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A review by salgalruns
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer and during that time, their youngest child Ruthie disappears. The next child up (Joe) blames himself for it and the family searches and searches for her for years on end, not believing that she died, but that she exists somewhere in the world. Joe struggles with this his entire life, through decades of anger and sadness.
This story is told from two different points of view. You hear from Joe, and Norma, a girl/woman who is growing up in a different family with a very controlling (and unstable) mother who is CONSTANTLY struggling with anxiety and headaches. Norma has vivid dreams as a child and doesn't feel that she fits in to her family at all. There's a mystery that her parents dismiss.
It's a story about love and family - both the family you were born into and those that surround you in life. Definitely an emotional read for me as a mother.
This story is told from two different points of view. You hear from Joe, and Norma, a girl/woman who is growing up in a different family with a very controlling (and unstable) mother who is CONSTANTLY struggling with anxiety and headaches. Norma has vivid dreams as a child and doesn't feel that she fits in to her family at all. There's a mystery that her parents dismiss.
It's a story about love and family - both the family you were born into and those that surround you in life. Definitely an emotional read for me as a mother.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Miscarriage, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Kidnapping