Isola: Reese's Book Club
A Novel
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4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history.”—Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other Name
“A new generation of survival story . . . an extraordinary book that reads like a thriller, written with the care of the most delicate psychological and historical fiction.”—Vogue (Best of 2025 Preview)
A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this “lushly painted” (People) historical epic of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, Slate, The Globe and Mail, Kirkus Reviews, Town & Country, Lit Hub, Christian Science Monitor • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS BOOK AWARD
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. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island.
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Allegra Goodman’s pulse-pounding historical novel tells the true story of a young woman pitted against the patriarchy in the 16th century. Marguerite is a young woman born into French nobility but orphaned at an early age and placed under the care of her late father’s unsavory cousin Jean-François. In 1542, on a voyage to the region of Canada then called New France, Jean-François discovers a blossoming romance between Marguerite and his secretary, Auguste. Furious, he abandons them and Marguerite’s maid, Damienne, in the gulf of St. Lawrence on a harsh, unpopulated island. All her life, Marguerite has had things done for her, but forced to survive against all odds, she becomes quite formidable, catching fish, shooting birds, and even facing down an angry bear. Goodman’s great at dropping details that paint a reality you can feel, but she’s also an expert at immersing you in the flow of the action, which gets pretty intense. Her masterstroke: dropping quotes dripping with ironic contrast from a book on female modesty by Louis XI’s daughter. Who knew your next feminist hero would be a 1500s noblewoman?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Goodman (Sam) delivers an engrossing if overlong account of French noblewoman Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval (1515–1542), who lived to tell the tale of her solitary exile on an island off the coast of New France. Orphaned by age three, Marguerite and her nurse, Damienne, are placed in the care of Marguerite's duplicitous cousin, Jean-François. As Marguerite grows up, Jean-François treats her cruelly, cramming her into a corner of the Roberval's ancestral home to make way for new tenants. He also squanders Marguerite's inheritance to pay his debts and fund his naval expeditions, and takes Marguerite and Damienne with him on a ship bound for New France. Marguerite, now a young woman, is resourceful but impetuous, and she falls in love with Jean-François's secretary, Auguste Dupré, during the voyage. After a furious Jean-François catches on to Marguerite and Auguste's affair, he maroons them on an uninhabited island. Though the story drags in places and the ending is a bit too pat, Goodman brilliantly depicts Marguerite's courage as she fights to survive the bitter Canadian winter. It's a rousing portrait of an undaunted woman.
Customer Reviews
Slow Start & Nice Finish
I really enjoyed Isola. So hard to believe it was based on a true story. It was a little slow in parts but ended strong. The power of women or anyone actually to keep fighting to survive. I enjoyed the book club questions at the end. I would recommend this book.
Excellent story
The story was well told. Skip reading the overview as it doesn’t do the story justice and foretells things that are better to let evolve naturally in the story. It is a story of growth and maturity wonderfully told.
Isola
The story was slow going until she sets sail, after that it’s hard to put down.