Heart Berries

(356)

Terese Marie Mailhot

A powerful, poetic memoir of an Indigenous woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Band in the Pacific Northwest—this New York Times bestseller and Emma Watson Book Club pick is “an illuminating account of grief, abuse and the complex nature of the Native experience . . . at once raw and achingly beautiful (NPR) Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder, Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father―an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist―who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame. Mailhot trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain, and what we can bring ourselves to accept. Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story, and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world.

Mental Health

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"A powerful memoir of trauma and grief. "

Sandy Lopez

"I just finished this book. Even for a slow reader like myself its a nice quickish read that can be read in a few sittings. Besides that I loved being brought along her mental and emotional journey. Looking at all the nuances if a person’s character. How childhood trauma, circumstances, etc affected her throughout her life and her realization of this. Anyways I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend!"

Savannah Nurse

"I'm always conflicted about rating and reviewing memoirs- it feels like a very fine line between validating and invalidating someone's experiences, their existence, their opinions, their feelings, etc. But when it comes down to it, generally, I rate them simply based on writing style and how well the book flowed for me- was it easy for me to follow along with the timeline, was it relatively easy to follow all the who's-who of everyone involved, etc. Although Heart Berries has a lot of beautiful passages and touches on some very important points, I more often than not felt very lost and confused. I struggled to follow the order of events and sometimes it was hard to keep track of everyone involved- such as who was being spoken of or to specifically at any given moment throughout the book. In that regard, the writing style was just not for me. Even though I only gave it two ⭐, I still feel it's certainly worth reading."

Rachel

"HEART BERRIES: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5. Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting this memoir, in exchange for an honest review. Damn this was good. Poetically written and beautifully inserted you into the mind of someone with mental illness. Working in the field of Mental Illness, these books speak to me. Knowing what I know about PTSD and Bipolar II Disorder, Mailhot's memoir is written with a somewhat manic demeanor; like I could physically hear her reading this to me in the state she was in. What I liked: this memoir was incredibly powerful. The struggles, the obsession, the paranoia Mailhot experienced is all there. It's incredibly raw and honest. It's eye opening and informative, even if it wasn't trying to be. You feel for Mailhot as she struggles with love, loss and pain, and how it contributes to her mental illness. As I've mentioned before, my favourite aspect of this book is the honesty. What I didn't like: If you were sitting beside me, you would observe me changing my rating from a 4 star to a 5. There's nothing I didn't like about it. I picked it up in two sittings and flew through the pages. Well done. Would I recommend this? Absolutely."

Sarah Camus

"This is written as stream of consciousness, and I often didn't follow along with the points being said. . There are some interesting thoughts and exploration of ideas, but I feel it could've benefited with some editing to make it more cohesive."