Amanda Peters: The Berry Pickers
Amanda Peters joins Carol Fitzgerald to talk about her breakout hit debut novel, THE BERRY PICKERS, which is a Bookreporter Bets On selection. Amanda, who is a mixed-race of Mi’kmaq and European ancestry, was born and raised in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. She explains how a trip with her father to Maine to see the actual site of the blueberry picking that is depicted in the book spurred the story. As he walked her through the fields and showed her the cabin where he and his family had lived during picking season, the story came to her. Amanda had the opening line very quickly, and from there she wrote the book over a period of four years. For a long time, it was just in the voice of Joe, but she later saw that to have Norma’s story told would bring something else to the novel. She shares how writing THE BERRY PICKERS has brought her closer to her Mi’kmaq roots and her very pleasant surprise at how the book has resonated so well with American readers. Plus, she discusses what she is working on now and offers a look ahead beyond that. Book discussed in this episode: THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-berry-pickers Our Latest “Bookreporter Talks To” Interviews: Katherine Faulkner: https://youtu.be/TtPCMj-aYwQ Nita Prose: https://youtu.be/r1Ls304DNuQ Fiona Davis: https://youtu.be/SlDtz3pIX2g Gilly Macmillan: https://youtu.be/69IZt7IN2m4 Dani Shapiro: https://youtu.be/Qwb4YxxQIPU Douglas Brunt: https://youtu.be/IDCvXA0uTtQ Tess Gerritsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s885KBtDOsY Our Latest “Bookaccino Live” Book Group Events: Dani Shapiro: https://youtu.be/Qwb4YxxQIPU Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan: https://youtu.be/A4t2w8dat7c Alice Elliott Dark: https://youtu.be/4fgncFSfeM0 Laura Dave: https://youtu.be/fD82fbLJ1Pg Kristin Hannah: https://youtu.be/p4dVHdVZC3I Allison Pataki: https://youtu.be/7HmJlMd0V1A Fiona Davis: https://youtu.be/DT-XR5ue_5Q Nita Prose: https://youtu.be/f_Ev0KN8z2M Sign up for newsletters from Bookreporter and Reading Group Guides here: https://tbrnetwork.com/newsletters/ FOLLOW US on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookreporter Website: https://www.bookreporter.com Art Credit: Tom Fitzgerald Edited by Jordan Redd Productions