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A Gathering Light

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 19,212 ratings · 2,021 reviews

British title for A Northern Light...

When Mattie is given letters by a guest at the hotel where she has a summer job, she thinks the guest is simply upset. But when the woman is found drowned next day, Mattie must decide whether she will read them, or burn them as requested. A touching funny surprising novel set in 1906 and based on a true story.

Paperback, 380 pages

Published 2004 by Bloomsbury (first published April 1st 2003)

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Aug 06, 2012 Aleeeeeza rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: absolute-favorite, 2011-read, reread, 2011-faves

Last year, I used to go every day to the library of the bank where my dad works at (ain't that a mouthful or what?!)—I was homeschooled, and it was the perfect place to study for upcomin’ exams. There I stumbled upon a Reader’s Digest Condensed Version book, which basically features up to 4 abridged books in one volume, and one of the novels it featured was A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (which I later found out was called A Northern Light in the states). Since I am the queen of procrast...more

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Oct 04, 2010 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school, why-yes-i-ya

this monday-morning float is for you, alfonso!

oh, a northern light, you were way better than i expected. i used to get really angry at this book, because it would come up in resort all the time and some people would just shelve it in my section because it looks like a grown-up book, not like teen fiction, and i would always have to be yanking it off the shelves and saying "nooooo, you go downstairs!!" like shooing away a mischievous dog.

while i was reading it, i loved it.

a few days after, i am...more this monday-morning float is for you, alfonso!

oh, a northern light, you were way better than i expected. i used to get really angry at this book, because it would come up in resort all the time and some people would just shelve it in my section because it looks like a grown-up book, not like teen fiction, and i would always have to be yanking it off the shelves and saying "nooooo, you go downstairs!!" like shooing away a mischievous dog.

while i was reading it, i loved it.

a few days after, i am aware of plenty of weak spots - underwritten parts, the ambition of too many storylines that maybe with a little pruning would have resulted in a fantastic book that i would want to read again and again.

but maybe that is what teen fiction is - a stepping stone to truly great literature. i don't mean this to be disparaging (observe how i have grown in my teen fiction stance), but younger readers lack the literary scope of people who have been around the block a few times with a few books. their critical faculties are not as honed as more experienced readers, and so the soft spots an adult reader picks up on go unnoticed by younger readers who are carried away in the power of the narrative voice and the excitement of "what will happen next". and that is good enough, really, for teen literature - get them engaged in the text, get them hungry for reading, tell them a new and interesting story and teach them some new words along the way. i am totally content with that.

mary k says, somewhat cynically, that books like these are written with the printz award in mind. this was in response, not to this book, but to marcelo in the real world, when i remarked that it would sell quite easily to an adult audience, so i wondered why it was being marketed at teen fiction. this book, as is, i think would not do so well as an adult-fiction title, but the care that went into writing it, and the multilayeredness of it - it is certainly more ambitious than many of the other titles intended for a teen audience, and i say "three cheers".

the voice of this book is excellent. the main character is very well-drawn, for teen audience or otherwise. but tying together race issues, struggles with poverty, women's issues, a true crime story, and a family drama, just makes for a muddled focus, that you don't necessarily notice during the reading, but afterwards, there is a lot of, "hm, wonder what happened to thus-and-such".

it's just too much content. i love that she based this whole story around the murder that inspired an american tragedy, but i think even without that storyline, this would have been a wonderful novel of a girl with aspirations above her gender and financial situation, torn between her family and her ambition, with a strong subplot about her best friend's struggles with racial inequality in his own life. done. call it a day.

i did love the french canadian uncle (very very familiar voice there) - but many other elements seemed too fleeting. i would have liked more resolution with some of the storylines, but overall, this was a very fine novel, and i won't get mad if it tries to sneak onto my shelves again. i won't let it stay, but i won't frown at it, i will give it a soft, "oh, you scamp" kind of look...(less)

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Sep 01, 2011 Janina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, historic-fiction, on-my-shelf, beautiful-writing, mystery-thriller-suspense, read-in-2011, bittersweet, quiet-but-awesome

I don’t quite understand why this book hasn’t caught my attention earlier. It is excellently written, features a strong and likable heroine and perfectly captures her hopes and fears in an era so different to our own. It touches on a lot of issues – racial injustice, the situation of women at the beginning of the 20th century, poverty and family ties – and it does so in a very realistic way. It doesn’t look at things through rose-coloured glasses, and it certainly doesn’t offer an ending with a...more I don’t quite understand why this book hasn’t caught my attention earlier. It is excellently written, features a strong and likable heroine and perfectly captures her hopes and fears in an era so different to our own. It touches on a lot of issues – racial injustice, the situation of women at the beginning of the 20th century, poverty and family ties – and it does so in a very realistic way. It doesn’t look at things through rose-coloured glasses, and it certainly doesn’t offer an ending with a bow safely tied around all problems, but that is just the way I prefer endings with books like these. Life seldom offers cure-alls.

