Isola, by Allegra Goodman

A survivor story at its best, Isola by Allegra Goodman is inspired by the true story of a 16th Century heroine, Marguerite de Roberval. Young heiress to a fortune, Marguerite is orphaned at an early age. Her guardian, a mean and volatile man, spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on a voyage to New France (Canada). While onboard, she falls in love with her guardian’s secretary. The guardian becomes so enraged that he abandons the two lovers on an unpopulated island with no hope of rescue. Marguerite must learn survival skills fast. As a reader I cared for this striking heroine who must learn to hunt and survive on next to nothing but her ingenuity. She must learn to live in a brutal environment and defend herself from polar bears. And she must dig down and discover a faith she never knew she had. Vogue critic says it best: “A new generation of survival story . . . an extraordinary book that reads like a thriller, written with the care of the most delicate psychological and historical fiction.”

I was totally engaged with Marguerite’s plight and was pulled along as a reader, eager to find out what happens next.

Sam, by Allegra Goodman

I couldn’t resist but dive into another of Allegra Goodman’s books. This one called Sam, which is a stunning portrait of a girl growing into teenhood and womanhood. It is a deceptively simple tale, told with extraordinary depth and sensitivity.

Sam adores her father but he isn’t around much, and ultimately dies of an overdose in the course of the novel. Sam’s mother, Courtney, struggles to make ends meet, while being a very possessive mother who is constantly nagging her children to do things right. Meanwhile, Sam has a passion for climbing things—fences, walls, buildings, whatever she can get her hands on. Her father introduces her to a climbing gym, where the world opens up for her in mysterious ways. She is determined to solve the various puzzles of climbing rocks and boulders, and never seems to give up. At one point she says to a fellow climber with whom she is developing a budding romance: “I don’t know anything, and I don’t believe in anything, but I keep going anyway.” I loved this simple, age-old tale and cared deeply about the protagonist and her path toward adulthood.