A Northern Light

Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Pages: 383 pages
Rate: 10 out of 10


Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the grim truth behind a murder. 


Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tradgedy, this astonishing novel weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, real, and wholly original.


After Mattie's mom passed away from cancer, Mattie had to take on her mother's duties. But soon after when her older brother, Lawton, ran away, she had to take on his chores, too. Taking care of all her younger sisters and helping her father run the farm, Mattie's dreams of going to college and writing a novel are slowly fading. Mattie's teacher, Miss Wilcox, knows that Mattie and her friend Weaver can get into college easily. But even with a scholarship, Mattie would have to pay for her boarding, books, and the train ticket to college. Her family's money is scarce, so Mattie starts working at the Glenmore to earn money for her family and for college. While at the Glenmore, Mattie learns the gruesome truth about a murder of one of the guests, Grace Brown. 


Based around the actual murder of Grace Brown (yes, she was real), this novel frequently goes into the future (flashbacks only into the future.. I wonder what those are called), but eventually the future and the present catch up with eachother towards the end of the novel.


I rated this a ten out of ten because I really enjoyed this novel. The plot was so amazing, I couldn't put the book down! I love historical fiction novels, so this was definitely a favorite of mine. I liked that the murder part was real- it made the novel come to life a little more. I would recommend this to anybody who likes historical fiction novels. I wouldn't recommend it to everybody, though, because one of my friends read it back in November and he disliked it a lot. So if you do end up reading it, I don't promise you'll love it. I know I will be reading this novel again in the future.