A Northern Light

Jennifer Donnelly

Jan 2013 · HarperCollins

About this ebook

Now with a fresh new look and introduction, Jennifer Donnelly's astonishing, Printz Honor-winning debut—the story of a young woman's coming-of-age and the murder that rocked turn-of-the-century America. A Printz Award Honor Book

"A contemporary classic. Jennifer Donnelly is the master of historical fiction!" —Ruta Sepetys, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Carnegie Medal

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has a word for everything, and big dreams of being a writer but little hope of seeing them come true.

With the fresh pain of her mother’s death lingering over her and the only out from her impoverished life being marriage to the handsome but dull local rich boy, Maddie flees from her home. She takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from Big Moose Lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder.

Set in 1906 in the Adirondack Mountains, against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, this Printz Honor-winning coming-of-age novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.

Ratings and reviews

Love it. Read it last year and reading it this year. Donnelly does an amazing job at combining a murder mystery with romance and the ambitious dreams of a small town county girl. Also, can expand your vocabulary with Mattie Gokey's "word of the day"

A Northern Light is a great read! At first it's like reading about a boring life of a teenage girl but after all the boring stuff comes the Mystery, Romance, and more! You won't regret buying this book! Hope you enjoy!

This was my favorite book in middle school. It still is 10 years later.

About the author

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of eleven novels including the Waterfire Saga, The Tea Rose series, Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book, and A Northern Light.  She grew up in New York State, in Lewis and Westchester counties, and attended the University of Rochester where she majored in English Literature and European History.

www.jenniferdonnelly.com
Twitter: @JenWritesBooks