The Lost Lady of the Amazon: The Story of Isabela Godin and Her Epic Journey

Isabela Godin des Odonais arrived in France from Guiana in 1773, and for months her tale of wifely devotion was the talk of every salon in Paris. For good reason, as the vivid retelling of this sensational tale in Anthony Smith’s chronicle of an amazing Amazonian odyssey shows. A remarkable story, it takes Jean Godin on a French scientific expedition to Peru in 1735 and six years later marries him to the thirteen-year-old daughter of the Spanish governor. Godin’s plan to take his wife, Isabela, and their young family to France originates in nostalgia, but his sense of responsibility as well as adventure prompts him to first test the possibility of crossing the Andes, traveling the length of the Amazon, and sailing to French Guiana. He succeeds, but only after 20 years of petitions to the Portuguese government for passage will Godin’s wife undertake the same 3,000-mile journey—and encounter a series of jungle horrors and river tragedies that will reduce her party of 42 to her half-mad self, starving and alone. Photographs and a map add to this incredible true story of Isabela's journey down the mighty Amazon—exploring her courage, her survival, and her undying love.