Isola: A Novel

Content Warning: This section features depictions of death, including child death.

Damienne collects the pieces of Auguste’s body and re-buries them in the trunk. She slices off the bear’s pelt, meat, and fat. Marguerite, however, refuses to sleep under the pelt or eat the meat. Animals pick the bear’s carcass clean. Marguerite sleeps day and night. She dreams of becoming the bear and destroying the island, and her unconscious cries frighten Damienne.

Marguerite dresses in Auguste’s clothes to hunt. She wanders the snow-covered island, speaking aloud to Auguste. A doe runs in front of her, and as she loads the gun, a pack of wolves runs by. The wolves attack and eat the deer, and Marguerite envies their meal. Fearing to shoot into the pack, Marguerite returns to the cave disappointed.

Marguerite has no luck hunting, since the deer retreat at the sound of the gun. She scatters oats at the cave’s entrance to lure animals, and after three days, deer finally arrive. Marguerite shoots one and slits the struggling deer’s throat. She helps Damienne break down the carcass. The women have a small feast, but Marguerite grieves for what Auguste is missing. The deer meat soon runs out, and both women nibble from a pot of jam for sustenance.