shelf. I highly recommend!
December 27, 2023
Holy crap, this was a drag to read. The beginning of The Berry Pickers is so promising and Amanda Peters seems like she’s really going to tackle the kind of grief and wound that a missing child inflicts on a family, but the story ends up being really hard to get through. None of the characters are interesting, the focus on family is shallow, and the writing style isn’t beautiful enough to carry this book.
I feel like there were some incisive moments with one of the POVs we’re given but the other POV became insufferable about 50% through. There are a lot of tricky topics that Peters is navigating, from domestic violence to systemic racism and confronting that your family isn’t really your family, but she did not hit the nail on most of these things for me.
In concept, the things that happen in this book are incredibly poignant and sad, but I didn’t feel most of it because I didn’t feel like these were real people–what do Joe’s brothers like and what were they like? Who knows. What was it like growing up as a visibly brown-skinned girl in a majority white town and family or marrying a white man? *Shrugs* Fill it in for yourself. The only characters that really sparked anything in me were the Mi’kmaq parents because I could feel their love for their kids radiate from the page. The way that Peters wrote about the sacrifice you make for your kids affected me and I like that this echoed throughout generations.
Overall, The Berry Pickers is a listless read and feels like it would be better as a movie or show. There are some truly moving lines and moments in the beginning, but the story is bogged down by its slow pacing and hollow character work.
I feel like there were some incisive moments with one of the POVs we’re given but the other POV became insufferable about 50% through. There are a lot of tricky topics that Peters is navigating, from domestic violence to systemic racism and confronting that your family isn’t really your family, but she did not hit the nail on most of these things for me.
In concept, the things that happen in this book are incredibly poignant and sad, but I didn’t feel most of it because I didn’t feel like these were real people–what do Joe’s brothers like and what were they like? Who knows. What was it like growing up as a visibly brown-skinned girl in a majority white town and family or marrying a white man? *Shrugs* Fill it in for yourself. The only characters that really sparked anything in me were the Mi’kmaq parents because I could feel their love for their kids radiate from the page. The way that Peters wrote about the sacrifice you make for your kids affected me and I like that this echoed throughout generations.
Overall, The Berry Pickers is a listless read and feels like it would be better as a movie or show. There are some truly moving lines and moments in the beginning, but the story is bogged down by its slow pacing and hollow character work.
January 18, 2024
I’m in the minority but I didn’t love this one. Since the central “mystery� is never meant to be a mystery, there’s no narrative tension - it plods along with everyone just going about their lives until the answer we knew all along is revealed to them. Add in flat characters whose reactions and personalities don’t make organic sense and I’m left wondering what people like so much about this book.
December 10, 2023
3.5�
The Berry Pickers is a quiet type of story. It's a story about love, family, heartbreak, and loss. 🫐💜
It's July 1962 when a First Nation Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia goes to Maine for the annual blueberry harvest. Their lives are forever changed when 4-year-old Ruthie goes missing.
I enjoy the 2 POVs format; the missing girl and her brother Joe. We follow their lives through almost 50 years and witness how the disappearance affects the families. The title caught my interest and I really wish there were more historical parts because they were beautifully written.
There are no surprises or shocks but The Berry Pickers held my interest. It's a steady-paced read with an emotional ending that may catch me off guard and I may have shed a tear or two.
I like that there are two narrators for each POV and a title for each chapter so no guessing whose story it is. A lovely character-driven debut!
Thank you Recorded Books and Netgalley for my ALC.
Published Oct 31, 2023!
8H 44M
The Berry Pickers is a quiet type of story. It's a story about love, family, heartbreak, and loss. 🫐💜
It's July 1962 when a First Nation Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia goes to Maine for the annual blueberry harvest. Their lives are forever changed when 4-year-old Ruthie goes missing.
I enjoy the 2 POVs format; the missing girl and her brother Joe. We follow their lives through almost 50 years and witness how the disappearance affects the families. The title caught my interest and I really wish there were more historical parts because they were beautifully written.
There are no surprises or shocks but The Berry Pickers held my interest. It's a steady-paced read with an emotional ending that may catch me off guard and I may have shed a tear or two.
I like that there are two narrators for each POV and a title for each chapter so no guessing whose story it is. A lovely character-driven debut!
Thank you Recorded Books and Netgalley for my ALC.
Published Oct 31, 2023!
8H 44M
December 29, 2024
An unforgettable debut spans over 50 years and will haunt you long after the book is read. It is excellent on audio by narrators Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch depicting the main characters. A haunting tale of an Indigenous family from Nova Scotia working for the American dream in the fields of Maine as berry pickers. With 5 children to feed, they all worked. When 4 year old Ruthie sits down to eat her lunch, her 6 year old brother Joe was the last to see her. Guilt will overcome him throughout the book blaming himself. A compelling look how families suffer the loss of a loved one and never any closure. The authorities were never much help due to their indifference and treatment of migrant workers.
A town over lives the affluent family and Judge who raise their only little girl Norma in a sheltered state. She has recurring dreams like visions or memories of other people she loved. Her mother convinces her they are dreams or her imagination. When she asks why her skin is different from her parents, they assure her she has Italian ancestry.
