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The Berry Pickers: A Novel
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years
"A stunning debut about love, race, brutality, and the balm of forgiveness." —People, A Best New Book
July 1962. Following in the tradition of Indigenous workers from Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq family 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.
“An unforgettable exploration of grief, love, and kin,” (The Boston Globe), this show stopping 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.
2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years
"A stunning debut about love, race, brutality, and the balm of forgiveness." —People, A Best New Book
July 1962. Following in the tradition of Indigenous workers from Nova Scotia, a Mi’kmaq family 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.
“An unforgettable exploration of grief, love, and kin,” (The Boston Globe), this show stopping 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.
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Community Reviews
"The Berry Pickers" tells a poignant story centred around Ruthie, the cherished youngest child in a Native American family who mysteriously disappears one day while her family is out berry picking. The narrative unfolds through the voices of her older self and her brother, Joe, as they navigate their lives post-disappearance. While Ruthie's vanishing significantly alters the course of their lives, the siblings' experiences diverge in unexpected ways, prompting readers to ponder whether their paths will ever converge again.
The story beautifully illustrates the complexities of familial love, highlighting that while love exists within a family, its expression can vary significantly among members. The unique structure of the narrative reveals much from the outset, yet it captivates through the rich storytelling from Norma and Joe’s perspectives. One resonates particularly among the many profound quotes: "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 sentiment encapsulates the themes of time, loss, and the fleeting nature of life, adding depth to the reading experience.
Beautiful story
I did not want to put this book down! It grabbed me right from the start and wouldn't let go.
A little girl goes missing and it changes her family forever. Told from the point of view of two siblings, in alternating chapters, and how their lives unfold.
I did not want to put this book down! It grabbed me right from the start and wouldn't let go.
A little girl goes missing and it changes her family forever. Told from the point of view of two siblings, in alternating chapters, and how their lives unfold.
Very good for a first time author. Two things bothered me, 1. Didn’t like being told the ending in the beginning (but did cry at the end), 2. I have some knowledge of migrant workers in the late 1990s and I felt she missed so many opportunities to show the hardships they endure. Doing so would have further shown the differences in Norma and Ruth’s lives.
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