Isola by Allegra Goodman

 

Isola by Allegra Goodman is based on the true story of Marguerite de la Roque. The story started out kind of slow and I was even questioning my choices, but then the speed picked up and my oh my, the book is SO GOOD! Like, I can't even put it into words kind of good. Like, I'm SHAKING AS I'M READING kind of good. Then afterwards, I read the true story of Marguerite de la Roque and I CAN'T BELIEVE how close the book is to the real story. This was a 5 out of 5 for me.

Isola tells the story of an orphaned child, Marguerite de la Roque. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died in a battle saving the king. Marguerite de la Roque is only 9 years old. She lives with her nurse Damienne at Perigord chateau. Her guardian, a distant relative of her father's, Jean-Francois de la Roque de Roberval, oversees her inheritance. 

Damienne raises Marguerite like her own child. She used to work for Marguerite's parents so she would tell her stories about her wonderful family. Damienne would also teach her how to behave like a lady, but Marguerite likes to run wild in the yard. Roberval would come visit infrequently, giving Marguerite small amounts of gold to buy necessities. 

One day, Roberval sends Madame Jacqueline D'Artois to the chateau to tutor Marguerite to read and write. Marguerite is initially jealous of Madame D'Artois's daughter Claire, for having her mom nearby, but eventually, they become best friends and inseparable. Later, due to Roberval's gambling problem, he wasted away Marguerite's inheritance and delays her from getting married because there's no money for dowry. Roberval mortgages out the main castle to the Montforts family for money, so now Marguerite and Damienne have to stay in the small tower.

When Marguerite turned 16, Roberval tells Marguerite and Damienne to travel with him to his home at the seaside town, La Rochelle. Marguerite knows this goodbye with Claire may be final, and they exchange rings with each other. Claire seems to think they'll meet again and tells her they'll exchange them back when they reunite. Marguerite and Damienne settle down in La Rochelle at Roberval's humble abode. When Roberval is gone for long stretches of time, Marguerite grows close to Roberval's secretary, Auguste and one of Roberval's servants, Alys. 

Roberval tells them he's setting sail to New France and he's taking Auguste, Marguerite and Damienne with him. Marguerite doesn't want to go but she has no choice. During the trip, Auguste confesses his feelings to Marguerite. They start sneaking around to see each other. Marguerite falls in love with him too. One day, Roberval catches them, and sends them to exile on a remote island, together with Damienne, who's done nothing wrong. They get off the boat with whatever provisions they could carry.

On the island, they are forced to hunt, forage, and gather. Marguerite and Auguste are finally free and consummate, but the condition is very very harsh. Damienne continues to be religious and stays positive. Marguerite on the other hand has a hard time with that because she doesn't understand why God would be so cruel. 

Marguerite tries to learn survival skills. There are some natural predators on the island and no mankind. Marguerite tries to plant seeds she brought but everything dies within a few weeks. Auguste is a good hunter and Marguerite finds her pregnant. She once again questions God's cruelty. Auguste gets a stomach sickness and dies. The women bury his body but it was still ravaged by a polar bear. Marguerite kills the bear in her anger, and the women ate some bear meet.

Damienne does everything she can to help Marguerite with her pregnancy in the harsh winter. The baby is born alive but Marguerite has no milk for him. She's forced to use her afterbirth as lure to fish. Several tries later, she catches a fish. After eating the fish, she still produces no milk. The boy (who she named Auguste) dies after a few days likely due to malnourishment. 

They've been living inside a cave for protection from larger animals. One day, the women see three ships pass by - they are Roberval's ships. They scream and they are sure the ships could hear them. But the ships sail away. Damienne sharpens their knife and continue to survive together. Marguerite is touched by Damienne - she's never complained about anything even though she never did anything to deserve this. One day, Damienne accidentally cut herself with the sharp knife. It got infected and she died too.

All alone, Marguerite has little will to live. She turns to religion and asks for forgiveness. She survives another bear attack - using some of her last gunpowder. She saves a bear paw for momento. Summer comes around again and a group of Basque fishermen were on the island. There's some language barrier but she manages to convince them to take her with them back to France. That isn't a smooth sailing either but she finally makes it back to her old chateau through many many trials and tribulations. 

At Perigord, no one can recognize her and she's repeatedly pushed and told to go away as they thought she was a beggar. Finally, she sees Claire and shows her the ring. They bring her in and fix her up. They take her to the Queen who enjoys stories like hers. Roberval has told the Queen "his" version of events, which is far from the truth. Eventually, Marguerite is able to convince the Queen what really happened, and the Queen rewards her with what she wanted - to open a school to educate children, together with Claire. Roberval isn't punished for his evil deeds. THE END.

This is a MUST READ, honestly. I can't tell you how insane the story is here. I'm not that good of a writer. Not many books could make me shake as I read them, like this one. It's so good and so real and even bonus points that it's close to the true historical story. Put this one on top of your list.