Isola Pribby Character Analysis

Isola grows herbs and makes elixirs on Guernsey, where she lives with her goat and her parrot. She's one of the first Society members to write to Juliet. Isola describes herself as tall and not very beautiful, which she believes is why she's never had a romantic encounter with a man. Because she's never been in love, Isola adores romantic novels, especially Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. Isola is eccentric, charming, and has little regard for politeness; she asks Juliet personal questions very soon into their correspondence and questions Sidney about why he doesn't plan to marry Juliet. Though she has no issue with Sidney being gay and promises to keep it a secret, her response does betray that she's not the best at keeping secrets: she lets slip that Booker is also secretly gay. Isola's prospects begin to look up when she learns that the letters her Granny Pheen left her were written by Oscar Wilde; the money she'll earn from publishing royalties will allow her to buy a motorcycle. Isola wants nothing more than to see her friends happy, which is why she's so willing to care for Kit, help Juliet with her book, and near the end of the novel, attempts to facilitate a romance between Dawsey and Remy. She does this after Sidney's sub-editor introduces her to the Miss Marple mystery books. Having already given up on her brief study of phrenology, Isola latches onto Miss Marple's habit of quietly watching and recording what she sees. Though Isola tries her best to emulate Miss Marple and look for clues that Dawsey loves Remy, Isola fails to recognize all the photos of Juliet, the letters from her, and Juliet's handkerchief as evidence that Dawsey loves Juliet, not Remy. She's thrilled nonetheless when Juliet and Dawsey get engaged.