At its core, though, this book is a book about women and the problems they faced, the restrictions imposed on them, the difficult decisions they had to make in order to fulfil their dreams and the consequences these decisions so often had. It follows Mattie, a sixteen-year-old girl dreaming of going to college in New York City and becoming a famous writer. Unfortunately, Mattie’s family situation doesn’t allow for dreams: Her mother died of cancer, her older brother has run away and her father has lost all his joy of living. Money is tight. Mattie is required to care for her younger sisters and help at the farm and expected to marry soon and become a farmer’s wife. Her father refuses to acknowledge the chances New York offers for her. Mattie is torn between wanting to be there for her family and wanting to make her dreams come true. Working at the Glenmore hotel gives her the chance to earn her tuition, but will she be able to leave everyone she loves behind?

Told in alternating chapters – past and present merging towards the end (loved this style), A Gathering Light brilliantly captures the hopes and dreams of a young woman and the general feeling of the era and time. Mattie’s voice is spot on; the language is poetic but not overly so and evokes an overall feeling of nostalgia, of things ending, new ones beginning, of lost hopes and lost chances, with just the right amount of humour and lightness.
The mystery revolving around a young woman drowning in the lake is not so much a mystery, but more so just the most important one of the many episodes Mattie encounters on her way that help her make her decision at the end.

This book is not weighed down by an all-consuming love story, but I would have wished for the romance to be a bit more … romantic and for me to actually be involved in it. It is important to Mattie, but it was pretty clear for me as the reader that her choice would never make her happy – even if she wanted to believe otherwise.

Random things I loved: Mattie’s word-of-the-day ritual and the "word wars" she fought with her friend Weaver, Cook the cook, Miss Wilcox’s library (so jealous) and the way the girls dealt with the guy from table six.

Something I wanted to add: I've only read one other book by Jennifer Donnelly, Revolution, and it's amazing to see how different the two books are in voice. I loved both of them, but I really applaud Jennifer Donnelly for successfully capturing two heroines who are poles apart.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who can swim

Recommended to Mark by: Helen Farrell

Shelves: first-person-narration

Grace drowned in Big Moose Lake betrayed by love. Mattie drowning in responsibility and weighed down by her sense of duty and others' expectations. Weaver choking on prejudice and small mindedness. Emily fighting to break the surface of her own stifling marriage. Using the framework of the drowning of a young woman in 1906 Jennifer Donnelly gathers up the threads and images present in a poor close knit farming community in the Adirondacks and uses it like a loom to weave together a complex patte...more Grace drowned in Big Moose Lake betrayed by love. Mattie drowning in responsibility and weighed down by her sense of duty and others' expectations. Weaver choking on prejudice and small mindedness. Emily fighting to break the surface of her own stifling marriage. Using the framework of the drowning of a young woman in 1906 Jennifer Donnelly gathers up the threads and images present in a poor close knit farming community in the Adirondacks and uses it like a loom to weave together a complex pattern in which oppression and repression intermingle with ambition and vision.

The oppression of racism is addressed not just in terms of violent brutality or patronizing conversations but its knock on effect on dashed hopes and impoverished ambition. The tyranny of the powerful and influential where subservience, the norm in so many relationships whether marriage, employer/employee, tenant farmer and owner, results in dreams having to be curtailed. The gloom of the crippling effect of poverty which can lead to a hopelessness where your sense of self-worth disappears and anything goes if it will keep 'the wolf from the door' and then over-arching the whole novel, or perhaps underlying it as the unspoken ground of everything, is duty and responsibility.

What can be expected of a person? what should be expected of a person? Promises made to the dying or the dead; how should these be fulfilled ? Do the needs and desires of others supersede your deepest hopes and dreams? When do childish imaginings stop being so and become reaonable ambitions and how can you tell ? Must you take the tapestry you have woven with care and talent and unpick its beauty simply because others tell you such a tapestry is a waste of thread and they declare your image of beauty to be mistaken and foolish.

Mattie is a great character. Plain and poor but charged with her own special beauty and her own drive to speak out with her own voice. Words are her life; she loves them, she explores them. Each day she learns a new word and with Weaver,her friend, she plays a wonderfully simple game in which they do battle firing associated words back and forth. However it is the written words of the drowned girl, her love letters entrusted to Mattie, that prove the great catalyst for Mattie's inner struggle. As Mattie uncovers the tragic past of Grace it shines an inescapable light into her own future.

