The Berry Pickers

Author: Amanda Peters
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Catapult
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: July 1962. Mi'kmiq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister's disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Normal slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

Review: I've seen some comments that this is the best book a person has read, or it will be their favorite this year, all sorts of rave reviews. For me it was good, not great. I read most of it on a plane and it was a good distraction on a bumpy flight. I will likely not remember it in December when I start thinking about my favorite books.