Thank you to Random House and PRH audio for review copies. Isola is a fascinating story, and well narrated on audiobook to really put me into time and place (excellent cadence to the narration), and I appreciate how much detail and background Allegra Goodman put into developing this take on real life events. What also stood out was a definite sense of place, of context, and time, the writing reflected language and historic notes that made me feel present in the past, not just a superficial skimmer of a plot that could have taken place in any time or place, and I really benefited from having this connection to the specific, harsh setting, and historic time.

This is definitely a story that has to take time to develop, to get into the struggles and survival nature of Marguerite, and a book that I think works best once a reader can sit with the bigger story being told. I recommend readers interested in this one take their time with it, sit with it, maybe even read it with a book club, as there is a lot to ponder about the story, about survival, and really... what women endure.