Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive

look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't

have to.

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at Zibby Owens. Allegra Goodman is the author of Isola, a novel. This is her second time on my podcast.

Previously, she was on for her national bestseller Sam, which was a read with Jenna selection.

She is the author of six novels, two short story collections, and a novel for young readers.

Her fiction has appeared in the New Yorker and elsewhere and has been anthologized in the O'Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories.

She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her new novel,

Isola, has been published by the Dial Press. Welcome, Allegra. Thank you for coming back on

Mom's Don't Have Time to Read Books to discuss Isola, your latest novel. Congratulations.

Thank you. Please tell listeners the general premise of the book, and then I want to dive into

this fascination you had with the story and how it wouldn't let you go.

The book is the novel is based on a true story of a young French noblewoman who sails to the new world in 1544, 1544, I think.

And she is marooned on an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

And there's a little bit known. There were two contemporary accounts of what happened to her,

but they conflict with each other. They know that she was real. They know this happened.

So I had a lot of space to imagine, you know, her life there on this island.

And I was just fascinated by this whole scenario.

So that's how I started writing this book.

So in the author's note at the end, which I only, you know, don't, like I wanted to have a whole book of your author's note because it speaks so much to the writing process itself.

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