Matrix

This is the sort of historical novel I devoured as a teenager, and have craved ever since. Except for Hilary Mantel, no one has done for me what Lauren Groff does here since Anya Seton, Jean Plaidy/Victoria Holt and that crowd. I plunged into the world of medieval nuns and relished every cold, dirty, disease-prone moment of it. Inspired by what very little is known of the life of Marie de France and conflating her with the Abbess Mary of Shaftesbury, Groff has created a woman of such complexity and substance that, history be damned, we must believe she lived her life just this way. (There are, in fact, historians who have speculated that Marie and Mary were one and the same woman.)

Marie, illegitimate half-sister of Henry II, is an show more unattractive giantess with no marriage prospects, and so is bundled off to a remote impoverished Abbey by Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Taking on a role she never would have chosen for herself, Marie eventually turns the fortunes of the Abbey around, making it prosperous, directing feats of engineering that result in the design and execution of an elaborate protective labyrinth, a fine Mother House, and a dam with a system of locks to assure a constant supply of water for the sisters, their animals and gardens. This is a world not just run by women, but exclusively for women. Wealthy widows confer hefty dowries on the Abbey in exchange for the opportunity to live out their remaining days in peaceful refuge. After one unfortunate incident involving a crew of what Marie had considered necessary workmen, she resolved that never again would men be allowed into the Abbey for any reason. Not even priests were exempt from the proscription. When Marie assumed the priestly duties of saying Mass and hearing confessions, it was nearly her downfall, but she remained steadfast and prevailed even in this. This novel has nearly everything...lovely prose, crystalline characters, historical detail, drama, sexual tension, mild suspense, hints of royal intrigue. (Oh, and it might just expand your vocabulary, as it certainly did mine.) show less

The plot is the story of a medieval giantess exiled to a convent, who becomes the abbess and through force of will, mystic visions, and surprising empathy and foresight, builds the abbey into a force of power and wealth and safe harbor for the women in her care. Marie's pride and power draws itself from visions of a version of the Blessed Virgin who is powerful, independent of men. And so the book unfurls in a world without men, but where men are a constant threat, looming just out of side.
And so what Matrix is about is female power - power over their bodies, power over their labor and its fruits, power over their systems of belief.

Filling in Marie’s Missing Pieces

Let’s start off reviewing Lauren Groff’s latest, Matrix, by remembering another Matrix, perhaps the springboard for the novel, Marie de France. This Marie, like Groff’s Marie, lived in the 12th century, was of French origin, of Aquitaine, living most of her life in England. Marie de France wrote long-form narrative poetry that, among other things, gave birth to chivalric romance popular in the High Middle Ages and beyond. And her writing was iconoclastic for the time. But apart from her name and her writing, little else is known about her, and so what an interesting opportunity to conjure a life for her, that of a nun who writes a journal of her exploits, devotion, and loves, who takes nearly show more defunct abbey and through vision, divine and temporal, organization, compassion, and hard work, molds it into a shining, thriving enclave of women. Thus, in lyrical style, Groff tells the tale of Marie, cast out to realize her best life.

The novel opens with Marie at 17 sent away from Eleanor of Aquitaine’s court to the poorest of poor abbeys in England to serve as prioress under the aging abbess. She, of course, hates being tossed out by Eleanor, whom she adores, but in due course forms bonds, one intimate, with other new members. Almost from the beginning, she works to make improvements, and with the passing of the abbess assumes the role herself. She expands the holdings of the abbey and its income by bringing the nobles of the region to heel. She organizes her charges into productive groups managing all the affairs of the abbey, from field, to bakery, to infirmary, to their spiritual lives, and as she does, allows the women to take solace in themselves. And all this, the good and the bad, she diligently records in her personal papers kept secret during her life but discovered by the new abbess upon her death, suffering a fate the real life Marie de France didn’t, at least not totally.

As Marie de France imbued her work with the details of life and realistic views of life as it was lived, so Groff provides a good deal of background detailing the grittiness of life in the High Middle Ages and of a woman who carves her place in her times by asserting herself on many levels, among them as the matrix, or mother, of a community of women who prosper on their own. show less

I think that if you are the sort who questions why the figure of God and power in the Christian Church steer toward the masculine, this book may be waiting for you. Even if you consider yourself devout, I think there are interesting parables about femininity and women's communities to be found here that will make you feel hopeful and seen.

