Raspberry Berkery was born in the Portokáli region of Finapor, to Vanko (b. 1950) and Apollonia (b. 1950) Berkery, who were orange farmers. She was the second of four children, Arancia (b. 1983), Zoey (b. 1986) and Pearce (b. 1988). Her birth name was Maibritt, but she was given the nickname “Raspberry” as a child, not only for her vibrant red hair, but also for her love of the fruit, which grew abundantly in the wild hills near their orchards. Even as an adult, she rarely used her birth name, preferring to be called Raspberry, or “Rozzie” for short.
Growing up, Raspberry was extremely fond of books, often sneaking them into meals and at school and temple. When her family traveled to other towns in the area to sell their wares, the first place she would look for was the bookstore or library. At 13, after graduating primary school, her parents and siblings scraped together enough money to send her to the elite Academy of Finapor so that she could get a better education than those available at Portokálian secondary schools.
After graduating from the Academy of Finapor, Raspberry moved back to her family’s farm, splitting time between the orchards and working at the library in the nearby village of Esperidoeidés. As a librarian, she was often sent to other towns, as well as to Château, to buy books and learn from other Finaporian librarians. While on one such visit to the capitol in 1994, Raspberry was introduced to Cedar Dune, who had just moved there and was working in the Royal Library’s archives. The two became good friends, and Raspberry very excitedly accepted when Cedar asked Vanko and Apollonia’s permission to court her in 1999. They were married in 2002, and after their honeymoon they returned to Esperidoeidés, where Cedar operated a bookstore, while Raspberry assisted her parents on their farm.
Initially, Cedar did not want children, much to Raspberry’s disappointment, as she had wanted to have a large family. However, after learning more about his childhood, and understanding his fear of having a child turn out like Iris, or even Chrysanthemum, she agreed that it might be best to wait to have children.
