Isola

Isola by Allegra Goodman, 368 pages

When she was born, Marguerite was heir to a huge fortune and large estate in France. However, after her parents both died while she was young, her guardian uses her lands and fortune to buy his way into leading an expedition to the "isle of Canada," a journey that he forces Marguerite to take alongside him. Along the way, Marguerite falls in love with her guardian's secretary, and as punishment for this atrocity, her volatile guardian maroons the lovers (and Marguerite's longtime servant) on a desolate island off the coast of Canada. There, Marguerite must set aside the ways of her pampered lifestyle if she is to survive.

Based on the real life account of a 16th Century French noblewoman, this tale was gripping, harrowing, and compelling, while still remaining historically accurate. I finished this book wanting to know more about Marguerite, and more about the French exploration of Canada. An excellent read, and highly recommended, especially if you loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a kid.

A Mourning Wedding

A Mourning Wedding by Carola Dunn (2004) 280 pages

Daisy Dalrymple, newly pregnant, is invited to come a few days early to the wedding of her good friend Lucy, to be held at the estate of Lucy's grandfather, the 3rd Earl of Haverhill. What hadn't been counted on was the murder of Lucy's great-aunt, Lady Eva, who collected and documented other people's secrets. When the local police find themselves intimidated while questioning the family, who are of the nobility class, Daisy's husband Alec, of Scotland Yard, is called in. Lucy starts to wonder whether she really wants to get married at all. When another death occurs, and then the bridegroom-to-be is attacked, it's clear that someone in the household–or a guest‒is the murderer. As always, there's something about Daisy that inspires people to talk with her. Her insights, in conjunction with the information that Alec and his crew turn up, helps put the pieces together.

This is what I consider a light read, for times when life is so busy that books must be taken in small doses to fit into the schedule.

The Duke's Children

The Duke's Children /Anthony Trollope, 784 p.

My first novel by Trollope, someone who's been on my list for awhile.  This novel falls late in a sequence of novels about the Duke, Plantagenet Palliser, his family, friends, and other politicians and aristocrats of late nineteenth-century England. 

The Duke of Omnium, formerly England's Prime Minister and recently widowed, struggles with his three children.  Lord Silverbridge, the heir, likes horses and plans to enter Parliament as a (gasp!) conservative.  Gerald has been sent down from Cambridge and makes bad choices during a card game.  And sweet Mary is in love with the wrong man.  Essentially the story of a good but distant father who can't understand that his children are not extensions of himself and the trouble that results from this misconception.  Slow-moving, psychologically acute, and a resonant read for middle-aged parents, I enjoyed this but won't rush to read another.