Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2004), Edition: New edition, 400 pages
Description
In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiance, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest. Based on a true story.
Media reviews
Booklist
Donnelly's novel begins with high drama drawn from history: Grace Brown's body is discovered, and her murder is the framework for this coming-of-age story set in upstate New York in 1906. Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey is a waitress at the Glenmore Hotel when Brown is murdered. As she learns
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Brown's story, her narrative shifts between the goings-on at the hotel and her previous year at home: her toil at the farm; her relationship with her harsh, remote father; her pain at being forbidden to accept a college scholarship. "Plain and bookish," Mattie wonders if she must give up her dream of writing if she marries. Donnelly adds a crowd of intriguing, well-drawn secondary characters whose stories help Mattie define her own desires and sense of self. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member SmithSJ01
A fantastic piece of writing that I enjoyed immensely. The blurb talks about it being based on a real murder at the turn of the century – this is at the start of the 1900s. The person murdered is a young girl who is read about by Mattie through her letters. Mattie wants to become a writer and is
I enjoyed reading about Mattie’s life and the decisions she made. The reader always feels involved, almost as if Mattie has consulted you. I loved her teacher and I really felt for her later on in the novel; there was something about Donnelly’s writing style that evoked real emotions concerning the teacher, Miss Wilcox. Mattie’s determination is fabulous, I could see her every morning taking down the big dictionary that had belonged to her mother and choosing the word for the day. The letters Mattie reads have a powerful effect on her, and on the reader. We learn a lot more about Mattie through these letters. The lives of the murdered girl and Mattie become entwined and when Mattie learns about how she has drowned it is only then that she makes her final decision.
I would not be able to do justice in a review to the quality of writing. I actually sat for four hours to read this book as I genuinely did not want to put it down and miss a minute. I could just have easily started straight again from the beginning and found other clues as to paths Mattie could have taken. I thought the relationship with her friend Weaver was beautifully written and the heartache he goes through is shared by her. She is a wonderful character with many strengths, it would be nice to read a sequel to her life. For those interested in the actual murder that is the basis for the novel, there is information about it at the back, with some notes from the author.
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great friends with Weaver who is an academic like herself. Naturally her teacher becomes her greatest influence and Mattie would do anything to be able to read more material and write. Or would she? Her life is mapped out for her already – live in the neighbourhood, acquire a husband and children and in the meantime continue to look after her own family. I enjoyed reading about Mattie’s life and the decisions she made. The reader always feels involved, almost as if Mattie has consulted you. I loved her teacher and I really felt for her later on in the novel; there was something about Donnelly’s writing style that evoked real emotions concerning the teacher, Miss Wilcox. Mattie’s determination is fabulous, I could see her every morning taking down the big dictionary that had belonged to her mother and choosing the word for the day. The letters Mattie reads have a powerful effect on her, and on the reader. We learn a lot more about Mattie through these letters. The lives of the murdered girl and Mattie become entwined and when Mattie learns about how she has drowned it is only then that she makes her final decision.
I would not be able to do justice in a review to the quality of writing. I actually sat for four hours to read this book as I genuinely did not want to put it down and miss a minute. I could just have easily started straight again from the beginning and found other clues as to paths Mattie could have taken. I thought the relationship with her friend Weaver was beautifully written and the heartache he goes through is shared by her. She is a wonderful character with many strengths, it would be nice to read a sequel to her life. For those interested in the actual murder that is the basis for the novel, there is information about it at the back, with some notes from the author.
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LibraryThing member ChiaraBeth
A brilliant work of historical fiction. Not only are the characters vividly human, their world is vividly turn of the century. Donnelly's depth of research and attention to accuracy clearly shine through her descriptions but in a natural, unobtrusive, and well-rounded way. And the modesty of the
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heroine is something to be admired in YA writing today, where too often heroines are confident to the point of arrogance and ballsy to the point of self-importance. Matty, on the other hand, is unsure of herself but sure of her ambitions, generous but not so much that she is willing to give all of herself up, and courageous in a world where courage was simply taking one step farther down a road you've never walked. An inspiring, intriguing read for YA and A(dults) alike. If you like this, you'll probably also enjoy Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. Show Less
LibraryThing member BookAddictDiary
A Northern Light is Jennifer Donnelly's first YA novel. Though it was originally published in the early 2000s, the book has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity (or well, more popularity than ever before) due to the explosion in the YA market and the recent release and popularity of
Let me begin by giving you a brief history of my relationship with Donnelly. A few years ago I read her adult historical, The Tea Rose, which I found pretty painful to read and not particularly interesting. Though the novel has spawned sequels, I could never force myself to pick them up -mostly because I have a long list of considerably more interesting books to read first, so these books ended up dropping off the list and being forgotten.
