Isola: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses violence.

Parts 4 and 5 of Isola are set on a small, uninhabited island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence—the first area explored by French voyagers. In the 1540s—the present day of the novel—only a few voyages had been made to map the area. The Gulf’s northern coast is part of the Canadian Shield, which is a rocky and densely forested ecological region. Millennia of erosion have exposed smooth, ancient rocks that collect water rather than absorb it, and Marguerite references this topographical feature as helpful for their collection of fresh water. Due to these natural features, the soil of the Canadian Shield is weak—another challenge Marguerite faces when trying to sow a garden on the island. The Gulf area experiences all four seasons, with summer and winter reaching the extremes of heat and cold. Although rare, polar bears travel as far south as the Gulf during the deep winter months when the ice cover on the Gulf is strong enough. The unpredictable region poses an immense challenge to Marguerite and her companions as their island in particular has even sparser vegetation than the mainland (Meserve, Peter. “North America: Physical Geography I—The Canadian Shield.” The Western World: Daily Readings on Geography, 2020).

The historic tale of Marguerite’s exile has fascinated scholars in the region for centuries, and the island of Harrington Harbour has been identified as the island where Marguerite survived. The island sits along the northern coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence among other small rocky islands. Using oral history and other historic evidence, the locals of Harrington Harbour believe they have located the exact cave where Marguerite de la Rocque lived in her years on the island (“Harrington Harbour.” Discover Lower North Shore, 2018).