Summary

In the Prologue, 56-year-old Joe is dying. He wishes he could escape his bed, medications, and loneliness (3). His mother, daughter (Leah), sister (Mae) and brother (Ben) have been taking care of him.

When Mae enters, Joe tries to be his “full self for her” (4). She announces that someone is there to see him.

In Chapter 1, “Joe,” the day Joe’s sister Ruthie went missing, Joe and his family were picking blueberries in the fields (5). The black flies were relentless. The family left their home in Nova Scotia to work as berry pickers in Maine every summer for a landowner named Mr. Ellis. It was 1962. The surrounding area was rural.

The children did not mind the picking. Joe’s father dropped them off at the cabin adjacent to the fields where they stayed every summer.

Joe’s family included his parents, his brothers...