But, after seeing Donnelly's Revolution everywhere, I thought I'd give her another try in the YA market. I am so glad that I did. A Northern Light is a well-written, moving tale of beauty, romance and mystery that's impossible to forget. Though at times a tiny bit slow, A Northern Light is a delightful read for fans of YA historical romance.
It's 1906 and young Mattie lives up north near the Adirondack, where she works at a local hotel to help provide for her family and save up to one day move to New York City for a new life. When a young couple disappears on a rowboat who stayed at the hotel -and one of them turns up dead -Mattie finds herself with a collection of love letters between the two. Though she was told to burn them, Mattie finds the key to the woman's disappearance and death, and a fascinating mystery begins to unravel about the woman named Grace and about Mattie's own past, present and future.
I have never before seen writing of this quality from Donnelly. The way she weaves the story of Grace into Mattie's story is amazing, feels real and gives Mattie's character a strong three-dimensional feel that makes her easy to relate to and draws the reader into the story.
Beautiful and moving, A Northern Light gave me renewed confidence in Donnelly and made me even more excited to check out Revolution -she knows how to do YA right!
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Donnelly's other YA historical, Revolution.Let me begin by giving you a brief history of my relationship with Donnelly. A few years ago I read her adult historical, The Tea Rose, which I found pretty painful to read and not particularly interesting. Though the novel has spawned sequels, I could never force myself to pick them up -mostly because I have a long list of considerably more interesting books to read first, so these books ended up dropping off the list and being forgotten.
But, after seeing Donnelly's Revolution everywhere, I thought I'd give her another try in the YA market. I am so glad that I did. A Northern Light is a well-written, moving tale of beauty, romance and mystery that's impossible to forget. Though at times a tiny bit slow, A Northern Light is a delightful read for fans of YA historical romance.
It's 1906 and young Mattie lives up north near the Adirondack, where she works at a local hotel to help provide for her family and save up to one day move to New York City for a new life. When a young couple disappears on a rowboat who stayed at the hotel -and one of them turns up dead -Mattie finds herself with a collection of love letters between the two. Though she was told to burn them, Mattie finds the key to the woman's disappearance and death, and a fascinating mystery begins to unravel about the woman named Grace and about Mattie's own past, present and future.
I have never before seen writing of this quality from Donnelly. The way she weaves the story of Grace into Mattie's story is amazing, feels real and gives Mattie's character a strong three-dimensional feel that makes her easy to relate to and draws the reader into the story.
Beautiful and moving, A Northern Light gave me renewed confidence in Donnelly and made me even more excited to check out Revolution -she knows how to do YA right!
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LibraryThing member sdiana
The Great Camps of the Adirondacks, now only shadows of their former selves, bring back a time when getting away meant actually leaving the everyday, and recreation was gracious and restful. Opening with a perfect description “When summer comes to the North Woods, time slows down.” Jennifer
When I was a young teen, a family hired me to accompany them and their two small girls on vacation to Eagle Bay. In a time before satellite television and computers, taking a vacation in the North Country meant time away from civilization. Then it was still possible to imagine the women in their white sweeping dresses on wide lawns, men oaring across a lake in the afternoon quiet, the bustle of the servants getting everything prepared.
The story is told in first person narrative by Mattie, a 16 year old girl, whose promise to her mother on her death bed was to take care of the family. She escapes the tedious work on their poor farm to a paying job at a nearby camp. She has been accepted to college, unusual for her time, and is torn between her obligation to her family, the expectation that she will marry a local man, and her desire to become a writer. Each chapter opens with her “word of the day”, and she finds encouragement from a local teacher, and her friend Weaver, the only black man in Eagle Bay, to follow her dreams.
