The Berry Pickers
- Author Amanda Peters
- Narrator Aaliya Warbus, Jordan Waunch
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date 2 November 2023
- Run Time 8 hours and 45 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging.
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
WINNER OF THE 2023 BARNES & NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE
WINNER OF THE 2024 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
One family’s deepest pain. Another’s darkest secret. Who will they be when the truth comes out?
On a hot day in 1960s Maine, six-year-old Joe watches his little sister Ruthie, sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of the blueberry fields, while their family, Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia, pick fruit. That afternoon, Ruthie vanishes without a trace. As the last person to see her, Joe will be forever haunted by grief, guilt, and the agony of imagining how his life could have been.
In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma is growing up as the only child of unhappy parents. She is smart, precocious, and bursting with questions she isn’t allowed to ask – questions about her missing baby photos; questions about her dark skin; questions about the strange, vivid dreams of campfires and warm embraces that return night after night. Norma senses there are things her parents aren’t telling her, but it will take decades to unravel the secrets they have kept buried since she was a little girl.
The Berry Pickers is an exquisitely moving story of unrelenting hope, unwavering love, and the power of family – even in the face of grief and betrayal.
'For fans of Celeste Ng and Ann Patchett, this quietly beautiful book will break, then mend, your heart' Amazon, The Best Books of 2023
'Marvellous ... Amanda Peters is going to be the next big thing ... The Berry Pickers is a triumph' Katherena Vermette, author of The Strangers
'Peters excels in writing characters for whom we can't help rooting' The New York Times
'Lucid and assured' The New Yorker, Best Books of 2023
©2023 Amanda Peters (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Critics Review
For fans of Celeste Ng and Ann Patchett, this quietly beautiful book will break, then mend, your heart
The ghosts of lost children haunt generations in this lucid and assured début
A poignant debut from a writer to watch
Enthralling … Powerfully rendered … A cogent and heartfelt look at the ineffable pull of family ties
Poignant … 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
The Berry Pickers is just like a handful of berries … filled with so much sweet, so much sour, so much juice. Reading this book, I was only ever hungry when it ended
Peters brilliantly crafts a multi-layered tale of how one irrational act creates irrevocable harm that ripples through multiple lives … A fluid and emotional read that is both plainly and beautifully rendered … An amazing read from an amazing new voice
A beautiful novel about family and about the way it makes and breaks and remakes us again … It contains a cast of characters you will never forget. With this book, Amanda Peters establishes herself as an essential new voice
Peters weaves a persistent thread of hope and resilience through her remarkable debut novel
Lyrical … You cannot help but love these characters from the first chapter, they stay with you long after the last page
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