A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly

A Gathering Light

Jennifer Donnelly

You'll be involved right from the start: 16 year old Mattie is faced with a choice between family responsibilities, first love and the chance of a career. Her voice is very individual and her choices are mirrored in the lives of people around her. There is a strong sense of place and time in this tale of rural America in the early 1900s.

Extract
Fesole, Valdarno, Vallombrosa .... ' Where in blazes are those places?' I wondered. Why couldn't Satan have decided to visit the North Woods? Old Forge, maybe, or even Eagle Bay. Why didn't he talk like real people did? With a 'cripes' or a 'jeezum' thrown in now and again. Why did little towns in Herkimer County never get a mention in anybody's book? Why was it always other places and other lives that mattered?
Parallels
  • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  • Homestead by Rosina Lippi
  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott