Berry Pickers, The

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

WINNER 2023 BARNES & NOBLE DISCOVER PRIZE

WINNER of the ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL for EXCELLENCE in FICTION

WINNER Best First Novel, Crime Writers of Canada Award

WINNER Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction

FINALIST Amazon First Novel Award

FINALIST for the Atwood-Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

FINALIST Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, Fiction

FINALIST Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award

FINALIST OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen Award

A four-year-old girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that remains unsolved for nearly fifty years 

July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, is seen sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of a field before mysteriously vanishing. Her six-year-old brother, Joe, who was the last person to see Ruthie, is devastated by his sister’s disappearance, and her loss ripples through his life for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as an only child in an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, while her mother is overprotective of Norma, who is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem to be too real to be her imagination. As she grows older, Norma senses there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she pursues her family’s secret for decades.

A stunning debut novel, The Berry Pickers is a riveting story about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.

Looking for a great gift for the book club member in your life? Consider The Berry Pickers, a top-rated novel that explores the secrets and tragedies of a Mi'kmaq family who travels to Maine to pick blueberries in the summer of 1962.

With its realistic portrayal of family dynamics and Native American culture, this book is sure to spark engaging discussions and reflections.

HarperCollins 2024