'A Gathering Light is a remarkable debut, a book that sweeps across the genre boundaries of murder, mystery, romance, and historical fiction - resulting in an original novel that is both gripping and touching.' Scott Turow.

When Mattie is given the letters by a guest at the hotel in which she has a summer job she thinks that the giver is simply upset. But the next day when the woman is found drowned in Big Moose Lake Mattie has to decide if she will read the letters, or burn them as the woman requested. But Mattie has problems enough of her own as she is growing up and trying to decide on her future. Her desire to be a writer and her dreams of life outside the small rural community in which she has always lived are beginning to overwhelm her. Will Mattie make it away from home? Will she leave the family and boyfriend who both love and smother her? Will she be like her friend and settle to married life or like her other friend and mentor the poet Ms Wilcox. Slowly the two stories merge to one amazing conclusion as Mattie finds the courage to make very important decisions.

Set in 1906 and built around the real life murder of a young woman in a popular holiday resort this novel is surprising and compelling.

Winner of the Carnegie Medal.

Author Biography

Jennifer Donnelly lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is her first novel and marks the beginning of an incredibly assured and confident literary voice.

Critical Reviews

Kirkus Reviews UK Life is a daily struggle for Mattie Gokey, a precocious teenager living in the North Woods of New York at the turn of the 20th century. As the eldest child, it falls upon her to take over the role of her recently deceased mother by tending to the household tasks of washing and cooking as well as raising her younger sisters. Not only this, but since her brother abandoned the family after a blazing row with her stubborn and enigmatic father, she also must take on the role of farm hand. Every day brings a new struggle to make ends meet and to survive the harsh Adirondack landscape. Despite the additional burdens placed upon her, Mattie has dreams. She and her best friend Weaver, who also faces daily battles as the first-born free child of a family of African slaves, read constantly and plan their future at university. Between milking cows, ploughing fields and cooking supper, Mattie engages in 'word duels' with Weaver, a synonym game based on Mattie's 'word of the day' duly selected from her precious dictionary. Life is hard but rewarding and safe, until Royal Loomis, the handsome farm boy next door steals Mattie's heart and she must consider her feelings compared to her deep-seated needs, and promises made to her mother never to leave the family. Donnelly's meticulously researched novel is based on the true story of the murder of Grace Brown, a scandal that rocked the early 20th-century American nation. Using this as a link to the fictional Mattie and her family is a clever and convincing method that grounds her characters in reality as well as emotion. With sharp, witty dialogue and beautifully described landscape, this is an intensely gripping story that avoids cliche and sentimentalism, yet provokes much emotion. (Kirkus UK)