It explores her experience after committing herself to a mental institution following a breakdown.

It offers insight into Mailhot's struggle with her mental health, including PTSD and bipolar disorder. The main body proceeds as a series of essays which explore Mailhot's experiences growing up on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia, including her first marriage as a teenager, and the loss of custody of her first child on the same day she gave birth to her second.

The first edition opens with a foreword by Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-American novelist Sherman Alexie, offering what one reviewer characterized as 'glowing introduction', and praising Mailhot as the 'biological child of a broken healer and a lonely artist.' A number of critics have noted, both positively and negatively, the unique style of the piece, yet despite or because of this, it has received a warm reception and overall praise. It reached 14 on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardback non-fiction, and was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. Maillot's memoir covers many topics relevant to the lives of Indigenous women, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It follows Mailhot through her troubled childhood, early and tumultuous motherhood, and into her adult struggles with mental health and personal identity. Heart Berries: A Memoir is the debut book from First Nation Canadian writer Terese Marie Mailhot.

Terese mailhot heart berries