A review by serendipitysbooks
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

 The Berry Pickers is a great debut novel. It opens in 1962 with a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia who have travelled to Maine for a summer of blueberry picking. Within a few weeks the family’s youngest child, four year old Ruthie, disappears. Her six year old brother Joe was the last person to see her. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Joe and of Norma. The story is not a mystery; that Norma is Ruthie is not a spoiler. The focus of this story is not so much what happened to Ruthie but how her life and that of Joe unfolded, how being separated from her birth family impacted her life and how her disappearance impacted his. Both have suffered, Joe in ways that are perhaps more obvious, but this is ultimately an uplifting story about redemption, forgiveness, identity, belonging, and the strength of family ties. The characters are well drawn and I could feel both Joe and Ruthie’s pain, different though they were. I liked the ways aspects of indigenous life - the annual rhythm of life and work, discrimination and lack of respect from police, employers and others, the effort people had to put in to learning their own language and aspects of their culture - were incorporated into the story, underpinning the narrative rather than dominating or being the focus. I do want to mention a trigger warning for miscarriage, something readers might not be expecting from the book’s synopsis. This novel was well written and enjoyable to read. I’ll be keen to read whatever Amanda Peters writes next. 
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