"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

Write your own review

Rated of 5 by SusanR
Love and Loss
I missed this book when it published last year and after reading all of the great reviews, I knew that I had to read it. I loved it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are well written. This is a book that needs to be read slowly so that you don't miss any of the beautiful writing but you want to read it fast to find out how it ends. It's hard to believe that this was a debut novel for this author. I know it's a book that I won't soon forget.

In July, 1962, a Mi’kmaw family travelled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries. This is a trip that they made every year - parents, three sons and two daughters - but this season will have a tragic ending. Ruthie, the 4 year old and the youngest in the family goes missing. The family searched for her and finally called the police who aren't at all interested in the disappearance. Joe, the closest in age to Ruthie is the last person to see her sitting on a rock at the end of the field. Joe blames himself and the loss of his sister affected him for the rest of his life.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Joe from 1962 to the present. He discusses the loss of his sister and the subsequent problems that he has in his life. The alternating chapters are told by Norma - a young girl who lives in Maine. Her chapters mostly take place in present time. As a young girl she felt that he mother was over-protective. she wasn't allowed to play with the children from school and was barely allowed to leave the house. When she got older she was given a bit more freedom but her mother always kept her on a short leash. When she was a child, Norma had vivid dreams about a cabin and a large family. They were so real yet her mother insisted that they were just dreams. as she grows to adult hood, she continued to feel like she doesn't really fit in with her parents. Once her parents die, it's up to her aunt to tell Norma the truth about her past. Norma is over 50 when she finally learns the secrets that her family kept from her.

This novel is about love and loss, families both good and bad and the endearing love between siblings. I highly recommend it if you enjoy well written family sagas full of both sadness and love.

Rated of 5 by Nancy S.
I can see why it is a Best Seller!
From the beautiful cover to the well crafted story and characters I thoroughly enjoy this book. I found it to be believable, authentic, well thought out with characters I was interested in learning about. Amanda Peters crafted her book with great care as she took me on a journey with Norma/Ruthie and Joe. I appreciate when the author takes great care in bringing their story to a conclusion. Ms. Peters did just that. It was a story I will remember and recommend to friends.

Rated of 5 by Carmel B
Heartwrenching - Hearthwarming
You’ll want to be sure to have a box of tissues handy for this one. Peters is a master in the art of weaving humor and heartbreak into one story, one character, one chapter. Prepare for a roller coaster of emotions and a late night of reading. If, as Ruthie says, “Some people are meant to read great works and others are meant to write them,” by the end of “The Berry Pickers” readers know to which category Peters belongs. Enviable debut!

Rated of 5 by Cathryn Conroy
A Chilling Psychological Study of Two Lives Forever Changed in a Heartbeat and a Love That Never Ends
It is July 1962. Joe is six years old. Ruthie is four. They are the part of the Mi’kmaq tribe and live in Nova Scotia, Canada. Every summer, the family—mom, dad, and the five kids—come to Maine to work as blueberry pickers. But this summer is different. This summer Ruthie disappears…and Joe is the last one to see her.

This emotionally searing book by Amanda Peters follows Joe and Ruthie through a lifetime of guilt and confusion, of fleeting memories and unforgiving thoughts of what could have been vs. what is. Ruthie was snatched by an affluent woman desperate for a child, but Ruthie's family has no idea what happened to the little girl. They fear someone killed her, and so they keep looking for her dead body not only that summer, but also in the years to come. They never find any clues, and the local police refuse to get involved because they are itinerant Indians.

The story is told in alternating chapters between Joe and Ruthie, who is renamed Norma by her new family. Joe's perspective is that of an adult man who is dying of cancer, as he recalls the past, specifically what happened that awful summer and the effect it had on his life and the lives of his three siblings and parents. Meanwhile, Norma's story is told in chronological order, progressing as the years go by as she grows up with parents who look nothing like her and a mother who keeps a tight rein on her all the time. Eventually, Norma realizes her parents have big secrets they aren't telling her…secrets she is determined to uncover.

Considering the storyline, one would think this book would be all about the plot. Interestingly, it's not. The plotline is actually somewhat weak. Instead, this novel is built on character development. It is all about Joe and Norma/Ruthie, a chilling psychological study of two lives that were forever changed in a heartbeat.

It is a story of trauma, grief, anger, memory, and truth. It is a story of a love that never ends.

Rated of 5 by janelle13
I could not put this book down
I loved reading this book. The story was so fascinating that I could not put it down. I just had to keep reading. I loved the way the story was written. The characters were well developed and made you really feel for them. This one will leave you wanting more.

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.