THE CASTAWAY Marguerite de La Rocque

What'sHerName

Dr. Katie Nelson and Olivia Meikle

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 538 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

[audio updated 6/02] Marooned on a frigid island in 1641, a young French woman single-handedly fought off polar bears, starvation, and loneliness, buried her lover, her maidservant, and her newborn child, and spent almost two full years completely alone -- except, of course, for the 100,000 demons whose screams were her nightly companions. That she lived through it all is a miracle - and a mystery: How did Marguerite de La Rocque survive the infamous "Isle of Demons" - and how much of this enigmatic tale can we ever actually know? Olivia interviews Allegra Goodman, author of the award-winning historical novel Isola. Music featured in this episode provided by Emily A. Sprague, Brian Bolger, pATCHES, Sir Cubworth, Track Tribe, and the Tudor Consort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:05.0	Hi Katie. Hi, Olivia.
1:13.1	Imagine, if you will, that you are a fisherman making your way through the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
1:20.8	Okay.
1:21.5	In what is today, eastern Canada.
1:25.0	What a coincidence! I can imagine it vividly.
1:29.3	I'm recording this from a house on the water of Cape Ann.
1:33.7	Just this morning, I've been watching the fishermen from my back porch and seeing what they pull up and catch.
1:40.3	Well, you might have to make a few adaptations.
1:42.6	Oh, okay.
1:43.3	Yeah, like what year are we in?
1:45.1	1543.
	...

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