Matrix: A Novel
Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease. At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions. Marie, born the last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, is determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects. But in a world that is shifting and corroding in frightening ways, one that can never reconcile itself with her existence, will the sheer force of Marie’s vision be bulwark enough?
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Matrix by Lauren Groff
257 pages
What’s it about?
Marie is a 17-year-old half royal orphan when Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine sends her to live in a an impoverished abbey, where she will eventually become the prioress. She is deemed unfit to stay at court because of her ungainly appearance and perhaps her strange ways. She is initially inconsolable under the care of the old abbess, but she soon finds her place. The story is based loosely on the life of the 12th century poet Marie de France.
What did it make me think about?
Faith, mysticism, and the sheer power of women.
Should I read it?
This is a very different review than I thought I would write. Initially I was forcing myself to read a few pages of "Matrix" and thought I would just plod through it for the beautiful sentences. Little did I know that as I read I would slowly be drawn into the world of the Abbey and I would look forward to some time with the nuns. This is by far my favorite book by Lauren Groff, and while it might not be for everyone, it is a masterful story from a very talented writer.
Quote-
"The need to enlarge the abbey she has thought of as an extension of her own body. Her actions always in reaction to the question of what she could have done in the world, if she had only been given her freedom."
"All souls are limited in the circles of their own understanding."
If you liked this try-
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Matrix by Lauren Groff
257 pages
What’s it about?
Marie is a 17-year-old half royal orphan when Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine sends her to live in a an impoverished abbey, where she will eventually become the prioress. She is deemed unfit to stay at court because of her ungainly appearance and perhaps her strange ways. She is initially inconsolable under the care of the old abbess, but she soon finds her place. The story is based loosely on the life of the 12th century poet Marie de France.
What did it make me think about?
Faith, mysticism, and the sheer power of women.
Should I read it?
This is a very different review than I thought I would write. Initially I was forcing myself to read a few pages of "Matrix" and thought I would just plod through it for the beautiful sentences. Little did I know that as I read I would slowly be drawn into the world of the Abbey and I would look forward to some time with the nuns. This is by far my favorite book by Lauren Groff, and while it might not be for everyone, it is a masterful story from a very talented writer.
Quote-
"The need to enlarge the abbey she has thought of as an extension of her own body. Her actions always in reaction to the question of what she could have done in the world, if she had only been given her freedom."
"All souls are limited in the circles of their own understanding."
If you liked this try-
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
I worried that nothing would top Fates and Furies for me but Matrix gets there. I love how Groff writes women. Marie is a fully-rounded character and an exceptional force. It was also a perfect escape from pandemic life into a 12th century world both unlike our own and similar in the deep strength it takes overcome. I will read anything Lauren Groff published, as she’s always exceeding my expectations.
Flush with vivid imagery of life in an Abbey, Matrix brings medieval times and the inner life of women to light. I am in awe of the research the author must have undertaken to render such a convincing and lush portrait of both the setting and its inhabitants.
not sure what it is about lauren groff's books that make me keep coming back even though they tend to be 2-3 star ratings for me. kept going in and out of this one, but in the end i'm not sure what she was aiming for in the story. and yet i'll still probably read her next book.
I rarely don’t finish books but this one was unreadable to me. I just kept wondering to myself what’s the point of this story. Just kept hoping I would get into it, but I sadly couldn’t.
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