Mattie questions her world constantly, looking at her married friends, the women she meets at the camp, the man she may marry and her family. When a young woman is drowned by a wealthy man (The Great American Tragedy) she wonders about a woman’s place, her place and how the world may change.
This has been one of my favorite books as I connect with both Mattie’s struggle to understand the traditional role of women (less restrictive than my seventies recollections, but still woven firmly into my understanding of life) and with the beautiful Adirondack backdrop against which this heroic story is set.
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Donnelly’s novel A Northern Light pulls the reader into the early twentieth century in the area around Big Moose Lake. When I was a young teen, a family hired me to accompany them and their two small girls on vacation to Eagle Bay. In a time before satellite television and computers, taking a vacation in the North Country meant time away from civilization. Then it was still possible to imagine the women in their white sweeping dresses on wide lawns, men oaring across a lake in the afternoon quiet, the bustle of the servants getting everything prepared.
The story is told in first person narrative by Mattie, a 16 year old girl, whose promise to her mother on her death bed was to take care of the family. She escapes the tedious work on their poor farm to a paying job at a nearby camp. She has been accepted to college, unusual for her time, and is torn between her obligation to her family, the expectation that she will marry a local man, and her desire to become a writer. Each chapter opens with her “word of the day”, and she finds encouragement from a local teacher, and her friend Weaver, the only black man in Eagle Bay, to follow her dreams.
Mattie questions her world constantly, looking at her married friends, the women she meets at the camp, the man she may marry and her family. When a young woman is drowned by a wealthy man (The Great American Tragedy) she wonders about a woman’s place, her place and how the world may change.
This has been one of my favorite books as I connect with both Mattie’s struggle to understand the traditional role of women (less restrictive than my seventies recollections, but still woven firmly into my understanding of life) and with the beautiful Adirondack backdrop against which this heroic story is set.
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LibraryThing member maggiereads
"No one is a failure who has books." Oops, that's supposed to read, “No one is a failure who has friends.” Wait a minute! Aren't they one in the same!?!
I met a new friend, in yet another book, that I admire and care for deeply this week. Her name is Matilda Gokey, or Mattie, and she lives in
While living with the family, Mattie chooses a word for the day from her deceased mother’s prized dictionary. (All stories about Mattie’s time with the family begin with the word of the day separated phonetically in the chapter title.) These words are her salvation as she toils caringly for her three younger sisters and overworked father.
Her time at Glenmore is punctuated by the untimely death of an inn guest. Grace Brown is found at dusk floating on the camp’s lake. She and her friend Carl Grahm, or is it Chester Gillette, took a little skiff out after lunch and haven’t been seen since. Well, that is before Grace’s body turns up.
In these parallel stories, Mattie has made promises to the recently dead. For her mother, she promises to look after the family, and for Grace Brown she promises to burn the letters written between Grace and Chester, oh, I mean Carl. Did you know it was a sin to break a death bed promise? Mattie just knows she will come face-to-face with their ghosts if she does.
Jennifer Donnelly has written an extremely engaging story in A Northern Light. This award winner, for the young adult crowd, is perfect for a mother/daughter book club. Given the daughter is mature and understands the facts of life. Think of this book as a Laura Ingalls story for mature audiences.
If the second story sounds familiar, that is because it is based on the 1906 murder which inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
This was one of those books I carried everywhere and didn’t want to put down. Not even when I was called to supper. Now, you know it’s a special friend, when you are willing to pass up food!
I met a new friend, in yet another book, that I admire and care for deeply this week. Her name is Matilda Gokey, or Mattie, and she lives in
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the North Woods of New York state. She is 16 and she is 17 for her story travels two separate timelines; one story occurs as she carries out chores on her family’s homestead, and the other story takes place at the Glenmore Inn where she toils as a maid.While living with the family, Mattie chooses a word for the day from her deceased mother’s prized dictionary. (All stories about Mattie’s time with the family begin with the word of the day separated phonetically in the chapter title.) These words are her salvation as she toils caringly for her three younger sisters and overworked father.
Her time at Glenmore is punctuated by the untimely death of an inn guest. Grace Brown is found at dusk floating on the camp’s lake. She and her friend Carl Grahm, or is it Chester Gillette, took a little skiff out after lunch and haven’t been seen since. Well, that is before Grace’s body turns up.
