Isola

Starred review from November 15, 2024
A 16th-century noblewoman is stranded on a desert island. How will she survive--and thrive? In an author's note following her gripping new novel, Goodman explains that the story originated when, in a children's book about Jacques Cartier, she encountered an aside about one of the explorer's acquaintances: "In 1542, a nobleman named Jean-Fran�ois Roberval sailed separately with colonists to meet with Cartier in what is now called Canada," she recalls learning. "Roberval brought along his young ward, Marguerite de la Rocque, who annoyed him by having an affair aboard ship. Roberval marooned Marguerite and her lover on an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where she managed to survive for more than two years while fighting off polar bears." Fascinated by this tidbit, Goodman set out to write her version of Marguerite's story, based on historical accounts. In it, we meet Marguerite, wealthy and landed but orphaned by age 3, alone in the world but for her pious, loving, and loyal nurse, Damienne. As Marguerite grows, her rarely present guardian, Roberval, incrementally cashes in her property and future for his own benefit. Eventually, the cruel man sets sail to claim new territory for the King and takes along terrified Marguerite and Damienne, presumably intending to claim Marguerite for himself. Aboard ship, Marguerite falls in love with Roberval's secretary, infuriating Roberval and sealing their fate. The author charts Marguerite's journey from nobly born na�f, to steely survivor, to patron of the poor. Setting Marguerite's story of love and loss against snippets from Anne of France'sLessons for My Daughter--advice from the daughter of Louis XI on how to be modest and chaste circa 1517--Goodman underscores the cultural headwinds against which her heroine struggles to achieve autonomy and self-actualization. Goodman writes with fluid beauty, deep empathy, and an emotional undertow that pulls you in and holds you from the first page to the last. Goodman's sweeping page turner is at once historical and modern, intimate and epic, personal and powerful.

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December 2, 2024
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. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group.

December 20, 2024

Goodman's latest (after Sam, a Read with Jenna pick) is inspired by a real 16th-century French noblewoman. When heiress Marguerite is orphaned, her controlling guardian, Jean Fran�ois de la Roque de Roberval, makes her destitute. After discovering her relationship with a servant, Roberval maroons Marguerite and her lover on a desolate island, where they attempt to survive the harsh conditions. Prepub Alert.

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Starred review from December 1, 2024
Young, orphaned Marguerite, curious and unruly, is the sole heir to a sizable French estate and a gloriously compelling narrator. Cared for by her loving nurse, Damienne, Marguerite is at the mercy of her mercurial and impervious guardian, Roberval, a voyager, warrior, and, as it turns out, thief. He is supposed to oversee her estate and make a good match for her once she's of age, but instead he loots and sells her property. When she turns 20, he takes her with him when he sails across the ocean to New France, with loyal Damienne. Also onboard is Auguste, Roberval's handsome, smart, and sensitive secretary, whom Roberval threatens to kill if he seeks Marguerite's company. In a bravura departure for Goodman (Sam, 2023), she time-travels to the sixteenth century, bringing forth Marguerite's opulent first world and the severe deprivation that follows with dramatic sensory detail. There's no denying the passion between her and Auguste, and no escape from Roberval's diabolical cruelty as he abandons the lovers and Damienne on a small island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They display heroic fortitude and ingenuity, but the perils are many, their resources paltry. Based on a scantly documented true story, Goodman's lush and enthralling castaway tale of betrayal and love, suffering and strength is magnificent in its beauty, mystery, fury, and redemption.

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