Book Review - A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Rating :

A Gathering Light is about a girl named Mathilda Gokey or Mattie, 16, who lived with her father and three younger sisters in Adirondack, northern New York in 1906. The sub plot of this novel is an actual infamous murder of a young girl named Grace Brown, who had passed Mattie some of her personal letters with the instruction to burn them. When Grace is found murdered, Mattie reads about Grace through her letters. The life of Grace and Mattie became entangled in the story and the letters affect Mattie’s decisions on what she wants to do in her life.

After the death of her mother, Mattie has to bear the responsibility of the household, as well as help her father on the family farm. Despite the hard life and never ending tasks that had to be done, Mattie excels in school, especially in English. She has talent in writing and dreams to be a writer. She receives enormous support from her teacher, Ms Wilcox and her best friend, Weaver, an African American boy, who like Mattie, outshines academically and receives a scholarship for college.

In the middle of the novel, Mattie receives a marriage proposal from her neighbor and childhood friend, Royal Loomis, who also happens to be the best looking boy in town. Although excited and prepared to live a contented farm life, Mattie was unable to let go of her dream to go to a college in New York and eventually become a writer. A Gathering Light portrays this very heartfelt experience of a young girl through these decisions. It is a genuine story that contains many emotions. It tells about love, sacrifices, kindness, friendship and family values. At the same time, it also illustrates the ugly side of human nature as violence and racism is seen when Weaver was violently abused physically by white men and his house burnt down.

At the end of the story, much to my relief, Mattie decides to run away in the middle of the night to pursue her dream. A Gathering Light is a story that touches your heart. It inspires us to follow our heart and live our dreams, no matter how hard that may be.

A Gathering Light won the Carnegie Medal, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Borders Original Voices Award, and was named a Printz Honor book. Described as “rich and true” by The New York Times, the book was nominated to the Best Book lists of The Times (London), The Irish Times, The Financial Times, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and the School Library Journal. This very good read is available at Tan Sri Loy Hean Heong Library, Main Campus. Call No: F Don

About the author:
A Gathering Light is a novel written by Jennifer Donnelly. She has written three novels, namely A Gathering Light, The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, and Humble Pie, a picture book for children. She grew up in New York State and attended the University of Rochester. At present, Jennifer lives in Tivoli, New York.

Reviewed by Librarian, Irma Indayu Omar