Blaine's Reviews > Matrix

[S]he could hold her daughters aloof from the corrupting world. There would be no authority but Marie's authority in this place. And they could stay on this piece of earth where the place has always stood but her daughters would be removed, enclosed, safe. They would be self-sufficient, entire unto themselves. An island of women.

Historical fiction is not my usual jam, and I dare say books about a 12th century abbey are hardly anyone’s jam. But Lauren Groff is an extraordinary writer, and after Fates and Furies, I would read literally any book she writes.

Matrix tells one possible story of Marie de France, a real-life poet of note in late-12th century England. But there are only passing references to her work as a poet. Instead, the novel presumes that Marie de France was also, as some historians believe, Marie the Abbess of Shaftesbury, about whom almost nothing is known beyond a familial connection to then-King Henry II. Ms. Groff’s Marie is a giant, homely, yet brilliant woman—seemingly half Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones and half Alexander Hamilton. Deemed unmarriable by Eleanor of Aquitaine, Marie is sent out of the royal court to work as the Prioress in a failing English abbey. After getting over the sting of her exile, Marie decides to use her considerable skills to restore the abbey. The novel then rolls through the next fifty or so years as Marie rises to Abbess, accumulates more and more power and influence within England, and uses that power to attempt to better women’s lives.

Matrix has some plot points, and even a couple of action sequences, but this novel is one of character and ideas. Marie’s story is a story about the power of women and womanhood. The love they can have for and nurture in one another. It takes the position that freed from men, and societal expectations, women can flourish into their best selves. Marie has a series of religious visions that were (and still are) objectively heretical precisely because they expose the deep, irrational sexism still so pervasive in our world today. The emotional force of the story builds slowly until it reaches its heartbreaking conclusion, and a feeling of loss for what could or should have been. Matrix is an absorbing tale of feminism and perseverance, equality and achievement. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Highly recommended.