There are an enormous number of plot strands here, perhaps slightly too many but they do, in the main, gel together and are all intertwined. Some of the characters seem less well drawn than others and some of the plot movements are contrived and awkward but it is an enthralling read. It is written for young adults and is another of those novels which i can see, in the hands of a clever teacher, could be a great leaping off point for all sorts of reflection and debate. Aside from that anyway it is just a good story and the fact that the tragic Grace, dead when the novel strarts, is a real-life character just adds to its sadness and effect.(less)

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Jun 04, 2008 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-lit

“I had looked around. I’d seen all the things she’d spoken of and more besides. I’d seen a bear cub lift its face to the drenching spring rains. And the silver moon of winter, so high and blinding. I’d seen the crimson glory of a stand of sugar maple in autumn and the unspeakable stillness of a mountain lake at dawn. I’d seen them and loved them. But I’d also seen the dark of things. The starved carcasses of winter deer. The driving fury of a blizzard wind. And the gloom that broods under the pi...more “I had looked around. I’d seen all the things she’d spoken of and more besides. I’d seen a bear cub lift its face to the drenching spring rains. And the silver moon of winter, so high and blinding. I’d seen the crimson glory of a stand of sugar maple in autumn and the unspeakable stillness of a mountain lake at dawn. I’d seen them and loved them. But I’d also seen the dark of things. The starved carcasses of winter deer. The driving fury of a blizzard wind. And the gloom that broods under the pines always. Even on the brightest of days.”

Mattie’s voice is incredibly poetic and even the simplest descriptions can give goose bumps; however, I think it is also very important to note that her voice is not superfluous or affected. I never cringe with the insincerity of a passage or the discomfort of a moment heavy with artificial contrived descriptions.

The story describes Mattie’s coming of age at the turn of the century, in a family of four girls who have just lost their mother to cancer and whose brother has run away. The backdrop of the narrative is the famous murder that also inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, although voice is only given to the murdered girl through letters she gave to Mattie and asked to burn. An overarching theme of the novel is the denial of this dead girl’s voice, the loss of her story through murder, and the impact this has on Mattie’s own life decisions. Mattie must decide between fulfilling her dying mother’s plea that she care for her little sisters, marrying the handsome young farmer, and accepting life forever in Herkimer County or going off alone to NYC in order to go to college.

I also enjoyed this novel so much because all of the characters are fully realized and authentic. Mattie has two best friends, Weaver, the only black boy in the entire county and who also has a scholarship for college and Minnie, who has just married and is now pregnant. She also has a new teacher, Miss Wilcox, who supports Mattie’s writing with intensity, and has dark secrets of her own. What is wonderful about these characters is that they are not just props, they have their own conflicts and their own fears that Donnelly explores through the eyes of Mattie. Each of Mattie’s sisters has a personality that comes off the page; and her father is one of the strongest characters in the story. Every individual Mattie comes into contact with is a real person, and it makes the novel so much more meaningful.

Even Mattie’s mother, who has died before the story begins, is given detail and life – she is not just a source of sadness or a plot device. One of my most favorite moments is when Mattie describes a special ritual just the two of them shared:

"Sometimes she would pick a basketful of berries in the afternoon and set them, sun-warmed and fragrant, on the kitchen table, along with a dish of fresh cream and one of maple sugar. We would dip them first into the cream, then in the sugar, and then bite into them greedily. Somehow, they always tasted of more than themselves. They tasted like my pa whistling as he came in from the fields at night, or like a new calf getting to its feet for the first time, or like Lawton telling us ghost stories around the fire. I think that what they tasted of was happiness." (301)

I just love the idea of tasting happiness, what could be lovelier?
(less)

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Jan 04, 2008 Rosianna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: every girl I know

It wasn't until the very end of this book that I realised exactly how much I loved it. I am unsure if I would call it enjoyable, more like a very well written, intelligent and absorbing read rather than something I would call uplifting. It's definitely haunting, and definitely something everyone should read.

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Jun 01, 2009 Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it, 2009, historical-fiction, historical-fiction-ya

Lyrical. Captivating. Haunting.

All the different facets of this novel add up to make one of the best stories I have ever read. From the very first page, Mattie Gokey's zeal for words makes the pages of the book turn themselves. Weaved throughout Maggie's fictional struggles is the real life story of the death of Grace Brown, as seen through Mattie's brief (and fictional, of course) interaction with her, and letters that she left behind (the letters are real, by the way).

This is not an idyllic co...more Lyrical. Captivating. Haunting.

All the different facets of this novel add up to make one of the best stories I have ever read. From the very first page, Mattie Gokey's zeal for words makes the pages of the book turn themselves. Weaved throughout Maggie's fictional struggles is the real life story of the death of Grace Brown, as seen through Mattie's brief (and fictional, of course) interaction with her, and letters that she left behind (the letters are real, by the way).

