The Berry Pickers: A Novel

This heartfelt, beautifully written family drama revolves around the disappearance of four-year-old Ruthie, the youngest in a family of indiginous berry pickers based in Maine. She was kidnapped by an off-kilter woman who had been grieving the loss of several pregnancies, and her complicit husband, a local judge who prepared a false birth certificate for Ruthie under the name of Norma. She navigates a sheltered life punctuated with disturbing dreams of an apparent other mother and a brother who seem real but are beyond her understanding.

The other narrator is Joe, her brother, now 56 and seriously ill, reminiscing about his shortcomings and the ever-present scar that Ruthie’s disappearance has left on his family. As a direct result of anger issues and alcohol abuse, he has missed a lot in life, including a relationship with his daughter. Ruthie/Norma and Joe undergo transformative changes in the aftermath of her kidnapping and his diagnosis of a terminal illness.

Their siblings Ben and Mae play pivotal roles and serve to bridge key story timelines. Other characters are her mother’s sister, her aunt June, with whom Norma shares a deep love, and the family friend Alice, who becomes her therapist and confidant. The book spans fifty years during which time the reader gains insight and empathy with the characters such that the outcomes of their stories are deeply felt. Watching how they move forward toward some semblance of peace in the face of adversity is a riveting experience, not to be missed.

I read The Berry Pickers as part of a Kindle Reading Challenge. Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers, was not my normal pick of reading material. That is what I love about the Kindle Reading Challenges; I am forced to try new genres, and new authors. To borrow Star Trek's tagline: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE!

The Berry Pickers is raw, powerful fiction. Like Steinbeck and his contemporaries, it was at times too real, too emotional and too social conscience- raising, for me to call it entertaining. I read to escape, and with the Berry Pickers, escape was not possible. I ruminated for hours about what I read and the impact this story had on my expanding conscience.

This is not the kind of novel you can read in one setting. No, The Berry Pickers, requires you read slowly, savoring the richness of Amanda Peters' words, her vivid settings and mind- stretching concepts she presents. The Berry Pickers demanded I participate in the interactions of the characters rather than remain a sideline judge. It was awe-inspiring!

The main characters, Norma and Joe, were richly detailed and developed. I became so caught in their thoughts and lives it was hard to separate their lives from my own. In the end, I cried when the book ended, having grown quite fond of them.

I am not sure I will ever read more of Amanda Peters works but I am glad a Kindle Challenge forced me to get out of my comfort zone. Reading The Berry Pickers was a mind-blowing blowing experience. I am not likely to forget this book any time soon!