Isola: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, child death, animal death, and physical and emotional abuse.

On a small island in New France, the exiled Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval sees three large ships pass by. She tries to get their attention, but the ships sail on, deliberately ignoring her.

Marguerite, at nine years old, lives with her nurse Damienne at Perigord chateau in France. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died in battle. She has no close relatives, only a guardian—her father’s cousin, Jean-Francois de la Rocque de Roberval—who oversees her inheritance until she comes of age and weds. Damienne tells Marguerite grand stories about her parents, and she teaches the young girl how to behave like a lady, though Marguerite prefers to run wild around the chateau.

One day, Roberval visits Perigord. Roberval is a voyager, so Marguerite hardly ever sees the man. Roberval greets the women in the great hall, and Damienne trembles in his presence. Roberval looks Marguerite over, but an ornate trinket cabinet catches Marguerite’s attention. Roberval shows her the cabinet and gives her a small pile of gold. Marguerite wishes Roberval would give her the whole cabinet, but he dismisses her and instructs her to improve her reading and writing.