In these parallel stories, Mattie has made promises to the recently dead. For her mother, she promises to look after the family, and for Grace Brown she promises to burn the letters written between Grace and Chester, oh, I mean Carl. Did you know it was a sin to break a death bed promise? Mattie just knows she will come face-to-face with their ghosts if she does.
Jennifer Donnelly has written an extremely engaging story in A Northern Light. This award winner, for the young adult crowd, is perfect for a mother/daughter book club. Given the daughter is mature and understands the facts of life. Think of this book as a Laura Ingalls story for mature audiences.
If the second story sounds familiar, that is because it is based on the 1906 murder which inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
This was one of those books I carried everywhere and didn’t want to put down. Not even when I was called to supper. Now, you know it’s a special friend, when you are willing to pass up food!
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LibraryThing member yourotherleft
Mattie Gokey has big dreams for her future in a difficult present. Around the turn of the century, she finds herself serving as a farm hand for her father whose oldest son has fled as well as mother to her three sisters after her own mother dies from cancer. As she deals with her day to day
When her father allows her to spend the summer working at the Glenmore, a lake resort of tourists, Mattie's dream seems within reach, but her love for Royal and a promise made to her mother on her deathbed force Mattie to reconsider her formerly single-minded pursuit of a college education. In the meantime, a mysteriously drowned young woman is taken from the lake, and as Mattie reads the dead woman's letters to her beloved as her own life marches on, Mattie finds the answers she's been looking for.
Donnelly creates parallel storylines; one which begins with the discovery of the drowned Grace Brown at the Glenmore and the other which explores Mattie's life up until that point. Each "past" chapter is headed with Mattie's word of the day which not only helped to enrich my vocabulary but also helped to shed light on crucial plot points. The portion of the story involving Grace Brown and her letters, though weaker than the rest, still serves to illuminate Mattie's experience; and when the two stories meet with a brilliant "ah-ha" moment for Mattie, the use of this structure really pays off.
Donnelly spectacularly channels Mattie's first person narrative making it seem like we truly are in Mattie's head. Down to the finest detail she stays in character, describing feelings, events, and even other characters' facial expressions in ways that always relate to Mattie's experience. Take, for example, Mattie's reaction to Royal's appraising look at her:
He looked at me closely, his head on an angle, and for a second I had the funniest feeling that he was going to open my jaws and look at my teeth or pick up my foot and rap the bottom of it.
Using Mattie as a jumping off point, A Northern Light thoughtfully works through problems facing women at the turn of the century that continue to apply in some measure today. At the time, new doors were opening for women that didn't involve husbands or babies, but strong expectations that women would still follow that path were still predominant. Even today, I felt like I could see parts of myself in Mattie as she struggled with whether to follow her dream to attend college and write books of her own or to choose to value marriage and family more. Donnelly is successful in portraying the good and bad things about each scenario, which really impressed me. While I appreciate how far women have come, I feel that so many women have become overeager to deride "traditional" roles, and I really appreciated that Donnelly didn't seem to stoop to that level. The balanced view of things really helped me to care deeply about Mattie and what decision she would make in the end. All in all, A Northern Light is a spectacular read about a young woman learning who she is and what she wants out of life and then choosing to go after it. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
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struggles Mattie takes refuge in words, looking up a new one every day in her mother's treasured dictionary and committing it to memory. Mattie aspires to get her high school diploma and go to school in New York City where she can develop her talent for writing stories and eventually write books of her own. However, much stands in her way. Even attending school past the age of fourteen is unusual and puts a strain on her relationship with her father who counts on her help with the farm in the absence of her mother and older brother. The family has little money, and Mattie knows she can't count on any financial help to make her dream come true. And there's the "problem" with the handsome Royal Loomis who, it seems, is sweet on her.When her father allows her to spend the summer working at the Glenmore, a lake resort of tourists, Mattie's dream seems within reach, but her love for Royal and a promise made to her mother on her deathbed force Mattie to reconsider her formerly single-minded pursuit of a college education. In the meantime, a mysteriously drowned young woman is taken from the lake, and as Mattie reads the dead woman's letters to her beloved as her own life marches on, Mattie finds the answers she's been looking for.
