The pages of Allegra Goodman’s historical novel, “Isola,” turn and turn beneath the readers’ fingers, as if one were spinning through an old-fashioned Rolodex to search for a name.

What does it mean to be alone? Is it physical solitude, or mental isolation? Allegra Goodman’s “Isola” asks these questions through the trials of Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval.

Isola: Reese’s Book Club: A Novel (Unabridged) by Allegra Goodman (Penguin Random House, LLC) 9. Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life by Jim ...

Now the wide-ranging Allegra Goodman has crafted a novel in a more ... commanding — carries us powerfully through nearly 400 pages: from a spoiled, sassy childhood (“I was wicked”) to ...