asiem reviewed A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Review of 'A Northern Light' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Loosely based on the murder of Grace Brown, a young pregnant woman who was murdered by her boyfriend in the Adirondacks in the early 1900s (1906, to be precise), the book delves into the life of sixteen year old Mathilde "Mattie" Gokey (anglicised from Gauthier), eldest girl in a family of five, whose mother has succumbed to cancer, leaving her to look after her family the best that she can. Mattie is, however, a prolific writer, and after being encouraged by her teacher (Ms. Emily Wilcox, who is actually Emily Baxter, renegade poet, under-cover), she nurtures dreams of attending Barnard College in New York, in a bid to escape from the drudgery of her life. Her 'loftier' ambitions coincide with more 'domestic' ones, until letters from a dead girl drowned in a lake prompt her to figure out where her loyalties actually lie.
Loosely based on the murder of Grace Brown, a young pregnant woman who was murdered by her boyfriend in the Adirondacks in the early 1900s (1906, to be precise), the book delves into the life of sixteen year old Mathilde "Mattie" Gokey (anglicised from Gauthier), eldest girl in a family of five, whose mother has succumbed to cancer, leaving her to look after her family the best that she can. Mattie is, however, a prolific writer, and after being encouraged by her teacher (Ms. Emily Wilcox, who is actually Emily Baxter, renegade poet, under-cover), she nurtures dreams of attending Barnard College in New York, in a bid to escape from the drudgery of her life. Her 'loftier' ambitions coincide with more 'domestic' ones, until letters from a dead girl drowned in a lake prompt her to figure out where her loyalties actually lie.
