Matrix

Matrix is a book about 12th century nuns. I realize this sounds impossibly boring, but Lauren Groff makes these characters feel present and compelling.

The novel follows the adult life of Marie de France, a royal-adjacent woman who is shipped off to be the prioress (sort of like the COO, as I understand it) of an English abbey at the age of seventeen. She is not religious and, unsurprisingly, isn't thrilled to be there. What follows is the story of her life at the abbey, her relationship to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and a peek into the High Middle Ages in England that feels relatable.

Groff's writing is enthralling, if a little heavy on the description. She is particularly skilled at writing about emotions and inner lives, even when writing mostly in the third person. What I liked most about this book was how feminist it feels, despite being set in a decidedly patriarchal time and place. The nuns undertake typically feminine pursuits such as spinning, weaving, and gardening, but also copy manuscripts (a job for monks), work the land, and engineer large infrastructure projects. These women live their lives without men, of necessity, and the picture Groff paints is of complete lives.

I enjoyed this book, and will look more at Groff's other work (this is my first read of hers).

Wow, this book. Much like The Nickel Boys was my top pick for 2020 and immediately shot to the top of my favorites, this book has done that for 2021. Loved the blend of subversion and charge with pastoral, plodding, and liturgical.

The Good. The quality of the writing is high. It is a very descriptive book and it appears to live imperceptibly in the first person without technically being there. We see everything through Marie's eyes and Groff's writing does her justice.
The Bad? Am I weird in thinking this book was too short? What was probably going to be the most critical part of Marie's life at the Monastery, the first 2 or 3 years, are totally skipped over. In fact she moves forward so fast we only the se the results of her life. We see what she built but not why. That is, until the last chapter when some of what drives her is revealed. I would have loved a few extra hundred pages...