Donnelly creates parallel storylines; one which begins with the discovery of the drowned Grace Brown at the Glenmore and the other which explores Mattie's life up until that point. Each "past" chapter is headed with Mattie's word of the day which not only helped to enrich my vocabulary but also helped to shed light on crucial plot points. The portion of the story involving Grace Brown and her letters, though weaker than the rest, still serves to illuminate Mattie's experience; and when the two stories meet with a brilliant "ah-ha" moment for Mattie, the use of this structure really pays off.
Donnelly spectacularly channels Mattie's first person narrative making it seem like we truly are in Mattie's head. Down to the finest detail she stays in character, describing feelings, events, and even other characters' facial expressions in ways that always relate to Mattie's experience. Take, for example, Mattie's reaction to Royal's appraising look at her:
He looked at me closely, his head on an angle, and for a second I had the funniest feeling that he was going to open my jaws and look at my teeth or pick up my foot and rap the bottom of it.
Using Mattie as a jumping off point, A Northern Light thoughtfully works through problems facing women at the turn of the century that continue to apply in some measure today. At the time, new doors were opening for women that didn't involve husbands or babies, but strong expectations that women would still follow that path were still predominant. Even today, I felt like I could see parts of myself in Mattie as she struggled with whether to follow her dream to attend college and write books of her own or to choose to value marriage and family more. Donnelly is successful in portraying the good and bad things about each scenario, which really impressed me. While I appreciate how far women have come, I feel that so many women have become overeager to deride "traditional" roles, and I really appreciated that Donnelly didn't seem to stoop to that level. The balanced view of things really helped me to care deeply about Mattie and what decision she would make in the end. All in all, A Northern Light is a spectacular read about a young woman learning who she is and what she wants out of life and then choosing to go after it. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
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LibraryThing member santli
One of the best novels I've ever read. I'm not sure if it is because it combines two of my favorite genres: historical fiction and mystery, or if it is because Donnelly is one of the few YA authors I've come across that can write beautiful, lyrical prose in a non-stuffy fashion. I listened to the
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audiobook version read by Hope Davis and it both added and detracted from the experience of the novel. First, the negatives: I think to really appreciate the language Donnelly uses, especially the vocabulary Mattie comes across, you have to have the book in front of you and be reading and seeing the words to absorb them just as Mattie does. There were also scenes that I wish I could have spent extra time reading (the one in the library with Ms. Wilcox comes to mind). The positives, however, are significant: Hope Davis does a spectacular job bringing life to a large cast of characters. From Weaver to Royal, Minnie to Cook, and Mattie herself, you really begin to feel as if you are a part of the family in North Woods. Reading versus listening to A Northern Light provides a distinctly different experience, so I can't wait to pick up the book in the future and settle into its lyrical depths. This is a book all YA should have to read, because I imagine it will become a classic. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fluffyblue
I enjoyed reading this story, which was based around a real murders at the turn of the 20th Century.
The main character, Mattie (Mathilda), was very likeable. She loved books and had been accepted to Barnard. The story is about the difficulties she experiences being female and wanting to be more
Throughout the book there are many different characters, the main ones being Weaver Smith and Royal Loomis. Both are very different, Weaver being black and in common with Mattie, being a scholar with a place at Columbia. Mattie falls 'in love' with Royal, who plans to be a farmer. He is not the most likeable person, and you can see that he is using Mattie in order to get to her father's land.
The book was easily digested and the characters, including some of the minor ones, well set out, and definitely one I would recommend reading.
I think this book is called "A Northern Light" in the US.
The main character, Mattie (Mathilda), was very likeable. She loved books and had been accepted to Barnard. The story is about the difficulties she experiences being female and wanting to be more
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than just a farmer's wife. To add to her problems, her mother died and she had promised her that she would look after the family.Throughout the book there are many different characters, the main ones being Weaver Smith and Royal Loomis. Both are very different, Weaver being black and in common with Mattie, being a scholar with a place at Columbia. Mattie falls 'in love' with Royal, who plans to be a farmer. He is not the most likeable person, and you can see that he is using Mattie in order to get to her father's land.
The book was easily digested and the characters, including some of the minor ones, well set out, and definitely one I would recommend reading.