The loss of culture, innocence and family scrapes the human emotions raw. With little regard to a family that lives, loves and now suffers, leaves you angry. I'm glad this one was displayed so well on Instagram and reviewers because I would have missed out on the beauty of this writer's style.
A town over lives the affluent family and Judge who raise their only little girl Norma in a sheltered state. She has recurring dreams like visions or memories of other people she loved. Her mother convinces her they are dreams or her imagination. When she asks why her skin is different from her parents, they assure her she has Italian ancestry.
The loss of culture, innocence and family scrapes the human emotions raw. With little regard to a family that lives, loves and now suffers, leaves you angry. I'm glad this one was displayed so well on Instagram and reviewers because I would have missed out on the beauty of this writer's style.
May 18, 2023
The day Ruthie went missing, the blackflies seemed to be especially hungry. The white folks at the store where we got our supplies said that Indians made such good berry pickers because something sour in our blood kept the blackflies away. But even then, as a boy of six, I knew that wasn’t true. Blackflies don’t discriminate. But now, lying here almost fifty years to the day and getting eaten from the inside out by a disease I can’t even see, I’m not sure what’s true and what’s not anymore. Maybe we are sour.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed with : Somehow both highly melodramatic � with multiple misfortunes befalling one undeserving Mi'kmaq family � and completely unsurprising in its predictable plotting. But I’ll also add that I found this to be overdramatic and predictable in the vein of Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult � both highly successful authors with big fan bases � so I don’t mind concluding (and especially in light of this novel’s high rating on ŷ) that this just wasn’t a fit for me personally and I wish much success to debut author Amanda Peters. Slight spoilers beyond here (but as everything is given away in the first chapter, I wouldn’t consider them plot-ruining).
In the years since Ruthie went missing, Mom had come to a soft understanding of the situation. She would try her damnedest to not be sad. She couldn’t promise complete happiness or fully rid herself of the anger, no matter how many times a week she put on those shoes and walked to the big stone church in town, but she would harness the sadness. She would harness it and tame it and keep it still and quiet. And she did this by believing that Ruthie was out there somewhere, growing up, eating ice cream, reading books and remembering her mother. We let her. But we still looked.
In 1962, while her family was working an annual blueberry harvest in Maine, four-year-old Ruthie disappeared; and although her family would eventually be forced to go home to Nova Scotia without her, the tragedy would go on to affect her parents and siblings for the rest of their lives. As The Berry Pickers opens, the story of her disappearance is told from Ruthie’s brother Joe’s perspective as he lies dying of cancer in the family home in the modern day. Perspective in the next chapter shifts to that of a young girl named Norma narrating her unhappy life with cold and overbearing parents in the 60s, and it’s immediately clear that this is Ruthie growing up in the family that snatched her. POV rotates between Joe in the present � mostly telling the story of his hard life to his estranged daughter � and watching Ruthie/Norma grow into adulthood, always feeling a sense of disconnection from her ersatz parents.
As a Mi'kmaq, Joe experiences episodes of racism throughout his life, but I don’t know if Peters did the character any favours by portraying Joe � despite coming from a stable, loving family � as an angry and violent heavy drinker (which another character defends as understandable for someone with a history of intergenerational trauma which we just don’t see: Joe’s parents are hard-working, church-going, family-first and thoroughly present and supportive; the loss of Ruthie and other family drama notwithstanding). And when two major episodes of systemic racism are faced by the family � the local sheriff in Maine won’t help search for Ruthie, and when they return home, the local Indian Agent wants to take away the remaining children for their supposed protection � the family’s dad is aggressive and defiant without consequence (which on the one hand feels like grandiose wish-fulfilment, and on the other, makes it sound like if only more fathers would have levelled shotguns at the authorities, fewer children would have been stolen and sent off to the Residential Schools.) Despite some very dramatic events in the life of this family, this novel didn’t give me any feel for what it was like to have lived through those events as First Nations people.
I’ve always wondered at the secrets the dead take with them. Some are unintended secrets, things they never got around to saying, like “I’m sorry� or “The money is hidden in the shoebox at the back of the closet.� Some secrets are so dark that it’s best they remain buried. Even people who exude light and happiness have dark secrets. Sometimes, the lie becomes so entrenched it becomes the truth, hidden away in the deep recesses of the mind until death erases it, leaving the world a little different. Secrets and lies can take on a life of their own, they can be twisted and manipulated, or they can burst into the world from the mouth of someone just as they are starting to lose their mind.
Overall: This was interesting enough, and plenty happens � and I was not entirely unaffected emotionally � but The Berry Pickers was a middle-of-the-road read for me (but highly rated, so take my opinion for what's it's worth).
March 22, 2024
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. What a fantastic book! I wish it was longer. I didn’t want it to end. This will be a re-read 💙
November 9, 2023
After the first 3 chapters I could tell how this book would unfold. I only finished it to see if I was right. I was. No real surprises. A sad story. I think it could have been told differently to have had some surprises and suspense.
