Recent Reviews
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
Amanda Peters’ astute debut novel delves into family bonds, secrets, and trauma. This heartbreaking story chronicles the inner lives of Joe and Norma the two narrators who must survive a life altering tragedy that is intensified by white privilege and systemic racism.
Each summer, Indigenous workers travel from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries. In the summer of 1962, a couple from the Mi’kmaq tribe arrives with their five children. “When we arrived from Nova Scotia, midsummer, a caravan of dark-skinned workers, laughing and singing and traveling through their overgrown and rustling world, the local folks turned their backs, our presence a testament to their failure to prosper.” One summer day, four-year-old Ruthie vanishes after she and her six-year-old brother Joe have eaten lunch. Joe blames himself as he was last to see Ruthie. The local police department perform a perfunctory search but do not find the little girl.
Meanwhile, a white, affluent couple lives in a nearby town with their daughter Norma. Norma is well taken care of but has dreams and memories of a prior life that her mother attributes to an over-active imagination. Norma says, “I think I’ve always known that something was out of place. But when I was young, I understood it was me. Then I quickly forgot why. And the dreams persisted.” As she grows older, Norma realizes her parents have been keeping a secret from her.
There is no mystery. Readers learn early what happened to Ruthie. The narrative tension derives from the impact of this trauma event on Ruthie, Joe, and all those affected by her disappearance. Each of the characters suffers and copes with their pain differently.
What’s fascinating is how each character psychologically struggles and adapts to the trauma over decades. Even still, the two narrators possess a quiet dignity even while the memory of that day and its aftermath haunts them. Ruthie’s family never returns to pick berries in Maine, but they never give up hope that she will return to them.
Though I could quibble with certain aspects of the novel, The Berry Pickers is one of my favorite books of 2024. Peters movingly depicts the invisible ties that bind a family. I admire her insights about the shadows of trauma and the secrets that haunt people’s lives. Highly recommend. 4.5/5
Time of the Child by Niall Williams
Tender and touching, Niall Williams’s Time of the Child is an inspired book for the holiday season. Like his extraordinary novel, This Is Happiness, this tale takes place in the fictitious village of Faha on the western coast of Ireland. Known for his gorgeous prose, Williams does not disappoint. He has written a heartwarming story about Faja’s transformation after an infant is left at the church.
Faha is a poor, rural and isolated community with an eclectic mix of personalities. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. The Catholic church is the beating heart of the village and the moral arbiter of human behavior. The story takes place during the Advent season of 1962. Jack Troy is a widower and village doctor. He lives with his spinster daughter Ronnie, who assists with his medical practice. When an abandoned baby is left in their care, their lives change dramatically. The intense love Jack and Ronnie feel for this infant them with a new sense of purpose. But they know that If the church authorities learn of the child, they will claim her. Jack and Ronnie wrestle with how to handle this situation with its moral and logistical complications.
William’s prose is dense and filled with profound insights into people’s limitations and strengths. Though the novel brims with the characters’ inner thoughts, I wish Williams had included more dialogue. Despite living in the same home, Jack Troy and his daughter Ronnie do not share their thoughts or feelings. It is as if there is a word limit in their home. And thus, they exist in the solitary musings of their own minds. But the miracle of this baby changes their dynamic for the better.
In these troubled times, reading about good but imperfect people is comforting. Williams has lifted up the lives of these villagers into a magical, almost mystical message about living and loving. Williams shows his readers the power of goodness and love in his beautiful novel Time of the Child. 4/5
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
In 2019, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan published their heartbreaking novel Mad Honey. My review will be short to avoid spoiling the plot. This story explores many social issues, including domestic abuse, trans relationships, injustice in the legal system, and suicide. And though these topics can seem overwhelming, the novel, at its core, is a tender coming-of-age story about two teenagers who fall in love. Picoult and Boylan’s thoughtful narrative offers insights, not judgment.
Olivia McAfee leaves her abusive marriage to a cardiac surgeon in Boston. She and her son Asher move to New Hampshire for a fresh start. Asher is a sophomore in high school who falls in love with Lily, the new girl in town. Lily and her mother, Ava, have also fled a toxic situation in California. Both Olivia and Ava are now single mothers wanting to protect their children from their painful pasts. Yet when Lily is found dead, Asher becomes the prime suspect. Despite their best efforts, the history and secrets of both families take center stage when Asher stands trial for Lily’s murder.
Writing a novel with another author must be complicated, and mostly Picoult and Boylan succeed. They have put their readers in the shoes of their characters and shared the character’s complex inner lives. And they have done so with compassion and understanding. Isn’t that one of the goals of a novel? Thanks to my DJKS book club for suggesting this book. 4/5
