The Berry Pickers - Amanda Peters

A beautifully moving portrayal of the hardships faced by a Native American family after their youngest child, a girl named Ruthie is abducted by a white family that can't have children of their own. The family struggles to move on and simultaneously faces a lot of challenges that comes from being poor and marginalized, but they display great resilience to  keep going despite their travails. Meanwhile, Ruthie grows up oblivious to her origin but fits in reasonably well into her surroundings and while she faces a lot of challenges of her own, she also manages to handle them with a silent grace that seems to be the hallmark of her birth family. 

The story itself is highly depressing, but never feels like sympathy porn, but just an honest, touching narrative of the plights of the family and Ruthie herself and the moral questions surrounding the characters as they make their way through life. 

The description of the settings, the way of life, morals and sentiments of the time are all very vivid and powerful, while at the same time somehow managing to be subtle. That I felt was the most impressive part of the novel, where Amanda Peters manages to write a hard hitting novel, while never going over the top with her characters, dialogue or emotions. Even the most powerful moments seem to have an underlying sense of silent desperation that manages to evoke a more powerful reaction from the reader. Overall a wonderful literary work - however it may not be to everyone's liking. I would be hesitant to recommend this to anyone who is used to fast moving, action packed books or prefers something more upbeat. However, I really loved the book!