Isola

By: Allegra Goodman

This is a survival story based on the historical accounts of a sixteenth century french woman named Marguerite. It was an era in which women were encouraged to hold their tongues and were at the mercy of their male guardian. I am so glad to know her story and also to have been born 500 years later!

“Everything we treasure has a price. And everything we have will slip away.” p24

“I felt foolish not knowing where I was - but there were no towers here. I had no vantage point.” p71

“His face, his foxlike beard, his icy eyes, his map of waves and jagged islands, I saw all this as I dropped my knees.” p91

“But I had come to fear approval as much as anger. Gentle or berating, kind or cruel, in all his moods he exercised his power over me.” p112

“Our isle was both beautiful and strange. In morning light, the waves were liquid silver. Mist clung to us so that we walked in a white cloud. Offshore, seabirds circled and dove into the sea for fish. With perfect faith, the birds plummeted headfirst, dropping from such height, so hard and fast, that water flew up around them. Again and again the sea birds plunged, and we stood upon the rocks, entranced to watch them fall. All around our knees, the wild grass rustled and hissed sibilantly. Everywhere we stepped, we heard that sound.” p181

“I am like you, I told myself, because I kill to eat. But I could not fly or dive, and this was my disadvantage - that I must shoot to live.” p240

“At that moment, I forgot my royal audience. I no longer sensed the court surrounding me. I thought of the white fox and the five-petalled flower. The stars at night. The shattering waves. I considered offering these visions, but I held them close.” p328