The Berry Pickers

On a hot day in 1960s Maine, six-year-old Joe watches his little sister Ruthie, sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of the blueberry fields, while their family, Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia, pick fruit. That afternoon, Ruthie vanishes without a trace. As the last person to see her, Joe will be forever haunted by grief, guilt, and the agony of imagining how his life could have been.

In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma is growing up as the only child of unhappy parents. She is smart, precocious, and bursting with questions she isn’t allowed to ask – about her missing baby photos; her dark skin; the strange, vivid dreams of campfires and warm embraces that return night after night. Norma senses there are things her parents aren’t telling her, but it will take decades to unravel the secrets they have kept buried since she was a little girl.

The Berry Pickers is an exquisitely moving story of unrelenting hope, unwavering love, and the power of family – even in the face of grief and betrayal.

''Marvellous ... Amanda Peters is going to be the next big thing ... The Berry Pickers is a triumph'' Katherena Vermette, author of The Strangers<>

Report

For fans of Celeste Ng and Ann Patchett, this quietly beautiful book will break, then mend, your heart Sarah Gelman Amazon, The Best Books of 2023

Product details

• Authors: Amanda Peters
• Publisher: Penguin Books Uk
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 18.07.2024
• EAN: 9781405965927
• ISBN: 978-1-4059-6592-7
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 35 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Family Life / General, Historical fiction, FICTION / Literary, Maine, FICTION / Cultural Heritage, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Relating to indigenous peoples, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, c 1960 to c 1969, FICTION / Own Voices, FICTION / World Literature / Canada / General, FICTION / Historical / 20th Century / General