I think this book is called "A Northern Light" in the US.
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LibraryThing member LibraryLou
This is a brilliant novel that unravels the mystery of a murdered woman , while telling the story of Mattie, a girl desperate to escape the life she is forced to live.
Based on a true story.
Based on a true story.
LibraryThing member edspicer
Mattie Gorkey has faith in words. In 1906 dreams of women writers often perish at the altar of housework, back breaking farm chores, and babies. Still Mattie dreams and collects her words, stringing them together like precious pearls. When handsome Royal Loomis begins to shower her with attention,
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Mattie struggles with a brand new vocabulary: duty, expectation, obligation, tradition, and their cousins. Life proves to be a most difficult word for Mattie, with its random shading of love and racism, work and pleasure, desire and gender, joy and death. The way Donnelly marries literacy with living makes this book a prime cut above most new books this year. Don’t miss it, although it will not appeal to readers who care little for luscious language steeped in the history of an actual murder more than 100 years ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member FionaCat
This novel is about a 16-year-old girl named Matt living in the Adirondacks in 1906. She is a gifted writer and desperately wants to go to college in New York, but her family thinks school is a waste of time. Matt gets a job at a hotel and becomes interested in the 'accidental' death of one of the
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guests -- a young woman who gave Matt a packet of letters and made her promise to burn them ... Show Less
LibraryThing member caitlinef
Jennifer Donnelly's A Northern Light completely gripped me. The story is of a young girl named Mattie who struggles to find herself among a tide of pressure. In a time when women were often pushed into a familial based life, Mattie wants to pursue a life of her own. One summer she gets tangled in a
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murder mystery, and her outlook and aspirations of life are changed in accordance with this tragedy. I really liked this book, and I found the author's writing to be creative and intriguing. I especially liked that each chapter was a single word that described the tone of the rest of the chapter. This book is worth the read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ewyatt
This was my third time reading this book and I think I like it better each time. Donnelly is a fantastic story teller. We had a great book club discussion and talked a lot about what is expected and accepted of girls in society.
LibraryThing member chestnut.library
One of this year's best historical fiction! Set in the early 1900's in the Rural North Woods, a young farm girl, Mattie Gokey, is unsure of her life. She wants more than just a farm life. She wants an education. She wants to marry... or does she?
When she goes to work in an Adirondack area hotel
When she goes to work in an Adirondack area hotel
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for the summer, she becomes embroiled in a mystery surrounding the body of a young woman who was a guest at the hotel. Just before she drowned, Grace Brown left a packet of letters with Mattie to burn. Should she burn them? They could be the only clue to what really happened to Grace. Show Less
LibraryThing member slightlyfan
A good read. A little long towards the middle, but it picks up. I loved the flipping forwards and backwards in time towards the beginning, althought it did get a little confusing at some points.
It has a good moral for girls saying that they don't have to settle for a life as a mother if they don;t
It has a good moral for girls saying that they don't have to settle for a life as a mother if they don;t
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want to. You can be whatever you want to be. Go for your dreams, even of others don't believe in you. Show Less
LibraryThing member dfullmer
This was a wonderful story. I listened to it and Hope Davis handled this reading beautifully. The story is of a farm girl whose mother has recently passed away. She is very smart and would love to spend all her time reading, but since she is the oldest sibling at home on a farm that is barely
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surviving she is forced to spend most of her time doing exhausting, back breaking work. She dreams of going to college is close to being realized when circumstances intervene. The author interweaves a true tale of a young woman who was killed in 1906 by her fiance into the storyline. Show Less
LibraryThing member lmoreno
Not only one of the best YA books I've read, one of the best books ever written! There is so much hope and heartache in this book. Your heart fills to bursting as you read about Mattie's dreams and wonder if she will dare to follow them. To me the murder aspect of this story is secondary to to
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coming-of-age tale. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyostitcher
A Northern Light was a difficult book to get started, but once it flowed it moved along at a good pace. Mattie appears to be a young woman who cares greatly for those around her. She has experienced a lifetime of heartache while a very young woman. I liked the vocabulary word chapters because they
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show Mattie’s desire to continue learning and share her love for words with others. This would be an excellent book for a group of readers composed of girls who are searching for careers to see that even in the early 1900s young women had the right to make decisions and make choices for their own careers even though it will be another sixty years before they ERA comes to fruition. Weaver is an important character because he offsets Mattie’s eventual freedom with the inability of his race to move forward in history at this time. I appreciate that the author, Jennifer Donnelly, had so many resources to make the novel historically accurate. Show Less
LibraryThing member arden47
Well-researched and written book, completely captivating.
