If youâre looking for a new book this season, a medieval story that takes place in an abbey might have the mysterious, wintry feeling you want. Lauren Groffâs newest release, âMatrix,â is a fictional story written about the real-life Marie de France, who is sent away from the court to an abbey in a remote part of England, where she must serve as a prioress.
Although she is sent to France against her will, Marie decides to try to turn the underperforming abbey around, eventually taking on the responsibilities of taking confession and performing masses â a sacrilegious act for a woman at the time.
âItâs very beautifully written, as Lauren Groffâs stuff always is,â said Julia Turner of Itinerant Literate Books in North Charleston. âAnd itâs really interesting as a book that is set entirely in the world of women because it takes place in an abbey. All of the different personalities are so striking, and even though itâs set in medieval times and written in poetic language, sheâs able to add this very funny medieval humor to it.â
The staff at Itinerant Literate read âMatrixâ for their monthly review and chose the book as a recommendation for the readers of Mount Pleasant Magazine. They feel that âMatrix,â a story set in a sort of female utopia, would entertain a womenâs group with its themes of female empowerment.
âWe all really like Lauren Groff,â added Turner. âWe all read her at different times at various points in the past, and we heard her speak at a conference that we go to every year. We thought âwe canât wait to get our hands on this,â and when they sent out some really early copies for attendees of the conference, we started reading immediately. Usually for this book review video series we do called âSpread the Word,â we all do a different book thatâs coming out that month, and we talk about what we liked about it. But this time, we were all just so excited about getting to read âMatrixâ that we decided to do the same one.â
Turner recommended âMatrixâ for anyone who is a fan of historical fiction, or for fans of Groff or Madeline Miller, author of âCirceâ and âSong of Achilles.â Readers may enjoy the coming-of-age journey that Marie de France goes through or the themes of day-to-day domesticity and profundity coming from the mundane.
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