Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4 stars
Isola by Allegra Goodman is written with lush, evocative prose that brought the life of Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, an orphaned heiress to the page. Marguerite was a real person, and this book is the imagined story of how she fared during isolation on a remote island.
Marguerite, her lover Auguste, and of course her beloved nurse Damienne are trapped on this island with no shelter, few tools and very little food that they had aboard the ship. They were sent away as her guardian was punishing her for loving Auguste. The harsh realities of mother nature were utterly horrific. Freezing cold temps in the winter and scorching sun in the summer made for punishing conditions. Add to that the tremendous polar bears they encountered as well as other wildlife. They did their best to improvise and MacGyver (who remembers that show?) their way through their multiple quagmires were quite remarkable.
The book’s ending was well done and it made sense. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to both listen and read the book. The narrator of this was fantastic and brought so many characters to life. Interesting story that had me deep diving to learn more.
Quotes I liked:
My guardian served as my protector, but I had no one to protect me from him.”
“I wept for joy because I could escape, and for sorrow I must leave alone.”
