San Miguel was published by Viking in 2012. The novel follows three women who lived on San Miguel Island (one of the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast) in three different eras: Marantha Waters in the 1880s, Elise Lester in the 1930s, and — briefly — a third unnamed presence. Each woman was brought to the island by a man (a husband, a lover) who romanticized the isolation, and each must contend with the reality: relentless wind, scarce water, crumbling buildings, and a loneliness that borders on madness.
The novel is Boyle’s quietest: there are no comic set-pieces, no satirical targets, no picaresque adventures. The island itself is the antagonist — beautiful, remote, and indifferent to human habitation. The women’s struggles against it are heroic not in any dramatic sense but in the daily, grinding sense of refusing to give up when everything rational argues for departure.
The Channel Islands
San Miguel is the westernmost of California’s Channel Islands — windswept, treeless, and accessible only by boat. The island’s real history matches Boyle’s fiction: successive families attempted to ranch there and were defeated by the conditions. Today it is part of Channel Islands National Park, accessible to day visitors but uninhabited.
Collecting San Miguel
First edition (Viking, New York, 2012): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $20–$40
- Very good: $10–$20
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you visit San Miguel Island? Yes. San Miguel is part of Channel Islands National Park and accessible by boat from Ventura or by permit from the National Park Service. Day visits and overnight camping are available. The island’s extreme wind and remoteness are exactly as Boyle describes.