This is not an idyllic coming of age story full of flowers and happy, skipping children. It is a story of racism, hatred, marital infedelity and a family left imbittered by the death of their mother from breast cancer.

Jennifer Donnelly doesn't sacrifice real life to make the story more pleasant. Childbirth is described with horrifying detail, sickness and starving children are common threads to the story, and marriage isn't viewed as the grand ideal. In fact...there IS no grand ideal. Just a community of people surviving as best as they can.

Mattie's love for books and writing is one of the best parts of the story. My favorite part of the novel is a scene where Mattie sees her teacher's library for the first time-more books then she has ever seen or heard of that inspires her into a passionate speech about writing.

Well, it seems to me that there are books that tell stories, and then there are books that tell truths...The first kind, they show you life like you want it to be. With villains getting what they deserve and the hero seeing what a fool he's been and marrying the heroine and happy endings and all that. Like Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion. But the second kind, they show you life more like it is. Like in Huckleberry Finn where Huck's pa is a no-good drunk and Jim suffers so. The first kind makes you cheerful and contented, but the second kind shakes you up...

Why don't they tell the truth? Why don't they tell how a pigpen looks after the sow's eaten her children? Or how it is for a girl when her baby won't come out? Or that cancer has a smell to it? All those books...I bet not one of them will tell you what cancer smells like...

I don't mean to be coarse. I just...I don't know why I should care what happens to people in a drawing room in London or Paris or anywhere else when no one in those places cares what happens to people in Eagle Bay."

Her teacher then tells her Make them care, Mattie, and don't you ever be sorry.

I like to think that is what Mattie will end up doing, after the end of the story. Through the reading of the losses Grace Brown suffers before her death, Mattie realizes where her destiny really lies. (less)

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Jun 11, 2013 Keertana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-favorites, beautiful-prose, books-that-linger, kick-ass-heroines, favorites

A Northern Light is one of those books you come across every few years; the type of novel that buries itself in your heart from the first page and simply lingers in your thoughts for days, weeks, and even months afterward. Although I've probably read at least two books and three novellas since I set this story down, it has still been in the forefront of my thoughts. I will likely tell my parents to yell at Jennifer Donnelly if they want someone to blame for my bad grades and sleepless nights. Af...more A Northern Light is one of those books you come across every few years; the type of novel that buries itself in your heart from the first page and simply lingers in your thoughts for days, weeks, and even months afterward. Although I've probably read at least two books and three novellas since I set this story down, it has still been in the forefront of my thoughts. I will likely tell my parents to yell at Jennifer Donnelly if they want someone to blame for my bad grades and sleepless nights. After all, how could I have done anything with my life until I knew what happened in Mattie's? And now how can I possible continue do anything without her voice by my side? It's the cruelest kind of paradox, one that only arrives when you love a protagonist as much as this one. Without a doubt, A Northern Light is very possibly the best book I've read - and will read - this year.

Prior to having read A Northern Light, the only Donnelly novel I'd read was Revolution, which made me sit up till 3 AM wracked with sobs while I finished the book. Now, let me tell you, that was not a fun reading experience. I had swollen cheeks, red eyes, and an aching heart by the end of it. Needless to say, I more-or-less swore off of Donnelly after that. Any author whose words had that type of power over me was dangerous. Quite thankfully, though, a lovely review convinced me to pick this one up and I'm so very glad I did. A Northern Light is a quiet, unassuming sort of tale, one that is filled with courage and strength and hope instead of despair and death and loss. It isn't always a happy story, but it is a truthful one; it never glosses over the harsh realities of life, especially for women of the time, and it faithfully empowers women in a manner that is never overbearing, merely subtle.

Donnelly's A Northern Light is told cleverly with two timelines neatly converging into one, creating an ending that is both satisfying and powerful. When the novel begins, the body of a drowned woman, Grace Brown, is found near the inn where Mattie works. Shortly before leaving for her boat ride, Grace gave Mattie a bundle of letters to burn, but just hours later, Grace herself is found dead. Mattie, suspicious of the circumstances surrounding her death, begins to read the letters Grace gave her. As the contents of these letters are slowly revealed, so is Mattie. For every present-day chapter there are even more chapters from the past, not only detailing Mattie's journey but also showing who she really is.

Mattie's story takes place in the early 1900s, a time when women were expected to run a household and raise a family. Mattie, however, yearns to attend college, despite the fact that her mother recently died and her father needs her help on their farm. Although there are many other responsibilities Mattie has, from the beginning itself it is hard not to root for her. After all, this is a protagonist whose love for language pushes her to learn a new word from the dictionary everyday. And though I regard A Northern Light to be a tale that empowers women and celebrates feminism, Mattie herself is no Alice Paul. Instead, what makes her such an endearing and unforgettable protagonist are, first and foremost, her passions and secondly, her own inner battles. While society pushes Mattie towards a life of love and comfort in a house with children, her own heart begins to push her that way too, which makes the decision to chase her dream that much more difficult.

