Visionary leader, queer lover, 12th-century writer ... the life of Marie de France is triumphantly reimagined in an assertively modern novel about female ambition and creativity... a highly distinctive novel of great vigour and boldness.
From mystical visions that may or may not be divine, to the earthy business of abbey pigs, diseases and account books, Groff does it all with purpose and panache * Guardian *
Groff's writing is muscular and precise, her themes wildly resonant. Women are dismissed and contained, subject to misogynist attacks and abuse, but gain power collectively - alone, together. Shockingly, this message is as poignant today as it was, perhaps, 800 years ago * Sunday Times *
A dazzlingly clever tale . . . gorgeously precise prose, always elegantly weighted and perfectly economical * The Times *
This is a remarkable novel: unusual, profound, transcendental * Evening Standard *
A
thrillingly vivid, adventurous story about women and power that will blow readers' minds.
Left me gasping. -- Emma Donoghue
Luminous, divine, her masterpiece -- Daisy Johnson
An
audacious piece of storytelling, full of
passion,
wisdom and
magic -- Sarah Waters
How mesmerising can twelfth century nuns be, even in the hands of Lauren Groff?
I had barely started it before I was bloody well blaspheming with delight.
Matrix is a
gorgeous,
sensual,
addictive read. -- Sara Collins
Transcendent prose and
vividly described settings bring to life historic events, from the Crusades to the papal interdict of 1208.
Groff has outdone herself with an accomplishment as radiant as Marie's visions. * Publishers Weekly *
From the moment you're introduced to Marie, a queer, fierce warrior woman riding across the countryside on her warhorse, you feel as though you've time-travelled back to the Middle Ages. Groff's prose is arresting and unforgettably visceral . . . It's impossible not to feel galvanised by Marie's resilience, independence and determination to make her mark in a world ruled by men. I'll be thinking about Matrix for a long time to come
* Stylist, Novel of the autumn *
Enchanting and intriguing,
Matrix absorbs the reader into the medieval period without compelling them to depart entirely from the present * iNews *
It's a bold, luminous tale that captivates from first to last. * Mail on Sunday *
Lauren Groff's
Matrix is just marvellous; vivid and vibrant, it hums with the lives of those contained within the convent walls, as Marie becomes the ambitious and canny hub at the heart of this female utopia. * Daily Mail *
No doubt a mini-series beckons * Catholic Herald *
Groff offers a world that is rapturous, rapacious, ecstatic, profane; a novel of seismic revelations. -- Eley Williams
Matrix explores the story of Marie de France, a young woman sent to languish in a struggling convent that she begins to transform through her own leadership.
Both epic and intimate, this sweeping novel explores questions of female ambition, creativity and passion with electrifying prose and sparkling wit. A propulsive, captivating read. -- Brit Bennett, author of The Vanishing Half
Matrix is alive with lust and glory. In the incandescent Marie de France - visionary, cantankerous and uncowed by the constraints of her sex - Groff paints a portrait of sisterhood that shines out of the past and into the lives of women today. -- C Pam Zhang, author of Booker-longlisted How Much of These Hills is Gold
Animated with sensual detail on every page and filled with lush, gripping storytelling that cuts to the bone, MATRIX resonates right into the present moment. I never thought I would find myself longing to be a medieval nun but Groff is a worker of wonders.
