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A Novel
by Allegra Goodman
Book Reviewed by:A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this breathtaking saga, an epic story of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam.
Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardian's servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished and abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.
Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she'd never before needed.
Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.
1
I never knew my mother. She died the night that I was born, and so we passed each other in the dark. She left me her name, Marguerite, and her ruby ring, but no memory of her. I did not know my father either. When I was one year old, he was killed fighting for the King at Pavia. Then I was rich, although I did not know it, and poor, although I did not know it. I was heir to a château in Périgord with its own villages, vineyards, and sunny fields, but I had no parents, aunts, or uncles living. Servants surrounded me, but I had no sisters or brothers, and so I was alone.
My nurse, Damienne, was my first teacher. She was an old woman, at least forty, and her hair, once red, was faded like old brick. Her eyes were shrewd but tired, and all around her mouth her skin was creased in little lines like unpressed linen. My nurse was stout, her stomach soft, her bosom pillowy. When we lay down to sleep, she held me close as though I were her own—and if I was not her child, then ...
BookBrowsers Ask Allegra Goodman
Please join us for a Q & A with Allegra Goodman, author of Isola , Intuition , and several other works of fiction.
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (4/3/2025)?
Just finishing up Isola by Allegra Goodman ( really enjoying it), then on to The Creation of Half-Broken People by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu. In audiobook format, I just bought Hour of the Witch a...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? (02/20/2025)
Just finished 'Isola' by Allegra Goodman (5 stars from me!) and now reading 'The Other March Sisters' by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker. (loving this one so far)
-Evonne_Benedict
What book or books are you reading this week? (02/13/2025)
I am currently listening to the Frozen River by Lawhon for the second time, The Wife the Maid and the Mistress–also by Lawhon, and just downloaded Isola by Allegra Goodman.
-Sunny
Based on the book's jacket, readers might expect an epic survival adventure replete with close calls and creative solutions to what seem like insurmountable problems. This is not some high-octane thriller, however, but a thoughtful and well-imagined work of historical fiction. Goodman paints a remarkably vivid portrait of Marguerite as a wealthy orphan of noble birth, filling in the many unknowns with realistic details about what her daily life may have entailed. Later, as she tries to return to her former holdings, Goodman once again renders her experiences convincingly. It's a complete picture of her heroine's life; it includes her exile, but that's only part of what makes Marguerite memorable...continued
Full Review
(715 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful
What a gift this novel is: vast, lush, feminist, and brilliantly crafted. Allegra Goodman is one of our finest writers. Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other Name
A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history.
Allegra Goodman's novel Isola concerns Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval (born c. 1515), a French noblewoman who was marooned on a deserted island with her lover while on a voyage to New France (Canada). Marguerite was eventually rescued and upon her return to France was treated as a celebrity; her tale became widely known very quickly. Two versions of her ordeal were recorded: one by French priest André Thevet, which is said to be based on an interview with the young lady; and a second gleaned from stories passed around the French court. A romanticized version of this latter account was written down by Queen Marguerite of Navarre (1492-1549), the sister of King Francis I of France and the grandmother of King Henry IV of France. ...
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Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for ...
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