Written by: Jennifer Donnelly
Submitted By: Anita Basten
This novel takes you back to the turn of the century over a hundred years ago, a quiet place in the north-western mountains of the USA. Donnelly creates an imaginative, realistic and acute account of the young woman Mattie, coming from a poor motherless family with the wonderful gift of the love of her language and a zealous thrive to be a writer. Interwoven with the discovery of a drowned young girl, Mattie's experiences come alive as she moves into adulthood, while the fate of the murdered girl becomes more and more unravelled by Mattie's curiosity.
The characters are colourful and true, her story of emancipation is an exciting revelation of the social boundries versus Mattie's intelligent observation of the people surrounding her. Mattie looks up a coincidental word in the dictionary every day and with these words she plays a game with her friend Weaver, as Donnelly weaves the miscelaneous words into Mattie's humorous account of her every day life, giving each new chapter its title. My favourite is his-pid-u-lous.
I love this beautifully written book.
(I've been living in Germany for 40 years now, so I do hope this review is ok. Reading English makes me feel "at home" again, but my expression might not be perfect any more. Sorry for any mistakes.)