November 10, 2024
4.5 stars. There is a well-written novel that is ideal for a book club discussion. Please, don't judge the book by the first chapter! Keep reading. It takes off quickly. The "reveal" is early on for the reader. The Berry Pickers alternates between two narrators, Joe and Norma. Both characters and families carry heavy burdens. Though there was a sense of heaviness throughout the novel, it didn't feel like a burden to read it. I love books that resonate on an emotional level, and The Berry Pickers delivers-gut punch, after gut punch.
My favorite character in the book was Alice. There were several characters with sage advice, but hers really stood out to me (and to Norma). "Alice once said that anger and sadness are just two different sides of the same coin. Every time I started to feel angry, the coin flipped, and I cried." Anger and sadness can be considered just as prominent characters as Joe and Norma. Both Joe and Norma are well written, distinct characters that ring true throughout the entire narrative.
There were so many scenes that moved or resonated with me. I loved how characters looked to/at the stars. The story was cyclical and somewhat paralleled the berry season. I appreciated and loved the Joe came full circle. His was a story of running from his broken, guilt-ridden self was a redemptive one. Finding the doll was my second favorite encounter he had and I love how the outcome of finding it changed his life's direction. When he returns to pick berries, the manual labor he does on the cabin mirrors the internal work/growth happening within. My favorite encounter was with the woman carrying grass on the side of the plains during an electrical storm. Again, loved the cyclical rhythm here.
Norma's story was very engaging and more of a page turner for me. I was always waiting for the weight to fall. I love how she interrogated her theories and used the Punnett Square to draw her own conclusions about her origin. She, like Joe, carried incredible burdens and events in her later life are profoundly magnified by the past. My favorite two scenes were the protest in Boston and the cabin in Maine.
The Berry Pickers is part mystery, part family drama, and historical fiction at its best. I'm looking forward to discussing it at Book Club.
My favorite character in the book was Alice. There were several characters with sage advice, but hers really stood out to me (and to Norma). "Alice once said that anger and sadness are just two different sides of the same coin. Every time I started to feel angry, the coin flipped, and I cried." Anger and sadness can be considered just as prominent characters as Joe and Norma. Both Joe and Norma are well written, distinct characters that ring true throughout the entire narrative.
There were so many scenes that moved or resonated with me. I loved how characters looked to/at the stars. The story was cyclical and somewhat paralleled the berry season. I appreciated and loved the Joe came full circle. His was a story of running from his broken, guilt-ridden self was a redemptive one. Finding the doll was my second favorite encounter he had and I love how the outcome of finding it changed his life's direction. When he returns to pick berries, the manual labor he does on the cabin mirrors the internal work/growth happening within. My favorite encounter was with the woman carrying grass on the side of the plains during an electrical storm. Again, loved the cyclical rhythm here.
Norma's story was very engaging and more of a page turner for me. I was always waiting for the weight to fall. I love how she interrogated her theories and used the Punnett Square to draw her own conclusions about her origin. She, like Joe, carried incredible burdens and events in her later life are profoundly magnified by the past. My favorite two scenes were the protest in Boston and the cabin in Maine.
The Berry Pickers is part mystery, part family drama, and historical fiction at its best. I'm looking forward to discussing it at Book Club.
Read
January 10, 2024A beautiful, heartbreaking tale of the trauma and guilt that stem from a little girl's disappearance. The ending was so cathartic--the tension and sadness built up throughout the novel paid off!--and I teared up a few times. I loved getting to know the biological mother and spending time with her at the end. I don't think that I could be as forgiving toward her parents as Norma is. Highly recommended!
August 18, 2024
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters was a very impressive debut novel. It was a very emotional read for me. I also found it quite thought provoking. The plot centered around some very disturbing events that resulted in inflicting pain, sadness, grief and confusion on those who were affected by it. The Berry Pickers took place in Maine in the 1960’s and then wove its way through the next fifty years. It revolved around one unplanned act that was so easily accomplished, yet so devious in its execution that lives were changed drastically. I listened to the audiobook that was narrated by Aaliya Warbus and Jordan Waunch. Both narrators did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life in The Berry Pickers.
In the 1960’s, it was common for Indigenous families to find employment as blueberry pickers in Maine. One such family from Nova Scotia, part of the Mi’kmaq tribe, had been doing just that for many years. They looked forward to those summers. The work was hard but they enjoyed the camaraderie they shared with each other. This particular family had five children. The mother and father were loving and kind but expected respect and honesty from all their children. The home they occupied each summer was not the biggest or the most impressive but it was clean and comfortable.
Of the five children, Ruthie was the youngest. Ruthie had been four years old in July of 1962. One day, while most of the family was picking blueberries, Ruthie’s six year old brother, Joe, ate lunch with Ruthie on what was known as her rock. Joe left Ruthie on her rock eating a sandwich while he went back to work picking blueberries. Hours later, when the family had gathered back at their house, Ruthie had not returned. The family went to look for her. Their search went on for weeks. The local sheriff was called in but they insisted that they had more pressing matters to address before they could assist the family with looking for Ruthie. Ruthie had simply disappeared. Joe had been the last family member to see Ruthie before she disappeared from their life completely. He would carry that guilt with him for his entire life. That was the last year the family worked in Maine picking blueberries.