All the more, Mattie is not a perfect character. Although one of her best friends is an African American boy who is on his way to Columbia, Mattie doesn’t always treat her own family properly. In fact, these family dynamics are what make the novel so fascinating, what make us keep flipping these pages frantically. Will Mattie convince her father to allow her to go to college? Can the inspirational teacher Mattie had help her in this endeavor? Is Mattie really going to be tied down to her small town by a promise she once made to her dying mother? In such a subtle manner, Donnelly uses Mattie’s life to build her era. Instead of paragraphs of bland information, Mattie’s society is build around her and stems from her perceptions, making this the best kind of historical fiction there is – the kind that doesn’t feel like fiction at all.

In all honesty, though, I can keep prattling on about this book for days if you’d allow me. Mattie is such a vivacious, strong, and courageous character that her story captures you from the beginning. You yearn for her to fulfill her dreams, for her to realize her true calling in life and pursue it despite what others may say. You begin to pray that she will somehow escape her small town and farm life. You keep the book aside and tie your hands behind your back because you don’t want to know what happens even though you really do, but you’re so very scared of the outcome. You begin to hope feverishly that her love for her family will not cause her to disregard her love for words; that she will finally gain the opportunity to do what she wants to do. It’s a beautiful book, the kind you’ll always carry around with you – in your heart.(less)

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Jun 01, 2009 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, young-adult, historical-fiction, reviewed, 2009

I love books about booklovers. I love the feeling of connection that I have with people who appreciate books and words the same way that I do. I felt this especially with Mattie, because she loves words and language and writing, but doesn't know exactly how to use those words... they are just built up inside her, preparing her for when she will be able to express herself.

When I started this book, I wasn't sure if I would Love it (with a capital "L") as some of my friends here Loved it. It is ve...more I love books about booklovers. I love the feeling of connection that I have with people who appreciate books and words the same way that I do. I felt this especially with Mattie, because she loves words and language and writing, but doesn't know exactly how to use those words... they are just built up inside her, preparing her for when she will be able to express herself.

When I started this book, I wasn't sure if I would Love it (with a capital "L") as some of my friends here Loved it. It is very beautifully written, and the descriptions of Mattie's life are poetic, yet very bare and simple. About halfway through, I found myself turning the pages almost without realizing it. Somewhere along the line, I went from saying, "Yes, this is a nice coming-of-age story" to forgetting it was a story at all. And it is very nice to be sucked into a book like that.

The characters are wonderfully real.
Mattie is the awkward "eldest" child for all intents and purposes (which makes me think of certain unlucky eldest child and all her adventures chasing after a moving castle... but that's another story entirely), and is forced into a position of grudging submission to a promise she made her dying mother to stay and take care of her family. Doing this means denying the very essence of who Mattie is and all of her dreams and aspirations and goals.

Weaver, I must say, is my favorite character. I loved him from the moment I met him out-wording Mattie in the field and getting to read The Count of Monte Cristo (one of the best books I've ever read) to her as a reward. I loved his courage, and his tenacity, and his spunk. I loved his linguistic kinship with Mattie, and that they were able to relate so well with each other. (To be perfectly honest, I hope that they actually end up together, and damn the social repercussions of their era! They are meant for each other.)

Miss Wilcox is a headstrong, forward-thinking, women's rights activist in her own, special, very unappreciated way. She bolsters Mattie's love of writing and shows her how to be courageous in order to achieve her goal, even though Mattie doesn't realize that she's learned anything.

Royal is the good-looking, business-minded, but selfish and hard-hearted farmer-to-be. I had hoped that he would maybe play a different hand, but alas, no happy endings here.

I realize that I haven't even mentioned the mystery yet. To me, that was, surprisingly, the least important aspect of the story. True, that is what appealed to me most, thinking of the mysterious contents of a bundle of letters and the finger-pointing that they must surely contain. That aspect was interesting yes, I love true crime and I especially love dramatizations showing what most likely happened, but the real joy of this book was in the scenes between the dramatic lake-side mystery. Mattie and her family and her life.

I have to say that she, and Weaver, touched me. This really was a lovely story. (less)

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Jun 01, 2009 Fiona rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like reading, who are passionate, and hate banned books!

Shelves: books-i-own, childrens-and-young-adult, 2009, treasured, historical, setting-usa, second-hand

This is one of my favourite books I have read. It is brilliantly written and the characters so real and truthful.

A Gathering Light, or A Northern Light is based on the real life case of Grace Brown and the letters of her you read within this book are her actual letters.

