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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Didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. It's winter in 12th century England. In a convent. All the nuns are sick, starved, and dying, the main character hates everyone and everything (because of aforementioned reasons)... not the best choice for a beach read, I must say. But she turns it around pretty quickly, and sets off on the adventure of a lifetime, all without leaving the confines of the convent. The author uses a lot of gritty, earthy language that makes me feel the dirt between my toes, the rain running down my scalp, the shiver of a cool spring morning. If you want to read a story about women - powerful, smart, earthy, beautiful women - I recommend this book.
Meh. This is a very well written historical fiction, imagining the life of an outcast woman of quasi royal birth in the 12th century. Marie is the bastard daughter of a king, a product of rape, large boned and strong, raised by warrior mother and aunts, who was forced into an abbey at the death of her mother. She is the purported sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine and maintains a tense relationship with Eleanor throughout her life. Marie rises to Abbess because of her education and good business sense, but struggles to embrace the holy life. I enjoyed the possibility of women having power in this dark time, but could have lived without the open door sexual experiences Marie has with other women. This novel gave me something to think about, but I can't honestly say I loved it.
Groff starts with a woman of royal blood, Marie, who is declared too ugly to be marriageable, so her cousin, Eleanor of Aquitaine sends her to a rundown convent. When she gets there, she sees that the nuns are starving. There is a lot of corporal punishment and mismanagement. Marie realises this will be her life from now on and; therefore, decides to take charge. She manages the convent to growth and as her reward, has 10 Marian visions. From there, Groff adds historical fact and fancy into the end of the book and it feels like a confused mess at the end. You don't know if you are listening to rantings of sane people or of the insane. The historical facts were interesting, but Groff's writing was sometimes choppy.
I did not like this book and I'm having difficulty articulating why. Perhaps I couldn't relate to any of the characters, or maybe I was repelled by catholic institutions and hierarchy. So much of it, such as the visions of Marie, seemed to be confabulations or science fiction in nature. The book was well written, but for some reason it was not an enjoyable read for me. I do not recommend this book.
I enjoyed this novel and flew through it. Groff's writing is beautiful, skilled, and amazingly creative. I was engaged in the life of the protagonist and the time and historical world Groff weaved, and I never felt like Groff was emotionally manipulating me so I could relax into the novel.
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