Norma grew up in an affluent family as an only child. Her mother had lost several babies before Norma came along so she was very protective of Norma. As a result, Norma was not allowed to do a lot of things children expected to do. She did not have play dates outside of school, nor was Norma allowed to take her bike out to go for a ride. Her mother insisted that Norma call her mother at all times, not mom or mommy. From a young age, Norma had recurring dreams about a girl named Ruthie and another mother. These dreams were brushed aside by her parents. As Norma got older, she questioned why she did not look like either one of her parents. Her skin was much darker than both her parents and her ears were different from their ears. She had a gnawing feeling that she did not belong. Norma’s parade of questions usually resulted in one of her mother’s debilitating headaches which only made Norma feel worse for asking them. Norma was fed, clothed, provided with a good education and well cared for but the home Norma grew up in was lacking in love, warmth and a true sense of family.
The Berry Pickers was well written and well plotted. It was hard for me not to get angry at the actions, secrecy and lack of accountability of some of the characters in this book. I hated what they had done and how they supported one another by keeping the secret. The mystery of Ruthie’s disappearance took almost fifty years to unfold and come full circle. Norma/ Ruthie was fifty four years old before she learned her true identity. The Berry Pickers was about kidnapping, prejudiced feelings toward Indigenous people, family, loss, identity, grief, discrimination, never losing hope, death and terminal illness. This was a haunting story that still has ramifications in the present day. Too many children continue to go missing everyday and are often never found. Discrimination, racism and prejudice sadly have not come close to being eradicated from our world. I really enjoyed The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters and highly recommend it.
In the 1960’s, it was common for Indigenous families to find employment as blueberry pickers in Maine. One such family from Nova Scotia, part of the Mi’kmaq tribe, had been doing just that for many years. They looked forward to those summers. The work was hard but they enjoyed the camaraderie they shared with each other. This particular family had five children. The mother and father were loving and kind but expected respect and honesty from all their children. The home they occupied each summer was not the biggest or the most impressive but it was clean and comfortable.
Of the five children, Ruthie was the youngest. Ruthie had been four years old in July of 1962. One day, while most of the family was picking blueberries, Ruthie’s six year old brother, Joe, ate lunch with Ruthie on what was known as her rock. Joe left Ruthie on her rock eating a sandwich while he went back to work picking blueberries. Hours later, when the family had gathered back at their house, Ruthie had not returned. The family went to look for her. Their search went on for weeks. The local sheriff was called in but they insisted that they had more pressing matters to address before they could assist the family with looking for Ruthie. Ruthie had simply disappeared. Joe had been the last family member to see Ruthie before she disappeared from their life completely. He would carry that guilt with him for his entire life. That was the last year the family worked in Maine picking blueberries.
Norma grew up in an affluent family as an only child. Her mother had lost several babies before Norma came along so she was very protective of Norma. As a result, Norma was not allowed to do a lot of things children expected to do. She did not have play dates outside of school, nor was Norma allowed to take her bike out to go for a ride. Her mother insisted that Norma call her mother at all times, not mom or mommy. From a young age, Norma had recurring dreams about a girl named Ruthie and another mother. These dreams were brushed aside by her parents. As Norma got older, she questioned why she did not look like either one of her parents. Her skin was much darker than both her parents and her ears were different from their ears. She had a gnawing feeling that she did not belong. Norma’s parade of questions usually resulted in one of her mother’s debilitating headaches which only made Norma feel worse for asking them. Norma was fed, clothed, provided with a good education and well cared for but the home Norma grew up in was lacking in love, warmth and a true sense of family.
The Berry Pickers was well written and well plotted. It was hard for me not to get angry at the actions, secrecy and lack of accountability of some of the characters in this book. I hated what they had done and how they supported one another by keeping the secret. The mystery of Ruthie’s disappearance took almost fifty years to unfold and come full circle. Norma/ Ruthie was fifty four years old before she learned her true identity. The Berry Pickers was about kidnapping, prejudiced feelings toward Indigenous people, family, loss, identity, grief, discrimination, never losing hope, death and terminal illness. This was a haunting story that still has ramifications in the present day. Too many children continue to go missing everyday and are often never found. Discrimination, racism and prejudice sadly have not come close to being eradicated from our world. I really enjoyed The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters and highly recommend it.
September 26, 2024
Great story, I really, really liked it. Very different and character driven, moving and sad. I appreciated the alternating POV chapters between Joe & Norma and the broken lives they both had, from this horrible event that happened when they were so very young, their childhood trauma was so intense. This is also not a far-fetched thing to have happened to Ruthie - just the other day I read on my news feed about a man having been found after 70 years by his birth family that he was abducted from!🤯🤯
April 16, 2025
This was an incredibly moving story about two people dealing with loss. Joe is haunted by the loss of his younger sister when she was only four years old while Norma is a woman disconnected from her early childhood. They both grow up with ghosts that follow them around, impacting the way they move through the world and in relationships. The story beautifully balances their two tales in culminates in a touching and memorable ending.
