The Berry Pickers

In May 1962 a family made up of members of the Mi'kmaq people made their annual trek from Nova Scotia to Maine to take part in the berry picking season. Each year they worked on the same property and lived in a nearby cabin. One day four year old Ruthie disappeared. Her six year brother, Joe, was the last family member to see her. She was last seen sitting happily on a large rock by the road. Joe went for a walk and when he returned Ruthie had disappeared. It was fifty years before she was reunited with her family.

The effects of this event on Ruthie's family and Ruthie herself (renamed Norma) is told in the first person in alternating chapters by Joe and Norma. Ruthie's family never give up looking for her and Joe's account describes the problems he faced throughout his life as he was convinced that Ruthie's disappearance was his fault. Norma on the other hand knows that she looks different from her 'parents' but she also knows that she is loved by her 'mother'. Norma's mother accidentally reveals her secret before she dies and Norma is able to search for her true family.

In The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters has written a moving thought provoking novel about grief and betrayal but also a story of love as the background stories of the two families involved when an indigenous child is stolen are revealed. 

The Berry Pickers won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction 2024.