Isola

Praise

“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.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

“What a gift this novel is: vast, lush, feminist, and brilliantly crafted. Allegra Goodman is one of our finest writers, and I’m grateful to have read the exhilarating story of Marguerite de la Rocque—a French noblewoman who is stripped of everything, and in the process reveals and discovers her own immense strength.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“Isola is a finely drawn and gripping novel of survival and faith that never once strays from the world Goodman has skillfully recreated. Her protagonist, Marguerite, is absolutely a woman of the Middle Ages, in her beliefs and in her limitations, and so Goodman’s novel feels like a book born from the era it describes, rather than one written by a contemporary author. 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 on an airplane but it was worth it! I am grateful to Allegra Goodman for writing such a luscious, rich and moving novel. As someone who liked The Martian, The Terror, and Endurance Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, I loved Isola. . . . 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