In the summer of 1962, four-year-old Ruthie, the youngest in a Mi’kmaq family of seasonal berry pickers, vanishes without a trace in rural Maine. Her six-year-old brother Joe is the last to see her—and the loss will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Elsewhere in Maine, Norma grows up sheltered and restless, plagued by vivid dreams that feel more like memories. As secrets stir beneath the surface of her well-manicured life, Norma begins to suspect that everything she’s been told may be a carefully constructed lie.
Winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, The Berry Pickers is a lyrical, heart-wrenching debut about identity, loss, and the unbreakable bonds of family—even when it’s been torn apart.
