Islands, both literal and figurative, recur in fiction authored by many prominent Canadian women writers. Using a critical lens based on Northrop Frye and Julia Kristeva, this book closely examines fourteen novels by eight twentieth-century authors, emphasizing works by L. M. Montgomery, Margaret Laurence, and Margaret Atwood. Several of the novels, such as Montgomery-s Anne of Green Gables, Laurence-s A Jest of God and The Diviners, Atwood-s Surfacing and Bodily Harm, Alice Munro-s The Lives of Girls and Women, and Gabrielle Roy-s The Tin Flute, are among Canada-s most well-known. Some of the works discussed present the island as a redemptive retreat, but in most cases the island-s role is ambiguous, ranging from a temporary respite from life-s pressures to a nightmarish trap.
