A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Mattie Gokey is a 16 year old girl living in the outskirts of the Adirondacks in the early 1900s. She aspires to be a writer, but help is always needed at home, and the pressures of society urge her to get married. She works as a waiter in a big inn by Big Moose Lake, when tragedy strikes. Grace Brown is pulled from the lake, pregnant, and drowned by her former lover. They night before, Grace hands Mattie a bundle of letters with the instructions to burn them. After her death, Mattie's curiosity overcomes her and she opens the letters.
I really loved this book. Mattie was strong as a lead character. I like how the book was part Mattie's journey to success, and part mystery with the death of Grace Brown. It was also cool to know that Grace's death actually happened.

5 Stars
Jessie