Diana Adair

The genre of historical fiction continues to entice me. This novel about a real woman from history focuses on a young girl Marguerite, born into a noble family in France in the 1500s. After her parents die, she becomes an orphan, and her guardian must support her and manage her inheritance. After he loses her money, she must join him on a voyage to New France (which would be Canada) aboard a ship. She soon finds herself abandoned on a remote and desolate island with her lover and her maid where they must survive with a knife and a gun.

Allegra Goodman discovered this historical figure while reading a children’s book about the French explorer Jacques Cartier. The novel is told in first person past tense with beautiful descriptions of nature coupled with Marguerite’s perceptive voice and poetic sensibility. Marguerite finds the strength to be daring and bold, as she also descends into an animal-like state, hunting and fishing to survive.

The real historical figure, Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval, provides the inspiration for the voice of Marguerite, and the creative imagination of the author fills in the gaps of history. What unfolds is a suspenseful story of adventure and transformation.

Read more at Book Passage: Isola