This ended up being a much more character driven and slow paced story than I anticipated, but I didn’t mind. It’s pretty clear from early on what happened, so the rest of the story unpacks how it affects the characters and ultimately why it happened. I thought Amanda peters did a really great job at portraying a realistic response to trauma and the many ways families experience child loss, especially. For that, it can be a difficult book to read at times, but that also makes it very important and touching. It avoids being melodramatic or cheesy, rather lending gravitas to these very real experiences of indigenous people. But it’s a story I think many people can relate to even in some small way.
I loved both Joe and Norma, even if there were times when I wanted to scream at them, but at other times, I wanted to give them a hug. The sign of a well written character.
This ended up being a much more character driven and slow paced story than I anticipated, but I didn’t mind. It’s pretty clear from early on what happened, so the rest of the story unpacks how it affects the characters and ultimately why it happened. I thought Amanda peters did a really great job at portraying a realistic response to trauma and the many ways families experience child loss, especially. For that, it can be a difficult book to read at times, but that also makes it very important and touching. It avoids being melodramatic or cheesy, rather lending gravitas to these very real experiences of indigenous people. But it’s a story I think many people can relate to even in some small way.
I loved both Joe and Norma, even if there were times when I wanted to scream at them, but at other times, I wanted to give them a hug. The sign of a well written character.
September 7, 2024
Un roman răvășitor, pe care mă bucur nespus că l-am citit. Aveam nevoie de cărți care să prezinte povești de viață deosebite, iar asta a venit la fix.
"Culegătorii de afine" este despre regăsire, egoism, revoltă, suferință, putere, pierdere. Un amalgam care mi-a intrat la suflet. Mi-a amintit de "Viața ca un râu", doar că aici povestea este chiar mai complexă.
Nu m-a deranjat nici măcar faptul că avem doi naratori și că ambii fac salturi din prezent în trecut și înapoi în prezent.
Citiți-o, atât pot spune. Mai ales toamna sau în apropierea sărbătorilor cred că ar fi și mai potrivită, dacă vă doriți o poveste de familie sensibilă, cu multe traume, dar plină de iubire.
"Culegătorii de afine" este despre regăsire, egoism, revoltă, suferință, putere, pierdere. Un amalgam care mi-a intrat la suflet. Mi-a amintit de "Viața ca un râu", doar că aici povestea este chiar mai complexă.
Nu m-a deranjat nici măcar faptul că avem doi naratori și că ambii fac salturi din prezent în trecut și înapoi în prezent.
Citiți-o, atât pot spune. Mai ales toamna sau în apropierea sărbătorilor cred că ar fi și mai potrivită, dacă vă doriți o poveste de familie sensibilă, cu multe traume, dar plină de iubire.
April 23, 2025
finished & deff think it's overhyped 👀🫐 i’m sorrryyyyyy
i honestly think it’s bc some of these characters are my least favorite EVER (i’m looking at you, Norma's mom). i simply couldn't get past it and how she had no remorse or accountability and that half of the resolution made me so angry / wanting more...
i also did not feel connected to Joe’s story at all. it felt all over the place and was hard for me to follow—maybe that was bc it was on audio but the nonlinear timeline of his POV was hard to connect to and understand.
that said, i learned a lot and always think it's interesting to explore how childhood trauma effects you through life so looking through that lens, this was very well done. it was interesting to see Norma and Joe’s POVs juxtaposed side by side and how their experiences ended up being so different but also similar in ways after the same event. this book challenges you to really think about how grief and how knowing your background/who you are/who your family is may really effect your self identity.
idk if the reveal of who Norma is was supposed to be a shock but i think it’s pretty intuitive from chapter 2? there are some plot holes with Norma’s POV for me and questions left unanswered�
this author has absolutely beautiful writing and i am shocked it’s her debut! would read more by her but ultimately couldn’t get connected to this one. but i suppose that’s low key a round of applause to the author bc she sure made me feel powerfully about some characters LOL
emo ending for sure! and the cover is gorg!!! just a bit of a miss for me and maybe that’s bc it is mismarketed?! certainly not a thriller but also not a family drama in my eyes
i honestly think it’s bc some of these characters are my least favorite EVER (i’m looking at you, Norma's mom). i simply couldn't get past it and how she had no remorse or accountability and that half of the resolution made me so angry / wanting more...
i also did not feel connected to Joe’s story at all. it felt all over the place and was hard for me to follow—maybe that was bc it was on audio but the nonlinear timeline of his POV was hard to connect to and understand.
that said, i learned a lot and always think it's interesting to explore how childhood trauma effects you through life so looking through that lens, this was very well done. it was interesting to see Norma and Joe’s POVs juxtaposed side by side and how their experiences ended up being so different but also similar in ways after the same event. this book challenges you to really think about how grief and how knowing your background/who you are/who your family is may really effect your self identity.