This book is a ferocious joy -- Madeline Miller
Lushly textured and uniquely vivid, Matrix settles itself on your mind like a dream or vision - it's absolutely stunning -- Sophie Mackintosh
In Lauren Groff's hands, the tale of a medieval nunnery is must-read fiction * Washington Post *
Matrix is another masterpiece from a writer whom few at this point can best * The Atlantic *
Through Marie, Groff explores how a society's religious and gendered constraints can be turned on their head to create a utopia * The New Yorker *
[A]n electric reimagining . . . feminist, sensual, magisterial, de France's saga is one of hardship and triumph, an unforgettable character whose far-seeing vision and devotion to the nuns in her community enable them to transcend what threatens to erase and silence them * Oprah Magazine *
Matrix focuses less on Marie the author and more on Marie the abbess - and if you think that doesn't sound like the obvious angle for a fun and engaging story, you underestimate the scope of Groff 's imagination and talent * The Daily Telegraph *
In these incandescent pages, Groff reverently imagines her way into the life and lore of Marie de France . . . Woven from Groff's trademark ecstatic sentences and brimming with spiritual fervor,
Matrix is a radiant work of imagination and accomplishment * Esquire *
Thrilling and heartbreaking, Groff crafts an electric work of historical fiction * TIME, Most Anticipated Book of the Fall *
A transportive and meditative tale that will swallow you up from the very start * Newsweek *
Groff, a premier stylist . . . .continues to grow, taking on a medieval foremother's story in her latest novel. The voice she finds for Marie de France . . . .will hold readers fast as the exiled Angevin royal becomes abbess of a convent, leading her charges through historic upheavals * LA Times *
Feverishly exhilarating stuff * Chicago Tribune *
With her unparalleled gift for sumptuous, sublime prose, Groff paints an engrossing portrait of a woman who, despite living in a world bound by constraints, experiences a life rich with passion and creativity. Surrounded by a supportive sisterhood, Marie uses strength and ingenuity to subvert the oppression of the patriarchy * Atlanta Journal Constitution *
Utterly absorbing * Vogue *
Splendid with rich description and period vocabulary, this courageous and spin-tingling novel shows an incredible range for Groff (FLORIDA, 2018), and will envelop readers fully in Marie's world, interior and exterior, all senses lit up. It is both a complete departure and an easy-to-envision tale of faith, power, and temptation. * Booklist *
In this bildungsroman about the real-life 12th-century poet Marie de France, a teenage Marie is exiled to a blighted Benedictine nunnery, where she finds strength and power as a prioress * Vanity Fair *
Powerful, sapphic historical novel . . . Richly realized with historical details that don't overwhelm * BuzzFeed *
Readers will recognize her stunning prose and grand, mythic perspective. . . . in a tale that feels both ancient and urgent, as holy as it is deeply human * Entertainment Weekly *
The pages are almost completely devoid of men - seen, but not heard - with Groff using poetic, melodic and yet fierce writing to breathe volume into themes of power, ambition and success from the perspective of women * Press Association *
[A] propulsive, enchanting, and emotionally charged read * Washington Independent Review of Books *
A clever spin on the story of Marie de France * Bustle *
I loved this accomplished piece of storytelling. So much so, I added it to my Booker wish list at the last minute, a wish not fulfilled, of course * A Life In Books *
Matrix is a rich, beautifully written novel about ambition and desire, and also witchy separatist medieval nuns * Vox *
Mesmerizing and inspiring * Newsday *
Medieval life can seem far from our modern grasp, but Groff vividly describes the daily workings of the convent, from prayers to practical chores. She has done her research and it shows in the rich details she provides of working the fields, preparing meals, governing novices . . . magical, a beautiful evocation of what women can achieve and what they can mean to each other * NY Journal of Books *
[A] feminist foray into a medieval nunnery that is stunning in its labyrinthine artistry and sensual tracing of life as lived during the era of the poet Marie de France and the legendary Eleanor of Aquitaine * Lit Hub *
Must-read * HuffPost *
A[n] artful writer, Groff has no need for fantastic artifice to construct a world without men. She . . . gives us an extraordinary protagonist . . . Anyone who has read Groff's previous novels and stories knows that this author's greatest virtue is her economy of prose. A disciplined writer . . . If Eleanor's best currency is story, that goes double for Groff . . . Groff's Matrix simultaneously transports us to a backward world that once was and the grim future that seems inevitable. And all this through the eyes of a group of extraordinary women who decline to live lives of quiet desperation * Gainesville Sun *
[A] transcendently beautiful novel with sensuality, religious ecstasy, gender and power explorations, and a fair bit of tasteful gore. It's surprisingly delicious to read fiction about a historical figure we know so little about * Shondaland *
I'm on page 17 and now nothing else matters . . . Once you have this book in your hands I feel certain you too will be consumed -- Sarah Jessica Parker
[D]reamy prose . . . At its heart, the book's message is simple: joy can exist in darkness * Popsugar *
Richly imaginative * AP *
[A] relentless exhibition of Groff's freakish talent . . . an unforgettable book . . . ecstatic, refulgent, God-struck, heretical * USA Today *
[A] creative, intelligent work that will last * Boston Globe *
