Allegra Goodman on Making the Exotic Familiar, and Finding the Modern in Ancient Words

Isola is inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, and is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.  Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes an unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island. Allegra Goodman’s books include Sam, The Family Markowitz, The Cookbook Collector, Paradise Park, and Kaaterskill Falls (a National Book Award finalist). Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Commentary, and Ploughshares and has been anthologized in The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. Raised in Honolulu, Goodman studied English and philosophy at Harvard and received a PhD in English literature from Stanford. She is the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award, the Salon Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced study. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In our conversation Allegra will tell us about what it was like growing up in a traditional Jewish household in Honolulu. We’ll hear about her fascination with shtetl life and how her novel Kaaterskill Falls, about an orthodox community in upstate New York, was inspired by George Eliot. And she’ll tell us about the secret Jewish character in her new book, Isola. Allegra Goodman’s’ Five Books: Rifka Bangs the Teakettle by Chaya M. Burstein Daniel Deronda by George Eliot 1984 by George Orwell Homer’s Odyssey, in the Lattimore translation Isola by Allegra Goodman Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod Send us your thoughts! Team@fivebookspod.org The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.