"A Gathering Light" by Jennifer Donnelly ISBN: 0747570639 This was another book picked up from the Westfield Centre Bookcrossing shelf and one I thought might appeal to both my husband and me. From the blurb on the back it sounded like it might be a bit of crime fiction but in fact despite the fact that the story is loosely based on a read murder that shocked the district at the time in the Adirondack Mountain area of New York State at the turn of the century there rarely us not much of the story in the book that is to do with the crime. The story is set in the poor farming community in the Adirondack mountains and the central ...  Read the complete review

Mattie is the eldest of four girls, and the second eldest of five siblings. But following her mothers death and her brothers sudden departure, she is left in charge of the household. Holding onto dreams of going to college in New York and writing for a living, something encouraged by a teacher Mattie looks up to dearly, she finds her dreams being crushed by a range of circumstances. When her father lets her work for the summer at a local hotel to help make some money for the family and the body of a woman is found at the lake by the hotel everything is up in arms. But more so for Mattie; who holds the secret letters of the woman. But what will Mattie find in these ...  Read the complete review

I picked up this novel a couple of years a go and it's always one that I re-read on a regular basis as it's a gripping story no matter how many times you read it. The Story: The plot focuses on Mattie, a sixteen year old girl who's a very talented writer and a farm girl. The story switches between her life as a sixteen year old and her life later on when she's working in up-state New York and discovers a murder on Big Moose Lake. My Opinion: This is definitely one of my favourite books. It's marketed as a young adult novel but it will appeal to older readers as well. As a result of it's intended readership it makes the novel easy to read ...  Read the complete review