Isle of Passion

In 1908, under orders to defend a tiny, isolated Pacific atoll from an improbable French invasion, Mexican captain Ramón Arnaud, his young bride, Alicia, and eleven soldiers and their families set sail for the so-called Isle of Passion. In this dire, forbidding place, a viable community is created under Ramón's guidance and inspired by Alicia's dedication. But they are soon forgotten by a motherland distracted by political upheaval and the first rumblings of World War I. Left to the mercies of nature and one another — falling victim one by one to disease, hunger, lust, despair, and, ultimately, violence — the castaways who remain must find strength in the courage and steadfast resourcefulness of Alicia Arnaud, upon whom their collective survival now depends.

Based on true events, Laura Restrepo's is a brilliantly rendered and dramatic tale of savage human nature — and one woman's determination to triumph over a harrowing fate.