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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fact As Better Than Fiction, December 22, 2004
This review is from: The Islander (Paperback)
John Allen has taken a daring step in researching the diaries of a 19th century young woman, Maximilienne Carpentier, who washed ashore in 1877 on the coast of Denmark babbling utterances about an island, a woman named Emilie, and other bits of minutiae until she died soon after from exposure. She had strapped to her body a diary that survived her long time at sea following a shipwreck and that diary was saved, most people thinking this strange young woman was simply mad. It is much to the credit of John Allen and his wife that after extensive research into the details outlined in the diary that this fascinating story surfaces as a novel based on historic fact.
"The present cannot be slave to the past, for then the future would rise up our master" Maximilienne Carpentier (1855 - 1877).
And so begins the tale of the Carpentier family - mother Agathe, father Pierre and child Maximilienne - who were brought to an island by a shipping captain Claude Besson as a safe refuge for Pierre who had been imprisoned in France for stealing a jug of goat's milk for his infant daughter (shades of Les Miserables). The three make the island a paradise of familial bliss until the death of the mother and the subsequent death of the father that leaves young Maximilienne to grow up knowing her father's history and yet determined to live alone on her island. Captain Besson has continued to bring supplies to the Carpentiers and now comes ashore to meet Maximilienne and bring her the distressing news that she has enemies in the family in France who plot to take her home island.
The remainder of this page-turner story is one of high intrigue with the arrival of the dreaded aunt Camille with her children Victor and Emilie. Maximilienne is forced to struggle for her life and in doing so she discovers the many dark and heinous secrets of the aunt and even of her supposed benefactor Captain Beeson.
How this all works out is a spiraling mystery that proves that fact outdoes fiction anyday! Were this novel just fiction it would probably fall into the pulp category, but with John Allen's adept writing we are transported to another era when family fortunes, class status, piracy, and munitions daring-do were de rigueur. From a dairy of a young woman Allen has fashioned a fine novel that pleads for more information about his fascinating subject. A fine read! Grady Harp, December 2004
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very satisfying adventure tale, February 10, 2005
This review is from: The Islander (Paperback)
The Islander by John M Allen
February 10, 2005
Courtesy of WWW.loveromances.com
Maximilienne Carpentier was an infant when her parents escaped with her to an unknown island in THE ISLANDER, a novel penned by John Allen. The marketing blurbs allude that Ms. Carpentier actually exists, with the story being based on a diary that Mr. Allen discovered on a trip to Denmark. This reviewer did not find any references of Carpentier on the Internet and is wondering if indeed this woman is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, the story of Maximilienne Carpentier, be it fiction or fact, is very fascinating, and will be remembered by this reviewer for quite some time.
THE ISLANDER may remind the reader of classics such as Robinson Crusoe or The Swiss Family Robinson, both of which are stories about survival in an environment that is mostly inhospitable to the average European of that time. THE ISLANDER takes place in the last half of the 1800's, at a time when France is going through political unrest. The three Carpentiers live on an unknown island alone, an island that the reader will discover that by legal rights belongs to Phillipe Carpentier, Maximilienne's father. The three live a comfortable life on that island despite the lack of "modern" conveniences, and have no desire to return to civilization. With the help of supplies that are delivered to them every few months by a mutual friend, Captain Claude Besson, it seems that the Carpentiers have the best of all worlds.
While her parents grew up in France, young Maximilienne does not know what it is like to live outside their tropical island, but her parents do everything they can to prepare their child in case they ever return to civilization. They teach her to read and write, and do their best to teach her about society and what would be expected of her in certain social situations. They also are in contact with the outside world through newspapers that Besson brings to them on his visits, and so Maximilienne is fully aware of the geography of the world, as well as current events and politics.
However, this novel is not only a tale of survival. When Maximilienne is left to fend for herself after the decease of her parents, she finds herself at the mercy of her uncle's shrewd wife, Camille, and seeks help from the kind Captain Besson. Her life soon changes for the worst, and her life now depends on her cunning and instincts.
While the novel is touted as being a true story of a young woman's attempt at survival on an uninhabited island during the 1800's, one may or may not believe that any of these events had come to pass. The author did his research and felt assured that some of the important references in Ms. Carpentier's diary did match up to historical facts, thus validating the diary that this book is based upon. This reviewer was caught up in the story and found she thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is quite possible that Maximilienne Carpentier may not have existed as John Allen thinks she did, but that is not what this reviewer is contesting. The story in itself was worth reading, and was a novel that was well written and well structured. It had all the elements that make a story a readable book. At the same time, the characters were likeable, including the "bad guys", and with the plot being fast paced, it was quite easy to read this book in only a few days. Overall, this reviewer is giving THE ISLANDER four stars.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting twist to the "tropical island" scenario, December 29, 2004
This review is from: The Islander (Paperback)
This story is supposedly the translation of the diary of a woman named Maximilienne Carpentier, a young French woman who washed up on the western Danish coast in 1877. She died shortly after that and her diary, which was attached to her body, was moved from location to location until found in a private maritime museum by the author of this book. The story sounded intriguing and I thought it worthy of investigating, but I decided to read the story before checking on the historical validity of Maximilienne Carpentier.
Maximilienne and her mother and father are the only inhabitants of an island in the Atlantic where the weather is tropical. Their only contact with the outside world is the regular arrival of a ship captained by Claude Besson. Even though they are able to grow and catch their own food, the ship brings other supplies, including clothing and newspapers from France. Her mother dies and then her father grows ill. It is at that point that he tells her that he is a convicted criminal who escaped from the law. His family is wealthy, was deeded the island by Charles VII and to beware of the future.
After he dies, Maximilienne asks Captain Besson to come ashore and he informs her of the dangers from her family, particularly from the ruthless Camille. Unfortunately, she trusts him completely, falling in love with him and they spend the night in coital embrace. He leaves, promising to try to find her birth certificate, so that she can claim her inheritance.
Camille and her children unexpectedly arrive with two thugs, and they beat Maximilienne viciously, to the point where she aborts the child that she now carries. She recovers and develops a plan against Camille and her gang. However, she once again finds herself being too trustworthy and almost loses her life. In the end, Camille's daughter Emilie, who came to Maximilienne's aid, is the only one of Camille's gang or Claude's ship left alive. Emilie and Maximilienne then depart the island on Camille's yacht, only to be caught in a violent storm and shipwrecked.
While some aspects of the story are difficult to believe, they are not serious enough to damage the telling. Allen is a very good writer, I found myself caring about Maximilienne, hoping that she would be able to extricate herself from the traps.
After reading the book, I performed a Google search on the name Maximilienne Carpentier. I had noticed that there was no disclaimer along the lines, "This book is a work of fiction, any resemblance to any persons is simply coincidental." I found nothing definitive regarding her existence, although admittedly the search was rather brief. However, my instinct is that Maximilienne is a fictional creation, as her personal diary could not be published without approval of her estate. Enough names are mentioned in the "diary" so that it should not have been hard to track down her family. In any case, the story is written well enough so the fact of her existence is not necessary to complete it.
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