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Apoorv, Lisa, & Lynnette - The Berry Pickers
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I'm not sure what we're supposed to do in this space.
Lynnette wrote: "I'm not sure what we're supposed to do in this space."Oh, this is going to be pretty chill.
We just pen down your thoughts as you go.
I haven't seen the chapter-wise breakdown yet, but we can break it up at 25%, 50%, 75%, and final thoughts at completion. What we felt about the book, likes/dislikes, anything stood that out for us etc.
An example of a BR Lisa and I did in Week 1, for your reference.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Oh yay, found some discussion questions online, which we can answer as we proceed through the book.1. The Berry Pickers is a story told from two perspectives. Was it easy to move between Norma and Joe’s narratives? Was it easy to travel between the memories of the past and present day?
2. After the devastating disappearance of Ruthie, what kept the family bound together? What struggles did they face in the aftermath of this loss?
3. Joe was the last person to see Ruthie before she disappeared, and this haunted him for the rest of his life. How do you think that Joe’s guilt affected his life, or changed who he could have become?
4. Two families were forever changed on the day that Ruthie disappeared. As you read about Indigenous children being forcefully taken from their families, has this novel changed you in any way? Do you feel more reflective about your own childhood?
5. Do you have a special place that you visited as a child that evokes strong memories?
6. Joe was portrayed as an angry, violent, heavy drinker even though his parents were hard-working, family-first people. Do you think this was an accurate depiction of Joe, or are there factors to be considered in how you think of him?
7. The family faced two major episodes of racism: when the local sheriff in Maine won’t help search for Ruthie, and when they return home, the local Indian Agent wants to take away the remaining children. Discuss the effects of this racism on the family. How do you feel you would have reacted to these situations?
I’m just leaving a quick comment so I can more easily find this thread. I’ve read the prologue and first chapter. I’m guessing it is going to be (view spoiler) coming to talk to Joe at the end of the prologue…
Lisa wrote: "I’m just leaving a quick comment so I can more easily find this thread. I’ve read the prologue and first chapter. I’m guessing it is going to be [spoilers removed] coming to talk to Joe at the end ..."I agree. It could very well be that person given all the "catching up" that needs to be done.
Now I’ve read through chapter 5, so about a third of the way through. Charlie (view spoiler) and my heart is breaking a bit for all the sadness that family has endured just for berry picking season. Early in chapter 2, I thought I was quite clever when I figured out quickly that Norma was Ruthie, but by the end of the chapter I came to the conclusion that the author expects you to make that connection. I feel bad for that family, that Lenore miscarried several children, but I don’t get how that could have led them to thinking that taking Ruthie was ok. It seems fitting that she should have debilitating headaches as she should feel some guilt with what they’ve done.
I wonder what Alice knows about Norma’s history? I think she may be June’s partner/lover, so it seems like she likely knows Norma came into the family at 4 years of age. Maybe she thinks she’s adopted? But why wouldn’t they tell Norma the same thing? So I think Alice probably knows the truth? What do you guys think Alice knows?
Read through Chapter 5 as well, and boy I am already emotionally invested in this family. Sometimes the amount of sadness that people suffer simply to survive is beyond overwhelming. First the miscarried children, then (view spoiler), now (view spoiler) - I can only imagine the mountain of pain a parent would have to go through when they lose their children.Honestly, Joe's chapters are written with such emotional heft that I keep looking forward to coming back to them.
I still feel that Norma is Ruthie, although, as you said Lisa, that might just be the ploy the author is using to lure us in. But, if not Ruthie, then who would she be? Her daughter? Who the family adopted from Ruthie and hence there is no evidence of her past in the family history/photos?
I am kind of thrown on Alice - I agree with you that she knows more than what we are meant to believe, but I haven't been able to place her role in the grand scheme of things yet.
Got through to Chapter 10 - about 60% through.This is heavy stuff! (view spoiler) But, it all seems organic so far. I am glad that there is not an incessant stream of trauma just for the sake of it.
The stories jumped ahead in this section as we see both Joe and Norma narrate probably the most significant portions of their journey. It was saddening to see Joe (view spoiler) and Norma (view spoiler). Things tend to have such a Doppler effect in life, and pretty much everything that happens throughout our life is routed into our childhood.
We also saw grave signs of racism and how the local cops, both in Maine and Nova Scotia, treated the family after Ruthie's disappearance. I appreciate the author touching all these sources of abuse/grief with a certain seriousness but also while not trivializing them.
I think we’re at about the same spot Apoorv- I think I just finished chapter 11. My first thought was that this book was different than I expected. I was thinking it was labeled as a mystery, but I feel that I’ve known since the beginning that Norma is Ruthie (although maybe I’m wrong…) … so the only mystery is how she will find out? In some ways this book has been easy to read - even though the chapters are 20 pages long, they seem to go fast. But it’s also been a hard read - every chapter seems to bring another tragedy. I agree, it seems realistic and not forced. I think we’re supposed to be seeing the traumatic effects that keep persisting through the years, all as a result of the one action of Frank and Lenore taking Ruthie.
Final Thoughts!Just finished the book sometime ago.
I thought the book petered out a little towards the end and worked on very expected lines. So while I loved the simplicity of the prose while narrating something so intense, it also felt anticlimactic for the most part in the second half.
Having said that, it was good read. Just like you Lisa, I went into the book thinking it was a mystery and an exploration towards resolution, but it did in fact turn out to be a lot different. But, I was easily able to get on board with that primarily because of how smoothly the author wrote the transitionary chapters between Joe and Norma. Somehow Joe's chapters stayed with me longer, while Norma's began feeling a bit repetitive towards the end, but holistically it worked!
Tragedy is a very strong theme here and I loved the handling of that across both the families. The older generation really suffered but they managed to sustain somehow, while the newer generation struggled to keep afloat at times. (view spoiler).
The supporting characters of Mae, Leah, Cora, June, Alice, Mark were adequately portrayed, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the sibling camaraderie before Ruthie's disappearance to have really understood the impact of her disappearance. Honestly, after the initial onslaught, I wanted the book to push the emotional levers a little bit more. We got told what the characters went through, but a bit more dialogue as to how they felt in the moment and how their interpersonal relations frayed over time would have packed a lot more punch.
But, I was glad to have read the book.
Thank you, Lisa and Lynnette, for letting me tag along.
Looking forwarding to reading your thoughts as you complete the book. :)
Halfway through chapter 6 and I’m sorta disappointed because I feel like the reveal has already happened and I’m really not so much interested in the rest. It’s turning into a bit of a slog now.
Okay I finished it and I take back what I said above about the book being a slog. It was actually better than I thought that it was going to be. I did think that the main characters stories were interesting. I liked how the siblings diverged and then came back together. However, it all felt a little unfinished in the end. In the end, the book demonstrates how toxic secrets can be. Happy to have finally done a buddy read.
Final Thoughts I did like the book, even though it was different than I expected. It was quite sad though!
I was glad to find out that Alice thought that Norma was adopted. I can understand how Frank and June were able to go along with Lenore's secret when she stole Ruthie (although still think they should have spoken up even if it was a month!) but Alice going along with it might have been a bit much.
I was also glad to see that Norma/Ruthie gave June hell for not telling her earlier. I think Ruthie probably suffered the most in this deal (although her mother probably suffered just as much) with all the years of being kept indoors as well as feeling like she was responsible for her mother's headaches, etc. Everyone always emphasized "how much she was loved" but I don't know that I agree with that.
Thanks for reading this book with me Apoorv and Lynnette.
Challenge: GISH II
Team: I Plead the Fifth (Team 5)
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and 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, 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, Norma 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.