idk if the reveal of who Norma is was supposed to be a shock but i think it’s pretty intuitive from chapter 2? there are some plot holes with Norma’s POV for me and questions left unanswered�
this author has absolutely beautiful writing and i am shocked it’s her debut! would read more by her but ultimately couldn’t get connected to this one. but i suppose that’s low key a round of applause to the author bc she sure made me feel powerfully about some characters LOL
emo ending for sure! and the cover is gorg!!! just a bit of a miss for me and maybe that’s bc it is mismarketed?! certainly not a thriller but also not a family drama in my eyes
January 6, 2024
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Debut
Affiliate Link:
Release Date: October 31st, 2023
General Genre: Literary, Coming-of-Age, Family Life, Native & Aboriginal, Mystery, Canadian Fic
Sub-Genre/Themes: Missing Child, Kidnapped, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, child kidnapping victims, indigenous families, domestic drama, family secrets, life-altering events, childhood trauma, small town life, church/religion, faith, death & dying, dementia, identity, mysteries, grief/blame
Writing Style: Multiple POV, back-and-forth timelines between two characters, character-driven, family saga, intricately plotted, haunting
What You Need to Know: Sometimes I read outside my preferred genre. I like to dip into some psychological thrillers–especially from BIPOC voices. The Berry Pickers is maybe one of the “buzziest� books of the year. I have seen it in conversation everywhere and it’s not wrong, it’s a striking debut novel from Amanda Peters. I listened to the audiobook and read my physical copy
My Reading Experience:
I loved my time in this book. I listened to the audiobook (I scored it from my library, I don’t know how since it’s a brand new title) and read the last 40% or so myself because the audio was going slowly and I needed to know what happened!
The story goes back and forth between an indigenous family who loses their youngest member, a young girl named Ruthie while they are picking blueberries on the clock at a local farm. Her brother, Joe, is the last to see her before she goes missing so one POV is his perspective and the other narrative is Ruthie’s after she has been living with the couple that kidnapped her. I loved the voices of both narrators. They were perfect! Occasionally, I’m not sure if it was the narrator’s voice or the style of the writing, but sometimes the story felt trite. A bit “Hallmark Movie� or cheesy. But this feeling was few and far between during a particularly emotional segment or reflection. It didn’t hinder my reading experience, I just took note of it.
Peters explores themes of grief and loss and the impacts of how tragedy can change an entire family’s dynamic in an instant with immaculate insight and precision. She cuts to the quick. My eyes stung with tears throughout my reading experience and I was a mess at the end.
I enjoyed the way the two narratives run alongside each other–the reader is ever hopeful that they will converge at some point. I have to confess, I preferred Ruthie’s (Norma’s) story a bit more than Joe’s…I was fascinated by the family dynamic between Norma and her mother. The evolution of their relationship over decades was riveting. Joe’s story is slightly less compelling because it’s just so sad–the aftermath of tragedy and a life lived under the shadow of what happens to their family…my heart desired the mystery more than the misery.
Final Recommendation: This is a heartfelt, poignant tale told in a way that is both exceptionally detailed in its character development and intricately plotted which makes for a fulfilling reading experience. Truly a remarkable debut.
Comps: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, White Horse by Erika T. Wurth, Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: Debut
Affiliate Link:
Release Date: October 31st, 2023
General Genre: Literary, Coming-of-Age, Family Life, Native & Aboriginal, Mystery, Canadian Fic
Sub-Genre/Themes: Missing Child, Kidnapped, Maine, Boston, Massachusetts, child kidnapping victims, indigenous families, domestic drama, family secrets, life-altering events, childhood trauma, small town life, church/religion, faith, death & dying, dementia, identity, mysteries, grief/blame
Writing Style: Multiple POV, back-and-forth timelines between two characters, character-driven, family saga, intricately plotted, haunting
What You Need to Know: Sometimes I read outside my preferred genre. I like to dip into some psychological thrillers–especially from BIPOC voices. The Berry Pickers is maybe one of the “buzziest� books of the year. I have seen it in conversation everywhere and it’s not wrong, it’s a striking debut novel from Amanda Peters. I listened to the audiobook and read my physical copy
My Reading Experience:
I loved my time in this book. I listened to the audiobook (I scored it from my library, I don’t know how since it’s a brand new title) and read the last 40% or so myself because the audio was going slowly and I needed to know what happened!
The story goes back and forth between an indigenous family who loses their youngest member, a young girl named Ruthie while they are picking blueberries on the clock at a local farm. Her brother, Joe, is the last to see her before she goes missing so one POV is his perspective and the other narrative is Ruthie’s after she has been living with the couple that kidnapped her. I loved the voices of both narrators. They were perfect! Occasionally, I’m not sure if it was the narrator’s voice or the style of the writing, but sometimes the story felt trite. A bit “Hallmark Movie� or cheesy. But this feeling was few and far between during a particularly emotional segment or reflection. It didn’t hinder my reading experience, I just took note of it.
Peters explores themes of grief and loss and the impacts of how tragedy can change an entire family’s dynamic in an instant with immaculate insight and precision. She cuts to the quick. My eyes stung with tears throughout my reading experience and I was a mess at the end.
