Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Why might Donnelly have chosen to begin the novel with a murder and flesh out Mattie Gokey's story through flashbacks? Why not write the whole novel chronologically?
- How do Mattie's words of the day at the beginning of each flashback chapter reflect the content of that chapter?
- What would have happened if Mattie had chosen to remain in Eagle Bay and marry Royal Loomis? What would her life have been like, and would she have been happy with it?
- In A Northern Light, family and social norms sometimes take precedence over individual hopes and dreams. How do family and society interact with one another—when are they in accord, and when are they in conflict?
- Marriage and infidelity are pretty prominent in A Northern Light. What is valued in a marriage in the novel? Who has a good marriage by society's standards, and who has a good marriage by your standards? Plus, what sacrifices do characters make for their marriages, and are these sacrifices worth it?