A Northern Light is an entertaining example of the classic bildungsroman. Mattie is a teenage girl just beginning to face the challenges of growing up when her mom dies. At her deathbed, she promises her mom that she will stay on their farm to help her dad. Faced with the compulsive need to fulfill that promise and a desire to reach her full potential, Mattie has to figure out what she values and how to take ownership of her life.
At the urging of her friends and her own conscience, Mattie decides to beg her father to allow her to take a job in the city. Finally he relents, and she sets off to accomplish her dreams. Mattie made a crucial personal leap when she defied her father's expectations and took a job, but she then has to face all the challenges of life on her own. She soon discovers that earning a living as a single woman in the early twentieth century is daunting because of the social pressure to conform to traditional gender roles. Confident in her abilities, however, she perseveres.
While Donnelly's story is nothing revolutionary in the world of literature, it does prove an engaging diversion. As Mattie attempts to thrive on living on her own, she makes friends strategically. Her friendliness turns out to be her most valuable skill as she finds herself wrapped up in the intrigue of the mysterious disappearance and death of a couple of her new friends. The plot rolls along rapidly so that readers rarely find the chance to catch their breaths. Again, Donnelly is not creating anything particularly original, but her story is diverting.
