A Northern Light (2003) Jennifer Donnelly (Author)
Award Winner
As a young woman in 1906, plain and bookish Mattie Gokey doesn't have many options for the future, but that won't make them any easier to decide among. Her three mutually-exclusive choices are: remaining on the impoverished family farm, as she promised her dying mother; marriage to an attractive neighbor, Royal Loomis, who shares none of her interest in writing; or accepting a scholarship to study at Barnard College. While considering these possibilities, Mattie works at an Adirondack resort, where Grace Brown and her lover Chester Gillette are guests. Letters that Grace leaves in Mattie's care at the hotel before she disappears after a boating trip with Chester on a nearby lake help Mattie take decisive action concerning both Miss Brown's fate and her own future. Based on an actual murder case that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Dream, this historical novel includes realistic depictions of early twentieth-century farm life and social mores, well-drawn characters, and elements of both mystery and romance. It was published in England as A Gathering Light.
MAIN CHARACTERS :
Weaver Smith, Friend (of Mattie; African American), Mattie Gokey, Caregiver (for her three young sisters and widowed father), Royal Loomis, Neighbor (of Mattie), Grace Brown, Lover (of Chester Gillette), Chester Gillette, Lover (of Grace)
GENRE :
Historical fiction, Mystery fiction, Popular romances
SUB GENRE :
Coming-of-Age, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult, Historical
SETTING(S) :
Adirondack Mountains, New York, Atlantic States, East, North America, Northeast, United States
SUBJECT :
Coming of age, Rural life, Sex roles, Hotels and motels, Murder, Mystery fiction, Detective fiction, Responsibility, Romances (Fiction), Crime
TIME PERIOD :
20th century AD, 1900s (Decade) AD
Gale Document Number: GALE|M1300122877
Gale Database: What Do I Read Next?, 2010
SOURCE CITATION : "A Northern Light." 2010. Books & Authors Gale. Gale Internal User. 2 Sep 2010 <http://books.wiseto.com/bna/start.do?p=BNA&u=gale>
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