Around the story of Grace Brown, is the story of Mattie who is one of the most real, memorable characters written I have come across. I love Mattie, she feels real to me and it is as if I really know her. A feeling I am sure she...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-novels

This isn't my normal fare and I'm not entirely sure how it ended up on the bookshelf! However for bedtime reading I'm willing to try pretty much anything. This is a coming of age story set in early twentieth century America in New York state in a rural farming community. The author has quite neatly woven the story around an actual historical event; the murder of a young woman called Grace Brown (also the basis of Dreiser's An American Tragedy).
The story revolves around Mattie, who is 16, her fa...more

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Sep 13, 2010 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of historical YA fiction

Recommended to Tatiana by: Printz

Shelves: printz, ala-ya-2004, ya, 2010, historical

An excellent YA novel. It didn't make me bawl my eyes out however, therefore only 4 stars.

Set in 1906, the book follows an important period in a 16-year old girl's life, when she faces the dilemma of what her future will be. Mattie is an aspiring writer and yearns to attend university, but her family responsibilities hinder her dreams. Will she choose to risk it all and try to find her own independence or will she succumb to her family's wishes and abandon her aspirations to instead become a fa...more

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Jul 03, 2009 Liz (Consumed by Books) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-star, young-adult, own, highly-recommended, historical-fiction, class-resources-for-young-adults

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 18, 2007 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

This book is a delightful read full of thoughtful and realistic characters. The setting is loosely based on the murder of a women in Upstate New York that also inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. The main story revolves around a young girl who desperately wants to go to college and whose family is desperately poor. The story creates a vivid portrait of rural life in the Adirondacks and the sharp distinction of pursuing your dreams and being loyal to your family and sometimes having...more

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May 30, 2010 April rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, ya, highly-recommended, historical-fiction, printz-award, fill-in-the-gaps-project, signed

Mattie Gokey dreams of a life where she is not bound by the confines of her small Catskills town. This beautifully worded historical fiction novel explores feminism, education, familial duty and the crossroads between being a girl and a woman.
Read the rest of my review here

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Sep 12, 2007 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-public-library

I hated to be away from this book and I was sad to finish it. Mattie is an enchanting character and the story is all the stuff Little House by Laura Ingalls Wilder doesn't mention. The terror of watching a woman you love have a difficult birth, the disgusting things that happen to those with grippe, the pain of losing a mother to an illness.

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Jun 09, 2012 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Rebecca by: Ladies & Literature GR Club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a story of a young woman coming to age whilst finding herself and her way in the world.

One of the themes found throughout this book is one of promises made to the dead - and how does one break such promises whilst ridding oneself of the guilt. Others were of family obligations, moving on, losing loved one, friendships and sparking...

At first I was worried that I would not be able to enjoy this book after a bit of a slow start; but before long I found myself not wishing to put it down,...more This is a story of a young woman coming to age whilst finding herself and her way in the world.

One of the themes found throughout this book is one of promises made to the dead - and how does one break such promises whilst ridding oneself of the guilt. Others were of family obligations, moving on, losing loved one, friendships and sparking...

At first I was worried that I would not be able to enjoy this book after a bit of a slow start; but before long I found myself not wishing to put it down, laughing out loud and sitting in shock & disbelief in some parts of the book. I love books that are written so well that you begin to feel what the characters are feeling - this is one of those books.

Mattie and Weaver are the best of friends. Throughout this book I am so grateful they have one another. This book tells their story of moving on with their lives away from the small town that they are a part of. However, moving on isn't so easy for either one of them in the end. I was unsure how the death of Grace Brown would be tied into their stories, but in the end I understood. Mattie found her voice through Grace's letters and death. I thoroughly enjoyed the ending in respect how loose endings were tied up before Mattie went away. It was so beautifully written in that it made me feel that in breaking her promise to her dead mum and Grace Brown (also dead), she was ensuring that those being left behind would be looked after - freeing Weaver in the process too. I believe this showed how much Mattie cared for those she loved and respected, but ultimately loved herself enough to be able to be free herself too.

I enjoyed the word wars between Weaver and Mattie. This reminded me of how I use to study when in school e.g. using the learned knowledge in some way to ensure I could recall it. I also learned some lovely words in the process!

I think the time frame chosen for this book lent itself to this story and allowed for the reader to feel frustrated for both Mattie and Emily Baxter - in that despite their knowledge of the written word - being female was chaining them down. For Weaver - although in the North - racism still followed him. I loved how he fought this, albeit at the loss of his home, he fought against it and never lost hope e.g. "...only 999,998 to go..." Perfect!

The weaving of the true story was done so beautifully. I for one will be reading more about Grace and her letters. Thankfully justice was served in the end for her too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! (less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Monique rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Monique by: Tintin

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction, award-winners, drama, mystery, young-adult

I was set to giving this book a three-star rating when I happened to read on the Author's Note part that the characters of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette, as well as the facts of Grace's murder in the Adirondacks and the fishing out of her body from the waters of the Big Moose Lake, are actually real people and events. Thus, although the book's main protagonist, Mattie Gokey, was fictional, the novel was actually constructed upon and based on history.

