31 March, 2012

‘A Gathering Light’ by Jennifer Donnelly (2003)



What a gorgeous, brilliant, scintillating, resplendent novel. What a work of art... This novel, set in 1906, is a complex amalgamation of any issue and every issue you could possibly think of. The main character, a poor farm girl, longs for a better life and tries to achieve this through excelling her education. She has a talent for writing and longs to be part of a world where she can write and read freely. Of course, there are two deterrents to cease her fantastic dreams:  one, she is a girl; two, she is poor.

Sexism, racism, murder and mystery- this novel has it all. It doesn’t give a one sided account either, instead showing every character with great verisimilitude. You can empathise with Mattie (the main character) though personally, I thought that some of the smaller characters, such as Minnie, provide a great deal of insight into America in 1906. When reading it, be forewarned- the murder case that features in the novel actually happened and the letters do exist.

Other than what I have written, there is not much else to add. A genuine, rare and lovely novel, this book has become one of my favourites- and I hope it becomes one of your favourites too.

-Steph

Read this is you enjoyed: Ruby Holler (Creech);  Revolution (Donnelly);  Just In Case (Rossoff).

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