We follow Marie de France, a seventeen year old girl considered ugly and burly by her peers, who is raised by crusading warrior women and struggles to find meaning and respect in the court until she is banished to an abbey to train to be their new prioress. This curse soon turns to a blessing, as the struggling nuns and young girls have been poor and starving for so long-- Marie turns her rage (and show more all-consuming love for the queen who banished her) toward teaching the women to provide for themselves.

To give you an idea of the scale of this book, we follow Marie from sullen teenager suppressing her sexuality and lust for power to a great leader whom even the monarchy respects and fears. We watch each nun who trains alongside her grow and suffer and blossom into someone shining. I spent the last half hour of the book sobbing because I loved these women like sisters and aunts.

Some of the themes explored are highly blasphemous (think "Mother Mary and Eve sharing a kiss"), but as a queer women who left the Church I felt like this book stared straight at me. Groff's prose has a habit of doing that, I think. I was in communion with these lady sinners. I wanted what they had, their unflinching faith and goodness balanced with their bodily love for each other. To me this book was beautiful like no other, and I look forward to rereading it when I am 40 and 70 and beyond. show less

[Matrix] by [[Lauren Groff]]

Matrix is a novel that creates the life of Marie de France, a 12th century abbess and writer. There is very little actually known about her, so Groff has plenty of room to create the character she desires without worrying about appeasing historical experts. She creates a portrait of a woman who carves out a place of power and comfort for herself, when circumstances and the time period should make this practically impossible. Marie and Eleanor of Aquitaine have a relationship that develops over the book from afar.

The book has almost no mention of men in it, and I enjoyed imagining the lives of women in the 1100s, relying on each other to create a life worth living.

I wasn't rushing out to read this novel. I've never read anything by Groff (her books tend to seem a little too off-beat for me) and I'm not big into religious-y stuff. But I do love historical fiction, and there was no wait for the e-book from the New York Public Library because it was the October pick for a WNYC book club. And people I trust were raving about it, so I gave it a whirl. And wow. Just wow. It's beautiful and stunning and so, so compelling. Which is funny, because it's about a nun in the 12th century. Who'd a thunk it?

Marie de France is a little known historical figure - little known by the contemporary world and one about whom little is known. From the hazy details we do have, Lauren Groff has created a remarkable and show more powerful woman and given her a story worthy of her and worthy of all the women whose stories have gone untold for too long. The writing is lush and gorgeous - I read bits of it out loud because they seemed to have a kind of rhythm to them that I wanted to hear - and the details about life in an medieval abbey grounded and made real a story which seemed at times fantastical. I love how Groff has centered the female, not just in Marie but in the other nuns, in the themes of religion and faith and Christian origins and in the multiple meanings of the title.

There are a lot of things that struck me about the novel - the almost total absence of men, except as looming presences off-stage; the narrative voice where conversations don't so much as happen but are relayed; the reality of life for women in this time period, even intelligent, educated, wealthy ones like Marie... Much of this is addressed in a great interview Groff did with the WNYC book club host, available here: https://youtu.be/DSoqCLBk5T4. show less

Marie's family were most un-womanly, especially for the 12th century. Their stature was larger than usual (some called them giantesses). They were stronger and adventurous to the point of going together on a Crusade.

However, Marie’s mother had been raped by Henry II and Marie was the product. After her mother’s death, Marie was able to secretly continue Managing the family estate. Eventually it was taken from her by male relatives. She appealed to Eleanor of Aquitane, who installed her as the prioress and next abbess of Shaftesbury, a rundown abbey with starving inhabitants.

Under Marie’s leadership and miraculous visions, the abbey turned around and then thrived. Marie not only reinstated the farmlands, but initiated industry and show more built amazing defense systems to keep those men away who jealously wanted to claim the abbey once it became a prosperous watchword.

I found it an intriguing story of women without men – what they could build, achieve and dream. Some even found love in this world of their own. 4 stars show less