Historical Fiction spotlight
Isola
by Allegra Goodman
A sixteenth-century French heiress is marooned on an island in the Gulf of St Lawrence with a lover, a nurse and no plan.
Buy the book
Based on the true story of Marguerite de la Rocque, abandoned on the Isle of Demons in 1542 and found alive years later.
Publisher's blurb
Synopsis
Goodman narrates in Marguerite's voice from wardship in France to the New World crossing to the brutal arithmetic of survival: firewood, gunpowder, birds, grief. The novel is as interested in what wealth does to a girl's expectations as in what starvation does to her body.
The editorial feature
Tense and unshowy. The first third's drawing-room manoeuvring makes the island chapters land harder, and Goodman resists every opportunity to sentimentalise the ending.
Book details
- Genre
- Historical Fiction
- Released
- 4 February 2025
- Publisher
- The Dial Press
- Extent
- 400 pages
- Featured on
- 4 February 2025
Where to buy
Isola is available from these retailers.
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