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Isola

Isola

A Novel

About the Book

A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this breathtaking saga, an epic story of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam

“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

“What a gift this novel is: vast, lush, feminist, and brilliantly crafted. Allegra Goodman is one of our finest writers.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

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.
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Praise for Isola

“A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history, Isola is an immersive journey through the eyes of Marguerite de la Rocque, who redefines what makes one a woman of worth and what the difference is between having a life and truly living.”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“What a gift this novel is: vast, lush, feminist, and brilliantly crafted. Allegra Goodman is one of our finest writers.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“Allegra Goodman’s latest novel is a feminist castaway tale about love, faith, and self-actualization.”— Time, “Most Anticipated Books of 2025”

“Isola is a finely drawn and gripping novel of survival and faith. It succeeds in making the past strange and real and maddening—and is all the more memorable for that.”—Joanna Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Whalebone Theatre

“This book made me cry but it was worth it! I am grateful to Allegra Goodman for writing such a luscious, rich, and moving novel. . . . A beautiful, careful, and profound book about survival and hope.”—Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam

“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. [This] sweeping page turner is at once historical and modern, intimate and epic, personal and powerful.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Engrossing . . . Goodman brilliantly depicts Marguerite’s courage as she fights to survive the bitter Canadian winter. It’s a rousing portrait of an undaunted woman.”—Publishers Weekly

“A bravura departure . . . Goodman’s lush and enthralling castaway tale of betrayal and love, suffering and strength is magnificent in its beauty, mystery, fury, and redemption.”—Booklist, starred review
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About the Author

Allegra Goodman
Allegra Goodman’s novels include The Chalk Artist, Intuition, The Cookbook Collector, Paradise Park, and Kaaterskill Falls (a National Book Award finalist). Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Commentary, and Ploughshares and has been anthologized in The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. She has written two collections of short stories, The Family Markowitz and Total Immersion and a novel for younger readers, The Other Side of the Island. Her essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Boston Globe, The Jewish Review of Books, and The American Scholar. Raised in Honolulu, Goodman studied English and philosophy at Harvard and received a PhD in English literature from Stanford. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, the Salon Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced study. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is writing a new novel. More by Allegra Goodman
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