Matrix, by Lauren Groff

This award-winning historical novel blends the stories of two little-known historical women who may have been the same person: 12th century poet Marie de France, and 12th century abbess (and half-sister of Henry II), Mary of Shaftesbury. Some scholars have suggested they were the same person, but since not much is known about either woman’s life, nobody can be sure. Lauren Groff blends the little that is known about both women’s lives, with what we do know about nuns, women poets, and royal bastards in 12th century France and England. Then she adds the touch of imagination that brings a character to life as a real person capable of love, lust, hate, ambition, jealousy and devotion.

The Marie of this novel has all that and more. Unwillingly sent to a convent as a young girl, she is at first resentful, but soon learns to seize on the rare opportunities medieval convents offered women: the chance to exercise leadership, creativity, and administrative skills that many married women, even in the upper classes, did not have the freedom to explore. Marie is a powerful and unforgettable character. I knew nothing about either of the historical women behind this novel when I picked it up; I’ve read complaints but people who are very interested in Marie de France that her poetry is given short shrfit in this novel, and I can sort of see that. The novel is not really about Marie as a poet, but as a woman and, particularly I would say, a woman learning to exercise power in the ways that her world allows her to. I found it engrossing and read it quickly.