The Berry Pickers: A Novel

In July 1962, a Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia travels to Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, disappears from the blueberry fields. Her six-year-old brother Joe, the last person to see her sitting on a rock at the field's edge, is deeply affected by her vanishing. Meanwhile, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child in an affluent Maine family. Her father is emotionally distant and her mother overprotective. Norma experiences recurring dreams and visions that feel like memories rather than imagination. As she matures, she senses her parents are withholding something from her. Over decades, she pursues the truth about this family secret. This debut novel follows the mystery of Ruthie's disappearance, which remains unsolved for nearly fifty years, and its effects on the survivors and families involved. The story explores themes of family separation, trauma, and the search for truth across time.