⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars) This novel had so much going for it—a dual timeline, a real historical figure, and a mystery rooted in the fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I went in eager to learn more about Eleanor Dare, a woman I find absolutely fascinating. And while the premise had great potential, the execution didn’t quite live up to it. The story follows Alice, a war widow, and her daughter, Penn, as they return to their family’s ancestral home in the 1940s. There, they begin to uncover secrets tied to their lineage and the legacy of Eleanor Dare. The emotional threads—grief, identity, forgiveness, and healing—are the strongest parts of […]
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Isola is Historical Fiction at Its Finest
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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