In college, I specialized in medieval literature and history. I was so excited to read this book, and it didn't disappoint! Despite not much being known of her life, her lais are important to both history and literature. It was a wonderful imagining of her life, and I highly recommend this book!

I read this book for a bookclub, so I can hardly wait to see what others think. Marie, a relation to Eleanor of Aquitaine, has been sent to court once her relatives find out her mother has died and they can claim the estate. She idolizes Eleanor, unfortunately the feeling is not mutual. Marie is too tall and not conventionally attractive, so Eleanor sends her to a very poor convent. Marie is a strong woman who eventually rises to abbess. A very good read.

I understand why some found it slow and plotless, but I loved it. The word "luminous" is such a cliche but it applies here - for me, this was a meditative delight.

I loved Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies, and her writing is incredible. However, I had a really hard time getting into this book and was unable to finish.

I chose this for my library's book club title for February. I like historical fiction and am a fan of her short story collection "Florida". I liked Matrix overall but there is something about it that really bothers me and I'm having a hard time putting it into words. I feel the author is into this increasingly popular almost mythology around women as nearly magical beings who are very connected to one another, animals, and nature. The author is a woman or I'd be much more annoyed.

This tale of Marie de France being cast out of the royal court and banished to a nunnery where she becomes the Abbess. Very little is known about Marie de France's life, so there's room here for Groff to imagine her development as a poet, her visions, and her strategic running of the nunnery. This is a book about female communities and power. Marie de France fights fiercely to strengthen the nunnery, which is a constant target of her patroness Eleanor and the powerful men who want to strip the nunnery of its riches. Matrix is beautifully written and completely absorbing.

My reading experience with this book was much like the author's in writing it. I thought, "Why would I want to read a novel about a nun in the Middle Ages?" But, there's some kind of alchemy that Groff does that makes what could be a boring story fascinating.

Matrix is a fictionalized account of Marie de France, a nun and confidant of Eleanor of Aquitaine who was a crusader and grew to lead a convent. Through Groff's book, we get to see Marie as a very human, flawed person who, though an inspired and forward-thinking leader, is also a woman of pride and lustful longing. She us forced into a convent to be silenced by the crown, yet, through guts, determination, and guidance from God, reverses the fortunes of the convent, making it solvent and leading her charges through famine and plague.

In showing her readers the day-to-day life of Abess Marie, Groff illuminates Medieval life, with its challenges of cleanliness, food, shelter, and finances, making history real and relatable. Far from frilly historical fiction, Matrix is at once educational and enveloping.

America's best prose stylist is back and better than ever. Matrix is a journey that grows more intense and more convoluted as it evolves, but we never lose track of where we are in the story, so rooted is it in the perspective of its central character, Marie de France. Historical fiction is not what we've come to expect from Groff, but we should know by now that she never does anything half-assed and its obvious how much work went into rendering this world. On the surface, however, its sleek and supple, with sentences that you could sit with for hours.

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.

This is a near-perfect work of historical fiction, a feminist imagining (or maybe not so much imagining, but understanding) of a 12th century abbey and the Abbess and her nuns within it, a warning of what happens when women are ignored and put away as much as a celebration of the power of female friendship and sexuality. Oh and the stunning prose doesn't hurt, either.

This book is extremely well written. The level of detail it goes into about a medieval abbey is admirable. Placing a strong female character in this time period is creates a very interesting story and adds a different perspective. This would be a good book for a book club in a library because there would be a lot to talk about.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

One of the best books of 2021! Groff does a great job of creating a rather larger than life character who powers her way through life in an unexpected way.

Truthfully, more stories should consider the theme of faith in a time of extreme crisis, personal or communal (isn't it always communal?). Matrix delivers in a enthralling, maddening, and deeply original book about the inclusion of the irrational and the wild. Remarkable too is the personal story of empowerment despite a treacherous world against women. Although the familiarity of this time is close to our own present, there's lots of imagination and answers to help us go forward.

Beautifully written historical fiction. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. The level of detail and insight into the time period is astounding. I adored the character development of the women in the Abbey.

England, 1158, and young ‘Marie who comes from France’ rides through a cold, damp valley towards the royal abbey where she has been appointed prioress at Queen Eleanor’s behest. She feels no religious calling, only anger and yearning for what she has left behind; the abbey is rundown and impoverished, the nuns malnourished, and the coughing sickness has taken many lives. From this unpromising beginning, we follow Marie’s life as she moves from resentment to determination to protect those entrusted to her care. A capable administrator, she becomes abbess in her turn and skilled at fending off avaricious churchmen, tempted by her abbey’s growing wealth. Though she experiences strange visions, her religious views remain unconventional, even heretical. Like those of many mystics, actually.

Marie de France wrote in French during the late 12th century. What little is known of her life is drawn from scanty references and inferences drawn from her poetry. This allows Groff the freedom to construct her own story, but her choices are plausible, the picture of abbey life convincing: even Marie’s opposition to the patriarchal structure of church and society finds support in her writings. Groff’s Marie is a reformer, unwilling to submit to a system that oppresses her ‘daughters’, but astute enough to learn which strategies work best. These are dangerous times for open defiance, as the Albigensian Crusade demonstrated. There were other more immediate dangers too, and Groff provides many examples of how accidents, infections, and diseases cripple and kill, especially those weakened by hunger and harsh conditions.

This is an involving and stylistically impressive story: the writing style is skilful, characterization and setting vivid, dialogue entertaining; and Marie’s success at helping so many while struggling with her own personal challenges marks her as a true hero. Highly recommended.

HNR Issue 98 (November 2021)

I'm a big fan of Groff's novels and short fiction, and this book did not disappoint.

17-year old Marie, the bastard child of a noblewoman, is disinherited and send to England by Eleanor of Aquitaine after the death of her mother. She is an outsized character -- both physically and in spirit. Eleanor has sent her to be the new prioress of an abbey that is at on the verge of collapse. Through the force of her own will, Marie brings the abbey back from ruin and becomes very powerful, as she continues to try to rebuild her relationship with Eleanor. A fascinating read.

The prose was beautiful, though I was happy to have read on a kindle because there was a lot of unfamiliar words due the to the time period of the novel and the religious setting. One certainly could determine the meaning through context clues, but it was great to have the ability to press on words for a definition.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

I'm super late leaving this review but I wanted to balance out all the two and three star ratings because MATRIX is my favorite of Lauren Groff's books to date! Admittedly I'm kind of the ideal audience for it, but it was one of the best books I've read in the past year, and also I have fun telling patrons that Marie de France was known for writing a werewolf story as part of my recommendation.

Novel inspired by Marie de France. Matrix is a story of a woman history knows little of. Marie de France is brought to life. This novel is full of interesting characters intertwined carefully.

Marie de France is sent to a 12th century abbey to be the proprietress amongst the nuns. While being surrounded by so many powerful and unique women, Marie begins having prophetic visions. I was picturing this to be the adult version of the historical fiction I read in my youth, but no... it's much more intense than that, and much more sexual. I wasn't sure of the "point" of the book, unfortunately. One of the only throughlines is Marie and her relationship to the queen, while the plot meanders over the course of Marie's life, jumping into her senior years about halfway into the book. At under 300 pages, it seems longer. It is written in third person and has very little dialogue which made me feel very removed from the plot, especially in addition to it being set hundreds of years in the past. It's not going to be the book for everyone, and it certainly wasn't for me, but I can understand the high praise it is receiving.