And I have a certain penchant for historic...more I was set to giving this book a three-star rating when I happened to read on the Author's Note part that the characters of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette, as well as the facts of Grace's murder in the Adirondacks and the fishing out of her body from the waters of the Big Moose Lake, are actually real people and events. Thus, although the book's main protagonist, Mattie Gokey, was fictional, the novel was actually constructed upon and based on history.

And I have a certain penchant for historical fiction.

Mattie is a sixteen-year-old bookish girl who works at the Glenmore Hotel to help make ends meet for her family; since her mother's death and her elder brother Lawton's departure years before, she was tasked, as the next oldest child, to take care of her three younger sisters, and to help their Pa with farm and house chores. Despite their poverty, however, Mattie does excellently in school; her teacher, Miss Wilcox, sees her potential, and helps her in every way she can in order for Mattie to win a scholarship to a New York University and continue her college education.

At the Glenmore, Mattie earns her wages by doing odd jobs in the kitchen and serving food to the hotel guests. It was there that her path crosses with Grace Brown's: the latter, on the day before her body was fished out from the murky waters of the nearby lake, entrusts a bunch of letters in Mattie's care, leaving behind specific instructions to burn them. Grace then goes boating with her beau, Carl Grahm, and never returns. With this unexpected turn of events, Mattie is a loss as to what should be done to Grace's letters.

The novel shifted between time frames: from the time Mattie was at home with her family, pitching in with the farm chores and various errands around their house, to the time when she had started work at the Glenmore as a waitress/kitchen hand. It took some getting used to at first, and yes, I was also confused at first, but eventually the story unfolded, and beautifully. I liked how the author wrote the novel; simple, straightforward, and as vivid as she can make it, such that it wasn't so hard to imagine that you were right there, among the characters themselves.

However, the novel felt like a collection of stories that weren't inter-connected with each other. The story of Miss Wilcox, Mattie's teacher, her personal battles and her secret identity, had no connection with the mystery of Grace Brown's death, which is, of course, another story by itself. At first, I thought that Miss Wilcox would also figure, somehow, in the investigation of Grace Brown's murder, but the story took on a different angle somewhere. So there were parts in the novel when I felt like I didn't know where the storyline was going.

That aside, I enjoyed the book for its historical value (although the realization of that came much later), and more. I loved how Mattie challenged herself to learn new words everyday by consulting a dictionary, picking a word, and attempting to use it for that day. I also loved how she and Weaver would have word duels, throwing back similar words to the other until the other runs out. Back when I was a student, my friends and I used to play the same game, although it wasn't synonyms we'd be "dueling" on; it was just random stuff like one-title songs, one-name artists, etc. I also loved the ending; why, however, I will not elaborate lest I spoil the book for anyone.

Having said all those, I know that the book deserves more than just 3 stars from me. Although it took me a while to finish this (as I read this simultaneously with A Passage To India, a very difficult read), I realize now that the slow but steady reading pace that I kept made me appreciate the beauty of this book all the better. It would be a shame to breeze through this book and fail to see its true value. (less)

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Jan 17, 2008 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I have mixed feelings about this book. Parts were written well; other parts were more of a stretch. Some of the events were extremely predictable; others were a total surprise. Some events and characters seem to have no point in the overall plot, and others that have a greater role in the plot hardly appear at all. Having taken a number of creative writing classes, I know these things to be things most writers avoid. I wouldn’t call this great writing. It is overall an engaging book, but not gre...more

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Jan 05, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can’t even begin to summarize this book. It’s so complex, but I’ll try my best.

It’s 1906 and Mattie Gokey wants to go to college in New York City. There’s only one problem- she’s a girl. Mattie works at the hotel, and Grace Brown gives her a packet of letters to burn. Mattie forgets, and the next day Grace’s body is found drowned at the bottom of the pond.

The story alternates between the present and the future until they meet up. I found this book very intriguing, though I must warn that ther...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Caroline by: Karina

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2007, historical-fiction

A co-worker of mine had been telling me to read this book for years, but I kept putting it off, thinking it didn't look all that interesting. I finally picked it up, and just couldn't stop reading it! The narration style is very powerful, told from the point of view of a young girl that is trying to make a decision between staying on her family's farm like she promised her mother she would, or to go to New York City to go to college.

At the same time, she is also reading the letters of Grace Brow...more

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Aug 18, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"I know it is a bad thing to break a promise, but I think now that it is a worse thing to let a promise break you."

