A Northern Light

     I found A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly an enjoyable read with an interesting plot and storyline. I enjoyed that she was inspired by true events and how this story was her interpretation of a 'What If...' Jennifer Donnelly has a very compelling writing style, however I have to object too some of the philosophical/ideological ideas she presents in the book. From her feministic overtones, to her feelings on relationships, to what books are 'Truths' and 'Untruths'. I find the darkness that comes from these ideas depressing. (Get ready for spoilers now, skip to the end where I give the rating if you don't want spoilers)

     Donnelly calls books like Pride and Prejudice untruths, while books like Huckleberry Finn are truths because in Huckleberry Finn Hucks father is a drunk who beats his son. It is true that not all love stories are 'glamourous' like Lizzie Bennett's and Fitzwilliam Darcy's,  but in A Northern Light, Donnally condemns those relationships to be hard and ultimately heart breaking (in the book the main character's, Mattie, parents had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's which only lead to heart break for the entire family. Mattie's friend, Minnie, also had a relationship similar to Lizzie and Darcy's, and although Mattie could see the good in it, she could only focus on the bad, which all relationships will have no matter what.) Any relationship is going to have hardships. A true relationship can face those hardships with courage, compassion, understanding, and stay united. I think Mattie misses the point that in Austen's books the hero and heroine change willingly, without being forced or forcing themselves, as they come face to face with their hardships, both separate and together.

     When relationships are based on physical attractions, feelings, and personal gain, as Mattie's and Royal's was, it is doomed and will fail, as it did. And when you have a flawed view of romantic love and a false idea on what love is, you will never marry, as happens with Mattie and Royal. Mattie goes off to college and rejects Royal's marriage proposal because she feels like a tool he is using to get her father's property. I think Royal was intending to use her for his own gain, but I also believe that he did have some feelings for Mattie, especially when he gave her a book as a gift. It might have been a cookbook, and it might have offended her (because she felt Royal was trying to change her to be a proper housewife who cooks and rears children), but he was becoming more open to her love of reading, he was starting to change. But that wasn't quick enough for Mattie. Impatient she leaves. After being oppressed to a promise she made to her dying mother, Mattie leaves, breaking her father's heart, returning the ring Royal had given her, leaving her younger sister to take care of the two youngest... Mattie was full of a selfish heart, and she had grown tired of attempting to be selfless. Her problem as she was trying to be selfless was that she was still selfish.

     Then comes the feministic overtones. They frustrate me more than anything else in the book, because to me the problems I've already discussed stem from the feminism in the book. I find the feministic view to be depressing most of the time, and this book reinforces that belief.




One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 Coming of Age, murder mystery, historical fiction

       Language:
Very little

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Multiple 'groping' at body parts and passionate romantic gestures that made me feel uncomfortable, but not violated.

       Violence
Almost an entire chapter is dedicated to a birth scene with much detail. Donnelly describes drowning, racial violence, sickness, and a dead body, in mild detail.

      I would give A Northern Light a rating of light PG-13


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give A Northern Light a 2.5