Every so often a book comes along that I want to put in front of our whole community.
Amanda Peters’ new novel, The Birthing Tree, is one of those books.
If you read The Berry Pickers, you already know what Amanda can do. That novel became a bestseller, won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and landed on The New Yorker’s best books of the year list. Amanda is Mi’kmaq and settler, and her writing is rooted in her own people and homelands in Nova Scotia. The Birthing Tree goes back to that same land.
What the Book Is About
The story follows Aliet Paul, a young Mi’kmaq woman born beneath a birthing tree that’s been sacred to generations of women in her community. Her mother died giving birth to her under that tree, and nobody will tell her who her father is. She’s raised by her grandmother, Kiju, a strong and loving woman who carries the old medicinal knowledge and midwifery traditions.
As Aliet grows up, the world outside is changing. Traditional midwifery is condemned, prejudice gets worse, and one birth witnessed by the wrong person brings serious consequences. Aliet eventually becomes a nurse trained in modern medicine, but she never lets go of what Kiju taught her.
Years later, Kiju passes away, and Aliet goes home to a run-down house and a scattered community. While she restores the house room by room, she starts digging into her family’s past. The more she uncovers, the more she runs into secrets people have kept for decades, and someone who would rather they stay buried.
Why I Think You’ll Connect With It
So much of what we talk about here at PowWows.com comes back to the same things this book is about: the knowledge our elders carry, what gets lost when traditions are pushed underground, and what it takes to bring them back. Aliet’s journey is about deciding which parts of her inheritance she’ll carry forward. That’s a question a lot of us in Indian Country are wrestling with right now.
It’s also just a great story. There’s love, there’s mystery, and there’s a strong sense of place. Nova Scotia’s orchards and seasonal apple pickers are part of the backdrop, and the relationship between Aliet and her grandmother is the heart of the whole thing.
Listen to the Audiobook
The Birthing Tree came out September 1, 2026, and the audiobook is read by Julia Ulayok Davis. It runs about 10 hours, which makes it perfect for road trips to your next powwow.
If you’ve read The Berry Pickers or pick up The Birthing Tree, let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
This article is sponsored by Penguin Random House.
