A Northern Light

My latest book review...it was a great book and a blessed relief because I've read some fails of late. It was so great to read something with good character development, an interesting conflict, and that was just well written!

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jennifer Donnelly adeptly weaves the fictional story of Mathilda Gokey (or Mattie/Matt to her friends and family) into the true story of one Miss Grace Brown, a 19-year-old young woman who is mysteriously drowned during the summer of 1906. Grace comes to Big Moose Lake with her boyfriend, of sorts in any case, and is then found dead after what appears to be a drowning accident. Donnelly explores what might have happened if Mattie happened to be in possession of a packet of letters written by Grace and her boyfriend in the months before Grace's untimely death.

There are several things I loved about this story.

1. The chapters all contained a word of the day. Mattie, a writer in the making, would find a new word in her dictionary every day. I loved the way Donnelly centered part of the focus of each chapter on those words so that it related to the action in the novel.

2. I loved that the story of Grace Brown was true. I love that the letters were real (although, of course, Mattie never read them because Mattie was not real). I did not love that she died, of course, but discovering that the fictional Mattie Gokey was learning about a real life mystery was an astute way to tie into the themes of female roles in the early 1900s. It made the decisions that the women faced in the story all the more real. In fact, it was one of the best parts of the novel.

3. I loved that Mattie could see the good in people who were far from perfect, especially the revelation of her father's own pain and his love for his family. Although he was less than affectionate, she could see the way he cared for their family in the endless sacrifices he made for them. It made me reflect on what love is, and how we choose to see it. Because all to often, I think, we miss it. We don't see the every day actions of others, so we forget that those, too, are an expression of love...sometimes the most important expressions of all.

4. I loved the honest look at what life would have been like for a female in such a harsh environment, especially if you have a gift that doesn't fit the profile of wife or homemaker. I think we have it so much easier today because of the conveniences of modern life. Dishwashers, washers, dryers, cars, the internet, refrigerators, Walmart, Target, indoor plumbing, electricity, ATMs...you get the idea. We have free time to explore so many options because of the conveniences of modern life. But women then maybe couldn't spend time reading a novel, for example, because it would take hours just to finish the laundry or get food ready for storage. Donnelly presents tough, real choices for her characters, and I can honestly say, I don't know what I would have done had I lived then. I think it would have been hard all around, regardless of gender. But to have children and raise them in an environment like that...my hat goes off to those women. They were strong!

5. Mattie's decision, in the end, was hard for me to accept. Should she stay or go? I won't give anything away here. I wanted her to do both. I wanted her to stay and be a mother and have a family and build a life. I wanted her to go and live her own dream because she wasn't like the other women. She wanted to have something different. I won't say she wanted "more" because it isn't more. It's just not the same as a life with a family, building a farm and raising children. I guess that is the part that totally hit home for me. I know, on the one hand, how lonely life can be when you don't have that companionship of a husband and children. But I also know the beauty of living out dreams, getting an education, exploring new places and having new adventures. So either choice for me was hard.

6. I think the way she weaved the story through time was brilliant. It's not obvious at first that she's not telling a story in a linear fashion. She tells portions of the story before Mattie begins working at Big Moose Lake and portions of the story after she starts working, after Grace Brown has died, and after Mattie comes into possession of Grace's letters. So the audience discovers both how Mattie comes to work at Big Moose and how Grace Brown died around the same time in the novel. In essence, Donnelly is entwining the two stories and two climaxes into one. Loved it.

I feel like my review doesn't do justice to the book. It was really good, very well written, thoughtful, smart. I could go on. But the best I can say is that you should read it.



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