This is a perfect novel. Books like this come along once in a blue moon and I am still reeling from Groff's utterly transportive ability to place the reader firmly in a 12th century nunnery. This is a book about what it means to be a true leader. Marie de France is a woman with a clear vision of what she wants to achieve and it was an utter joy to be taken on her life's journey. As a reader you are placed deep down into the dirt and bustle of daily life in the abbey but also enraptured by the moments of natural beauty and all the lust and fiery passion of Marie will enthrall you. I loved the idea of the labyrinth being built to protect the women of the abbey from men. How in a few sentances, Groff can tell a huge story. The nun's who come and go, the brutal ends of many of these women, often told in a matter of fact way, highlighting the nasty , brutish and short aspect of what life would have been like back then. This is a vivid, poignant and often darkly funny book and it has earned it's place on my keep forever bookshelf.

Matrix is a novel inspired by Marie de France. As is often the case with the focus in historical novels, little is known about her life. Banished as a bastard royal child due to being too ungainly and hard to marry, she at the tender age of 17 years, is sent to run a poverty stricken abbey that is barely managing to function. It doesn’t dwell too much on the religious side of things, more on the characters, their unique skills, devotion to the cause; utter faith in Marie. These women endured amazing hardship, yet persevered and were incredibly self-sufficient. It also through the story focused on leadership and the power of love. It was an easy read. Marie is incredibly likeable. Her reflections and insights are powerful. She moves from feeling anger at her treatment to channeling this is into love and devotion. To do good… Notwithstanding this, she is also formidable and as such meant outsiders thought twice about how they dealt with her. She used her royal links to her advantage and forged necessary relationships with useful links to benefit the abbey. The writing is immersive, with lots of old archaic language used that added to its authenticity. The characterisation excellent. The nuns pleasingly very human and not severe in a way that they are often depicted. The story does stutter slightly toward the end, but the denouement is fitting and sensitive. It leaves quite a lasting impression and powerful imagery of life in the 12th Century.

Marie is the illegitimate daughter of a wronged noblewoman. Her young life is full of the love of her extended female family, travelling on Crusade and enjoying the countryside in France. The her mother dies and Marie is sent to her errant father's family, the Royal Plantagenets of England. Queen Eleanor finds Marie awkward and banishes her to a royal abbey. Marie rails against this but then accepts her fate and decides to make the best of it. This is a wonderful read. Marie is a sympathetic character and is surrounded a cast of fascinating characters, all portraying the various members of a genteel priory of the time. The unwanted daughters of the nobility - disabled, damaged or unmarriageable - and the villeinesses, the workers. At times more magical realism, at others straight historical fiction, this is a strong and moving novel.

This book was a bit difficult to read because there were words I had never seen before but once I looked them up online I didn’t have any trouble. I loved Matrix and will definitely re-read it again one day

Historical fiction is rarely as powerful as this novel of a remarkable woman, an abbey and a life that draws its depths from visions and love. In a near poetic novel that reveals the story of Marie de France, huge, ungainly and obsessive, there is a strong and vital message about the strength of women and girls when directed. The creation of a community of nuns and other women from a tiny, impoverished abbey which comes to rely on the visionary and almost supernatural power of a woman is almost a fable, but it is set in times of enormous political and religious upheaval. As Queen Eleanor of Aquitane leads her brilliant court, Marie wants to be in that place, not in a miserable weather lashed corner of an England seemingly deprived of colours. She will do anything, risk everything just to be in the presence of the queen who she undoubtedly loves. It is her tragedy that she cannot be, but also her greatest inspiration. This is a rare book that challenges perspectives on how women can live together in a community which has to deal with sometimes brutal death, but also reflects the gentle tenderness of love. Told in the present tense, centring on the emotions, thoughts and visions of a remarkable woman, it is an inspiring tale of how a very basic setting allows for sophisticated creation of buildings, places for women to live and work on their own merits and gifts. The plot is Marie’s progress, her life, its challenges and victories. It is honest, as she realises her limitations, but also her great strength. The quality of the writing is extraordinary, episodic but drawn together into a narrative that carries the reader along. I found this an amazing novel and I was very pleased to have the opportunity to read and review it. The novel opens with the seventeen year old Marie travelling through the March drizzle to get to the abbey where she knows she will be stuck for life. Although of royal blood, she was illegitimate and grew up surrounded by physically active aunts who shared her large frame and strength. She has had to leave her life long friend, servant and lover Cecily behind, and be exiled from the bright and glorious court of Eleanor whom she has always adored. She has run her family estate for years after her mother died, a fact she concealed, and now is considered unlikely to secure a suitable marriage. She is to be exiled to be prioress of the obscure English abbey which has plunged into starvation, disease and poverty. When she arrives they are shocked by her size and lack of apparent piety, and for some time she is unhappy in the silence, circle of prayer and absence from the women she loves. It will take a huge change to save the abbey, but also ignite the interest of a remarkable woman in a project that will take her life in so many ways. I found that this book is quite a reading experience, with much to say about the nature of women living and working together through life in an isolated community. It is a remarkable book which I found drew me in and is unique in its powerful story of love, vision and purpose. I recommend it strongly as an incredible read from an immensely talented writer.