I enjoyed the way the two narratives run alongside each other–the reader is ever hopeful that they will converge at some point. I have to confess, I preferred Ruthie’s (Norma’s) story a bit more than Joe’s…I was fascinated by the family dynamic between Norma and her mother. The evolution of their relationship over decades was riveting. Joe’s story is slightly less compelling because it’s just so sad–the aftermath of tragedy and a life lived under the shadow of what happens to their family…my heart desired the mystery more than the misery.
Final Recommendation: This is a heartfelt, poignant tale told in a way that is both exceptionally detailed in its character development and intricately plotted which makes for a fulfilling reading experience. Truly a remarkable debut.
Comps: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, White Horse by Erika T. Wurth, Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
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January 21, 2025Pożarłem tę powieść w mgnieniu oka � okazała się nieoczekiwanie angażująca i wzruszająca. Kilkukrotnie poczułem ściśnięcie w sercu, bo mam słabość do historii o wielkiej niesprawiedliwości, zwłaszcza wobec tych, którzy już wcześniej doświadczyli cierpienia. Tym razem to historia rdzennej społeczności z amerykańskich ziem. Amanda Peters snuje opowieść o rodzinie z plemienia Mi’kmaq, nie zagłębiając się przesadnie w szczegóły polityki kolonialnej, choć echo jej skutków rozbrzmiewa w każdym rozdziale � od przymusowej separacji członków rodzin po adopcje dzieci, które odebrano swoim bliskim.
Centralnym punktem powieści jest los małej dziewczynki z plemiennej rodziny � Ruthie, która zostaje porwana, zabrana, wręcz skradziona. To przejmująca metafora � odebranie dziecku tego, co najcenniejsze: niewinności, przyszłości, spuścizny. Zniknięcie Ruthie symbolizuje także stratę całej generacji. I tak zaczyna się opowieść.
Peters prowadzi narrację z dwóch perspektyw: Normy i Joego. Norma, wychowywana przez białą amerykańską rodzinę, próbuje odnaleźć się w świecie, który nie należy do niej, a czytelnik może się domyślać, kim była kiedyś. Joe natomiast leży na łożu śmierci, nękany wyrzutami sumienia i nieprzepracowaną stratą siostry, którą widział jako ostatni przed jej zniknięciem. Jego życie naznaczone jest bólem, chorobą i kolejnymi stratami, które wydają się nieuchronne. Peters znakomicie ukazuje międzypokoleniową traumę, analizując skomplikowane relacje rodzinne i ich wpływ na jednostki uwikłane w system zależności i bólu.
W miarę rozwoju fabuły czytelnik coraz bardziej odczuwa ciężar cierpienia bohaterów, współodczuwając z nimi tęsknotę i próbę odnalezienia nadziei na lepsze jutro. Narastająca frustracja towarzyszy także świadomości, że my wiemy więcej niż bohaterowie � widzimy, jak blisko są rozwiązania, którego oni nie dostrzegają. Czy ich los się odmieni? Czy odnajdą spokój? Tego zdradzić nie mogę, ale finał z pewnością pozostawia ślad.
Utrata korzeni odciska swoje piętno na Ruthie, a jej wymuszona asymilacja w białej rodzinie jest fascynującym, choć bolesnym wątkiem. Nikt nie chciałby znaleźć się w sytuacji, w której pamięta się o czymś ważnym, a otoczenie wmawia, że to jedynie sen. Peters w subtelny sposób pokazuje, jak świat Ruthie, który powinien być jej prawdziwym domem, stopniowo rozpływa się w zapomnieniu. To jednak nie jest łatwe do oceny � po lekturze można zadać sobie pytanie, czy życie Ruthie faktycznie mogłoby być lepsze, gdyby została z rodziną. To pytanie bez jednoznacznej odpowiedzi, które zmusza do refleksji.
Symbolika borówek, natury i ziemi dodaje książce duchowego wymiaru. Dla rdzennych ludów przyroda zawsze była czymś więcej niż tłem � Peters uchwyciła to w sposób delikatny i znaczący. Pola, lasy czy jeziora nie tylko budują atmosferę, ale także wpływają na losy bohaterów, prowadząc ich � świadomie lub nie � w kierunku pojednania.
To powieść, która emocjonalnie nie oszczędza czytelnika. To rzetelny dramat, który pozostawia w głowie zarówno piękne, jak i straszne obrazy. W moim odczuciu idealny materiał na ekranizację. „Zbieracze borówek� to opowieść o przeszłości, która nigdy nas nie opuszcza, o tęsknocie za rodziną i własnym miejscem w świecie. Piękna i niezapomniana.
Centralnym punktem powieści jest los małej dziewczynki z plemiennej rodziny � Ruthie, która zostaje porwana, zabrana, wręcz skradziona. To przejmująca metafora � odebranie dziecku tego, co najcenniejsze: niewinności, przyszłości, spuścizny. Zniknięcie Ruthie symbolizuje także stratę całej generacji. I tak zaczyna się opowieść.
