Isola : a novel

Isola A novel

Allegra Goodman

Book - 2025

"France, 1531. Orphaned by the age of five, Marguerite de la Rocque was heir to a chateau with its own village and lands. But her guardian, Jean Francois de la Rocque de Roberval, sells Marguerite's property to embark on an expedition to New France, bringing Marguerite and her maidservant with him. Aboard the ship, the women are limited to the company of the captain, the navigator, Roberval, and his secretary--a man whose musical talent, literary knowledge, and dark eyes intrigue Marguerite. It isn't long before the two of them are meeting secretly to declare their love for one another. When Roberval discovers this transgression, he is furious, seeing their affection as betrayal. As punishment, he maroons them on a small isla...nd off the coast, condemning them to certain death. Marguerite, the man she considers to be her husband, and her servant create a home for themselves inside a small cave. When the weather turns and the island is blanketed in ice, survival becomes nearly impossible. Marguerite is soon the only one left alive. She despairs, convinced she's been abandoned by God, and that she, too, will succumb to the brutality of the Island. Only then does she realize a strength her guardian could never have fathomed. She teaches herself to hunt and fish, to preserve food, and to scavenge. Months pass, and eventually Marguerite is discovered by a group of Basque fisherman. She persuades them to return her to France, where she tells her story and finally secures her own future, free from her guardian's control"--

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Subjects
Novels.
Romans.
Genres
Novels
Romans
Published
New York : The Dial Press 2025.
Language
English
Main Author
Allegra Goodman (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
pages cm
ISBN
9780593730089
Contents unavailable.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A 16th-century noblewoman is stranded on a desert island. How will she survive--and thrive? In an author's note following her gripping new novel, Goodman explains that the story originated when, in a children's book about Jacques Cartier, she encountered an aside about one of the explorer's acquaintances: "In 1542, a nobleman named Jean-François Roberval sailed separately with colonists to meet with Cartier in what is now called Canada," she recalls learning. "Roberval brought along his young ward, Marguerite de la Rocque, who annoyed him by having an affair aboard ship. Roberval marooned Marguerite and her lover on an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where she managed to survive for more than two years while fighting off polar bears." Fascinated by this tidbit, Goodman set out to write her version of Marguerite's story, based on historical accounts. In it, we meet Marguerite, wealthy and landed but orphaned by age 3, alone in the world but for her pious, loving, and loyal nurse, Damienne. As Marguerite grows, her rarely present guardian, Roberval, incrementally cashes in her property and future for his own benefit. Eventually, the cruel man sets sail to claim new territory for the King and takes along terrified Marguerite and Damienne, presumably intending to claim Marguerite for himself. Aboard ship, Marguerite falls in love with Roberval's secretary, infuriating Roberval and sealing their fate. The author charts Marguerite's journey from nobly born naïf, to steely survivor, to patron of the poor. Setting Marguerite's story of love and loss against snippets from Anne of France'sLessons for My Daughter--advice from the daughter of Louis XI on how to be modest and chaste circa 1517--Goodman underscores the cultural headwinds against which her heroine struggles to achieve autonomy and self-actualization. Goodman writes with fluid beauty, deep empathy, and an emotional undertow that pulls you in and holds you from the first page to the last. Goodman's sweeping page turner is at once historical and modern, intimate and epic, personal and powerful. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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