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A Novel
by Amanda Peters
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 family, and will remain 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.
About the The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Join us in our discussion of The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
-system
If you were going to write a novel based on stories of family history your parents told you, as Amanda Peters has here, where would it be set and what might it be about?
If you were going to write a novel based on stories of family history your parents told you, as Amanda Peters has here, where would it be set and what might it be about?
-kim.kovacs
What audience would you recommend The Berry Pickers to? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
What audience would you recommend The Berry Pickers to? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
-kim.kovacs
Overall, what did you think of The Berry Pickers (no spoilers, please!)
Overall, what did you think of The Berry Pickers (no spoilers, please!)
-kim.kovacs
What did you think about Lewis, Joe’s father, faking a stereotype to make more money from wealthy recreational hunters?
What did you think about Lewis, Joe's father, faking a stereotype to make more money from wealthy recreational hunters?
-kim.kovacs
After Ruthie goes missing, what do you think keeps the remaining family members bound together? What do you think pulls them apart?
After Ruthie goes missing, what do you think keeps the remaining family members bound together? What do you think pulls them apart?
-kim.kovacs
On page 7 there’s an exchange between Joe and his father regarding Frankie, the town drunk. Joe is told, “[B]e kind to Frankie. You never know when you might need kindness from people.” How do you think this plays out throughout the rest of the novel?
On page 7 there's an exchange between Joe and his father regarding Frankie, the town drunk. Joe is told, "[B]e kind to Frankie. You never know when you might need kindness from people." How do you think this plays out throughout the rest of the novel?
-kim.kovacs
Mae ends up being Joe’s caretaker, much to his surprise (“I would never have imagined Mae as the caring type” – p. 47). Do you think this side of her was always buried within, or did she change over time? Why do you believe this?
Mae ends up being Joe's caretaker, much to his surprise ("I would never have imagined Mae as the caring type" – p. 47). Do you think this side of her was always buried within, or did she change over time? Why do you believe this?
-kim.kovacs
Is there a quote or section of the book that had special meaning for you? Why do you think it resonated?
Is there a quote or section of the book that had special meaning for you? Why do you think it resonated?
-kim.kovacs
Did you prefer Joe's voice, Norma's, or the combination? Were there other characters you wished could give their point of view?
Did you prefer Joe's voice, Norma's, or the combination? Were there other characters you wished could give their point of view?
-kim.kovacs
You might say this story is ultimately about forgiveness. Are you able to find all the major characters redeemable in some way, or are there any you cannot forgive?
You might say this story is ultimately about forgiveness. Are you able to find all the major characters redeemable in some way, or are there any you cannot forgive?
-kim.kovacs
When did you figure out the relationship between the two storylines, and how did it make you feel?
When did you figure out the relationship between the two storylines, and how did it make you feel?
-kim.kovacs
How do you feel the opening line sets the scene? What expectations did it give you for the story, and were those fulfilled?
Amanda Peters has said that the opening line "The day Ruthie went missing, the blackflies seemed to be especially hungry" came to her, and the rest of the book followed. How did this line set the scene? What expectations did it give you for the story, and were those fulfilled?
-kim.kovacs
In the end, why do you think Norma's mother did the very drastic thing she did?
In the end, why do you think Norma's mother did the very drastic thing she did?
-kim.kovacs
June tells Lenore that “kids don’t even start to form actual memories until they are five or six” (p.35). Do you agree with this? What’s your first memory?
June tells Lenore that "kids don't even start to form actual memories until they are five or six" (p.35). Do you agree with this? What's your first memory?
-kim.kovacs
Why do you feel Norma had so much difficulty maintaining relationships? Do you have friends from childhood or college, or have you lost touch with most friends from earlier days?
Why do you feel Norma had so much difficulty maintaining relationships? Do you have friends from childhood or college, or have you lost touch with most friends from earlier days?
-kim.kovacs
The family receives very little help from the authorities when Ruthie goes missing. How do you think this scenario would have been different today? What factors do you think influence a quick response when someone disappears?
The family receives very little help when Ruthie goes missing. A police officer tells them (p. 18), "If you were so concerned about the girl, you'd have taken better notice, I guess." How do you think this scenario would have been different today? What factors do you think influence a quick respo...
-kim.kovacs
Why do you think art-making becomes so important in the story? Are there other themes that jump out at you about making a meaningful life after loss?
Why do you think art-making becomes so important in the story? Are there other themes that jump out at you about making a meaningful life after loss?
-kim.kovacs
How does Norma's feeling of being stuck between worlds come out in the story? In what ways might other characters feel a sense of duality or out of placeness?
How does Norma's feeling of being stuck between worlds come out in the story? In what ways might other characters feel a sense of duality or out of placeness?
-kim.kovacs
How does Ruthie's disappearance echo tragedies and atrocities in the broader history of Indigenous peoples? Have you learned more since reading the book?
How does Ruthie's disappearance echo tragedies and atrocities in the broader history of Indigenous peoples? Have you learned more since reading the book?
-kim.kovacs
Have you ever discovered a family secret? How did it change your relationship with the people around you?
Have you ever discovered a family secret? How did it change your relationship with the people around you?
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (2024-10-31)
I just finished The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, about a Native American family of berry pickers whose four-year-old daughter goes missing. The plot is character-driven and there's not a lot of act...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (11/07/2024)
I am currently listening to The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller–A unique and beautifully lyrical retelling of Achilles and the Trojan War–and The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters–Alternating chapters told by Norma [four-year-old Ruthie who suddenly 'goes missing'] and her older brother Joe, both members of the Mi'k maq tribe i...
-Sunny
"Peters beautifully explores loss, grief, hope, and the invisible tether that keeps families intact even when they are ripped apart. A quiet and poignant debut from a writer to watch." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Enthralling ... Powerfully rendered ... [A] cogent and heartfelt look at the ineffable pull of family ties." —Publishers Weekly
"Peters' debut combines narrative skill and a poignant story for a wonderful novel to which many readers will gravitate ... Indigenous stories like this matter." —Booklist
"One family's secret is the source of another family's pain in this poignant debut that reads like a modern literary classic. Moving, heartbreaking, and hopeful, The Berry Pickers is a powerful tale of haunting regret, bonds that will never be broken, and unrelenting love. Amanda Peters's skilled storytelling evokes all the sensations of summer in Maine, singing around a fire, and the horror that takes hold when a child goes missing." —Nick Medina, author of Sisters of the Lost Nation
"With every sense engaged, and in a lyrical tribute to her father's stories, Amanda Peters manages to take you home to the east coast in the very best ways—through family love and personal grief and the precious accounting of minutes and memories. You cannot help but love these characters from the first chapter, they stay with you long after the last page." —Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves
"A marvelous debut. The Berry Pickers has all the passion of a first book but also the finely developed skill of a well-practiced storyteller. I can't believe Amanda Peters is just getting started. She writes like someone who has been doing this a long time, and no doubt she has, only now we get to share in the creativity of her amazing mind. She's going to be the next big thing. I am placing my bets now. The Berry Pickers is a triumph." —Katherena Vermette, author of The Strangers
This information about The Berry Pickers was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Amanda Peters is a writer of Mi'kmaq 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 for Unpublished Prose and a participant in the 2021 Writers' Trust Rising Stars program. A graduate of the Master of Fine Arts Program at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Amanda Peters has a Certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. She lives in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, with her fur babies, Holly and Pook.
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