Peters prowadzi narrację z dwóch perspektyw: Normy i Joego. Norma, wychowywana przez białą amerykańską rodzinę, próbuje odnaleźć się w świecie, który nie należy do niej, a czytelnik może się domyślać, kim była kiedyś. Joe natomiast leży na łożu śmierci, nękany wyrzutami sumienia i nieprzepracowaną stratą siostry, którą widział jako ostatni przed jej zniknięciem. Jego życie naznaczone jest bólem, chorobą i kolejnymi stratami, które wydają się nieuchronne. Peters znakomicie ukazuje międzypokoleniową traumę, analizując skomplikowane relacje rodzinne i ich wpływ na jednostki uwikłane w system zależności i bólu.
W miarę rozwoju fabuły czytelnik coraz bardziej odczuwa ciężar cierpienia bohaterów, współodczuwając z nimi tęsknotę i próbę odnalezienia nadziei na lepsze jutro. Narastająca frustracja towarzyszy także świadomości, że my wiemy więcej niż bohaterowie � widzimy, jak blisko są rozwiązania, którego oni nie dostrzegają. Czy ich los się odmieni? Czy odnajdą spokój? Tego zdradzić nie mogę, ale finał z pewnością pozostawia ślad.
Utrata korzeni odciska swoje piętno na Ruthie, a jej wymuszona asymilacja w białej rodzinie jest fascynującym, choć bolesnym wątkiem. Nikt nie chciałby znaleźć się w sytuacji, w której pamięta się o czymś ważnym, a otoczenie wmawia, że to jedynie sen. Peters w subtelny sposób pokazuje, jak świat Ruthie, który powinien być jej prawdziwym domem, stopniowo rozpływa się w zapomnieniu. To jednak nie jest łatwe do oceny � po lekturze można zadać sobie pytanie, czy życie Ruthie faktycznie mogłoby być lepsze, gdyby została z rodziną. To pytanie bez jednoznacznej odpowiedzi, które zmusza do refleksji.
Symbolika borówek, natury i ziemi dodaje książce duchowego wymiaru. Dla rdzennych ludów przyroda zawsze była czymś więcej niż tłem � Peters uchwyciła to w sposób delikatny i znaczący. Pola, lasy czy jeziora nie tylko budują atmosferę, ale także wpływają na losy bohaterów, prowadząc ich � świadomie lub nie � w kierunku pojednania.
To powieść, która emocjonalnie nie oszczędza czytelnika. To rzetelny dramat, który pozostawia w głowie zarówno piękne, jak i straszne obrazy. W moim odczuciu idealny materiał na ekranizację. „Zbieracze borówek� to opowieść o przeszłości, która nigdy nas nie opuszcza, o tęsknocie za rodziną i własnym miejscem w świecie. Piękna i niezapomniana.
November 21, 2024
4/5 ⭐️ This book broke my heart. Wow. I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters and how the tragedies they had to suffer through affected their entire lives. This was also so beautifully written that I had to push through the heart ache 😭. The author did a great job at keeping me invested in the lives of the characters! It was a really beautiful and painful read.
My only complaint was that the pacing of the story felt a bit too slow at times.
My only complaint was that the pacing of the story felt a bit too slow at times.
December 9, 2024
Amanda Peters� debut novel examines a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia as they grapple with decades-old trauma. Each summer the family travels from Nova Scotia to Maine to work as berry pickers with other members of their Mi’kmaq Nation. When tragedy occurs and a young girl is kidnapped from the blueberry field, Peters adeptly focuses on the power of family and forgiveness, counterbalancing the stereotypical Indigenous intergenerational trauma.
I connected with the characters and the narrative, not because I had anything in common with them, but because of how the author invited me into the story. I felt like I was sitting around the campfire in the middle of the berry field in Maine listening to the characters talk. My empathy was ignited by their painful retelling of the loss of a beloved family member, by their defense in explaining their choices made in protecting a loved one, their reconciliation, their attempts at finding ‘home� and their true selves, and their new beginnings.
This was the alumni book club pick for my university book club and 562 of us tuned in live today for the author talk!
Have you read this book?
Did you know that� ?
❓the first line came to the author in 2017 as she stood with her father in the berry fields in Maine where he had worked every summer?
❓That this book was a 4.5 year project?
❓That it began as a short story about Joe?
❓That the author has just completed a screenplay based on the book?
I connected with the characters and the narrative, not because I had anything in common with them, but because of how the author invited me into the story. I felt like I was sitting around the campfire in the middle of the berry field in Maine listening to the characters talk. My empathy was ignited by their painful retelling of the loss of a beloved family member, by their defense in explaining their choices made in protecting a loved one, their reconciliation, their attempts at finding ‘home� and their true selves, and their new beginnings.
This was the alumni book club pick for my university book club and 562 of us tuned in live today for the author talk!
Have you read this book?
Did you know that� ?
❓the first line came to the author in 2017 as she stood with her father in the berry fields in Maine where he had worked every summer?
❓That this book was a 4.5 year project?
❓That it began as a short story about Joe?
❓That the author has just completed a screenplay based on the book?
January 8, 2024
if this is read as an exploration of what it means to be uprooted from one's culture (in this case the Mi'kmaq) it is successful; but otherwise i have some concerns.
November 30, 2023
Sobbing 10/10 No notes 😭
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