ISOLA by Allegra Goodman

5 stars

Powerful, emotional historical fiction that focuses on the powerlessness of French noblewoman in the 1500’s: subservient to their husbands or guardians and unable to own property of their own. Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, a real woman, grew up the orphaned ward of her debt-laden, seafaring, adventuring, neglectful and cruel cousin, Jean-Francois. Her cousin rents out her ancestral home and lands to a wealthy merchant and displaces Marguerite along with her devoted nurse Damienne to a cold, barely furnished tower on the property. Their only company is with a devout teacher and her charming daughter who’s the same age as Marguerite. The girls become fast friends, as well as tutor to the wealthy merchant’s young daughters until Marguerite and her nurse get summons to her cousin’s impoverished seaside house as he has outright sold the family estate to the merchant.

The most striking part of the story centers around Jean-Luque dragging Marguerite along with an expedition to explore the St. Lawrence waterway in now Canada. On the voyage, she falls in love with his young, educated, kind secretary, Auguste. The cousin discovers their affair and casts them off the ship onto a deserted island along with the nurse and abandons them to their own survival or demise. Trying to survival during the bleak, bitter cold winters proves grippingly touch and go.

Marguerite remains resourceful and resolute amidst desperation, whether facing down polar bears or hunting geese for meat to stave off starvation.  Her strength of character and resilience rises above her cousin’s cruel abandonment in an emotional portrait of a woman achieving her own stalwart standing, finally in charge of her own life.

Goodman’s exquisite prose lifts the story into the realm of a classic.

 Thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.