I've often wondered about what goes on in the lives surrounding a horrific tragedy. We get to know the victims story so very well through the newspaper and court records. What we don't know is what was it really like in that time period, era, location.

Jennifer Donnelly transported me to 1906 to the "North Woods" into the lives of the people and the reality they are faced with and t...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Sarah BT rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sometimes there are books that draw you in so completely to the story and the characters you don't want to let go. This was one of those reads. I loved this book.

A Northern Light is a richly layered character driven novel that is a joy to read. The great thing about Jennifer Donnelly is that I never felt she bogged down in the details as some writers do, especially when it comes to historical fiction. I would give this one to readers who might shy away from that genre because Mattie and her sto...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Louisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-favourites

A Northern Light, in my humble opinion, is one of those rare books that make you happy to be able to read and appreciate realistic if occasionally heartbreaking character growth. Mattie has to be one of the best contemporary YA female protagonists I've come across in a while, partly because, being set in 1906, women's rights are miles behind what it is today, but she's just generally someone I could empathise with.

I thought this particular quote really struck home:

"Well, it seems to me that the

...more

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Jun 15, 2011 Margo Berendsen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-my-reads, ya-classic, historical-fiction, literary, recommend-with-caveat, 2011-favorites, young-adult

Top notch YA literature, just as fast to read as the best action-packed stories, but with richly layered subplots and themes and skillful, graceful writing.

I am very, very impressed. This is a book I could easily re-read a dozen times and still find new wonderful things inside of it.

Set in 1906 in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, the story is billed on the back cover as a murder mystery: 17 year old Mattie works at the resort hotel where a girl just a year older than herself is found dead...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, historical, best-2011, gifts, ya

Original post at One More Page

I was never a big fan of historical novels because in my mind, they're equivalent to classics: slow reading and oftentimes, hard to read. I tend to shy away from any novel set in any part of history that isn't a classic because...well, classics are classics for a reason that's why I feel the need to read them. Historicals are just that, and it doesn't really call my name.

That's just me being a book snob, excuse me there.

But the good reviews of Jennifer Donnelly's bo...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Karla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, historical-romantic-fiction, mystery, ya, 2010, favorites

A timeless comeing of age story set in the early 1900's told thru Matie Gokey who at 16 years old, is a promising young writter with an independent heart and a love for books, who with help of a teacher with new ideas unwelcome in that day and age, sees a spark in Mattie to push her to apply herself. She is given a opportunity to accept a scholarship to Barnard college or stay in the North woods and marry a handsome farmer with his own dreams.
The true love letters of the 1906 Grace Brown murder...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2006

[I would consider this one book that I should have given a review on ages ago:]

Nothing reaches historical fiction reader's hearts more drastically than a woman who is locked up inside a world she no longer feels she is a part of. A Northern Light is a perfect example of that type of plight, and an award-winning example at that. Mattie Gokey (I love that last name, it's like a cross between a poky cheese and an alpaca) is tangled up in her feelings for Royal, a handsome but utterly boring guy. H...more

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Nov 06, 2008 Pauline rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: carnegie-medal, printz-honor, yrca-list-senior, contains-sex, read-2008, reviews, young-adult-fiction

"A Gathering Light" is the title of this book in the United Kingdom, but here in North America it is titled "A Northern Light" why the change of title, I have no idea.

I enjoyed this book, it would definitely appeal to fans of "The Word of the Day", and the book's heroine is a word collector named Mattie Gokey.

Mattie Gokey's mother has died from cancer and Mattie is burdened with the chore of raising her sisters while her father struggles to put food on the table. Royal Loomis a good looking neig...more

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May 19, 2008 Kirsti rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I rate one star not because "I didn't like it" but because there is a nauseating amount of this genre book in existence. The genre of a bookish, misunderstood girl who fights against the strictures of society so that she can be a liberated woman. The genre of book where the author tries to set the world straight on what a girl should do with her life and how she should be treated. The most galling is that the author writes the protagonist (Mattie) as disliking books with "happy endings" but then...more

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About Jennifer Donnelly

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of five novels - Revolution, A Northern Light, The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose and The Wild Rose - and Humble Pie, a picture book for children. She grew up in New York State, in Lewis and Westchester counties, and attended the University of Rochester.

Jennifer’s first novel, The Tea Rose, an epic historical novel set in London and New York in the late 19th century, wa...more

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Quotes from A Northern Light

“Right now I want a word that describes the feeling that you get--a cold sick feeling, deep down inside--when you know something is happening that will change you, and you don't want it to, but you can't stop it. And you know, for the first time, for the very first time, that there will now be a before and an after, a was and a will be. And that you will never again quite be the same person you were.” — 469 people liked it

“I know it is a bad thing to break a promise, but I think now that it is a worse thing to let a promise break you.” — 231 people liked it

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