Allegra Goodman’s Isola is a breathtaking novel of survival, resilience, and love, inspired by the real-life story of Marguerite de la Rocque. Marguerite, a young French noblewoman orphaned at three and at the mercy of her ruthless guardian, captivated me from the moment I met her. Her journey—from privilege to abandonment on a remote island—unfolds in vivid, gripping prose. Marguerite’s transformation makes this novel shine. Once pampered and naïve, she is thrust into an unforgiving world where nature becomes both her adversary and her teacher. Her love for Auguste, her guardian’s secretary, is passionate and defiant, but their affair seals their fate. Betrayed and marooned in the harsh Canadian wilderness, […]
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The Grey Wolf: A Disappointing Chapter in the Gamache Saga
Louise Penny’s The Grey Wolf is the 19th installment in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. While Penny’s skill in crafting atmospheric settings and delving into moral complexities is evident, this novel fails to live up to the standards of her earlier work. The story kicks off with Gamache enjoying a quiet morning in Three Pines, only to have it interrupted by a series of strange events—a cryptic note, a break-in, and a trail of clues tied to a plot to poison Québec’s water supply. The stakes are high, taking Gamache and his team from Three Pines to monasteries, the Vatican, and beyond. While this epic scope adds intrigue, it […]
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A Gripping Tale of Courage and Survival in the Arctic Wilderness
In early 1853, a mysterious benefactor summons experienced California Trail guide Virginia Reeve to Boston and offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead a party of 12 women into the wild, hazardous Arctic in search of the lost Franklin Expedition. Based on true events, Greer Macallister’s The Arctic Fury is an adventurous historical mystery that considers what might have been if a women’s expedition traveled to the Arctic when women weren’t expected to leave the house, let alone explore the corners of the globe. A year and a half after the expedition, Virginia finds herself on trial for murder when not all the women return. Macallister captures the suspenseful […]
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Dark Roads
The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. For decades, young indigenous women traveling the road have gone missing. Authorities have brought no killer or abductor to justice. In part 1 of Dark Roads, seventeen-year-old Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her aunt and controlling police-officer step-uncle assume the responsibility of taking care of her after her father’s death. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey runs away, believing she can use the outdoor skills her father taught her to survive the harsh wilderness. She also hopes people will believe she was the killer’s latest […]
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