The harrowing tale of love, loss, and survival.
“Isola,” the Italian word for island (based off the Italian maps early French settlers would have used in the 16th century), is an apt title for this book. For the English reader, it serves the dual purpose of conjuring the idea of isolated, which this book could also be called.
The story follows Marguerite, a young French woman of noble birth. The reader not only follows her journey but her sense of increased isolation, which begins long before she is dragged unwillingly to New France and abandoned in the wilderness.
Isola by Allegra Goodman
As a modern reader, it’s easy to forget how bold women are allowed to be today, at least in contrast to the 16th century, where we find ourselves in Isola. Allegra Goodman effortlessly weaves social expectations of the time into the narrative, transporting the reader to a place and time where women were expected to be reserved, graceful, and long-suffering, traits that were taught as upright and becoming of a lady.
Marguerite maintains an outward mask, even as she struggles with her inner turmoil over her faith, thoughts of revenge, and reconciling her identity. Raised to be a soft lady of good upbringing who had never lit her own fire, let alone handled a weapon, she finds herself abandoned in the wilderness learning to hunt and survive.
A book hasn’t packed this much of an emotional punch for me since All the Light We Cannot See and hasn’t conjured such a strong need for vengeance since The Count of Monte Cristo.
Book Blurb:
A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this epic saga of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam.
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.
Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.
Setting Expectations:
This is a book for people who are looking for:
- A story with depth.
- An epic tale of survival.
This isn’t a fit for people expecting:
- A light-hearted read (this story is tragic).
- Fast-paced and action-packed (though I still found it a page-turner).
Who was Marguerite de La Rocque?
Marguerite de La Rocque was born in the early 1500s (exact year of birth and death unknown). She first appears in the records in 1536, swearing fealty to the king of France for her lands. In 1542, she sails with her relative, Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval, though accounts differ with how they were related (likely her cousin or uncle).
Isola is based on a true story, and reading it, I wanted to know how close this story matched the real Margureite de La Rocque.
There are two accounts, and both are given in the book.
Queen Marguerite of Navarre records a version of the story1 in which Marguerite de La Rocque’s husband angers Roberval and is left on an island. Desperate to be with him, Marguerite volunteers to join him. (This is the version Roberval gives the King of France in Isola.)
There’s an alternate version according to Andre Thevet, a priest and explorer. This version claims Marguerite angered her guardian, and Roberval marooned Marguerite, her lover, and her handmaid on the Isle of Demons2 (not named as such in the book).
The endings of these two accounts also differ slightly, but I don’t believe in ruining the end of a book, so I won’t list that here, only that the two endings fit the respective teller of the story and what they stood to gain or lose.
From what I’ve found, Isola gives a faithful account of Marguerite based on the historical record we have today. As with any historical account of a woman, much of the finer details would have needed to be filled in, such as friendships, hobbies, and other parts of her day-to-day life.
What happened to Jean-François de La Rocque, sieur de Roberval?
Isola leaves off open-ended regarding Marguerite’s guardian, Roberval. This could serve as a means to signify forgiveness and a certain amount of moving on for Marguerite, but I don’t think that fits.
I think it’s more likely the author left out Roberval’s ending because this is Marguerite’s story. Along a similar vein, this puts the reader in Marguerite’s shoes, so to speak, since where the story ends, Marguerite wouldn’t know her former guardian’s fate any more than the reader does (unless you’re a history buff).
After Roberval’s failed attempt to create a permanent settlement in the new world (having lasted only one year), he sailed home to France, financially ruined. The minerals he returned with were nothing more than mica and pyrite (fool’s gold), and he barely managed to keep his estate. Tradition places his death in Paris around 1560 after emerging from a Calvinist meeting at night.3
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- The Heptaméron is a collection of stories recorded by Queen Marguerite of Navarre. ↩︎
- The Isle of Demons is one possible location where Marie de La Rocque was abandoned. ↩︎
- Britannica Editors. “Jean-François de La Rocque, sieur de Roberval”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Apr. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Francois-de-La-Rocque-Sieur-de-Roberval. Accessed 22 April 2026. ↩︎
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