LibraryThing member bell7
In 1906, Mattie Gokey is working at a local hotel for the summer when two of the guests disappear. One of these guests gave Mattie what may be the key to their disappearance, but she's not sure what to do. Based on the same historical events as An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, I found this
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book more enjoyable, yet still thought provoking from a different point of view. Show Less
LibraryThing member mirlyarley
Theodore Dreiser;s novel, An American Tragedy , which was made into the movie, A Place in the Sun,, is retold in this novel. The story really is about a young girl who loves learning and desperately wants to go to college instead of staying home, marrying young, raising kids, and be another unhappy
A sidelight but interesting part of the book is the fervor she has for learning and how a friend and a teacher help her to see the need for her to go on to college.
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woman in the community. She has seen how her good friend has already changed and she doesn’t want that life. Somehow, she convinces her father to allow her to work (and live} at an Adirondack hotel. While there, a young woman guest secretly givers her a bundle of letters with instructions to destroy them. She intends to do so but is stopped and hides them. When the girl dies in a boating accident, she can’t resist reading the letters and discovers it may not be a accident. Good read. A sidelight but interesting part of the book is the fervor she has for learning and how a friend and a teacher help her to see the need for her to go on to college.
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LibraryThing member jwhalen
A historical fiction book about a murder at a famous resort in New York in the early 1900's. The young girl that comes to work at the resort sees it all and find the truth.
LibraryThing member cablesclasses
Donnelly creates suspense and intrigue as Mattie discovers the letters from Grace,the dead woman, which were left in the hotel. As the clues are read, the reader finds parallels between the two worlds: Mattie's and Grace's. Romance, love, maturation, and finding one's place obscure Mattie's vision
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about the murder and her own pathway. Donnelly's style allows the reader to escape to 1906 and feel like a character in the story following Mattie, understanding her thoughts, and aching with her through each tough decision...event the very last one. Show Less
LibraryThing member BellaFoxx
This book uses a real historical event and creates a fiction around it. But the book is not about the event. It is about living in the Adirondacks in the early 1900's, the differences between the tourists and the people who lived there. The main character and narrator is a young girl who wants to
She has a unique way of describing things, "Our Abby is a sprigged dress that has been washed and turned wrong side out to dry, with all its color hidden." And on another occasion when her sister is having her "monthlies" and her pa got mad at her cause he was embarrassed. "Cripes, it wasn't my fault. What did he go and have four girls for?"
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go to college and faces opposition from her family and a young man who wants to marry her. She has to decide between the easy thing and following her dreams. The writing style is relaxed and carries you along. The narrative goes from the past to the present, but the present is moving slower than the past so they eventually meet and then the story flows to its finish.She has a unique way of describing things, "Our Abby is a sprigged dress that has been washed and turned wrong side out to dry, with all its color hidden." And on another occasion when her sister is having her "monthlies" and her pa got mad at her cause he was embarrassed. "Cripes, it wasn't my fault. What did he go and have four girls for?"
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LibraryThing member GaylDasherSmith
Unusual historical novel based on a true incident. I don't think it's paced for a teen reader. I think adult women would like it more.
Subjects
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Young Adult Literature — 2003)
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Nominee — 2006)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2005)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2006)
Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2006)
Cardinal Cup (Honor — 2004)
Gateway Readers Award (Nominee — 2006)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2006)
Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award (Nominee — 2009)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Nominee — 2005)
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing (Nominee — 2003)
Printz Award (Honor — 2004)
Charlotte Award (Winner — 2006)
Borders Original Voices (2004)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2005)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2004)
CCBC Choices (2004)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (Young Adult — 2005)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2004)
Young Adult Favorites Award (2005)
OYAN Book Rave (2004)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
400 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
0747570639 / 9780747570639
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DDC/MDS
| 813 |