The Matrix by Lauren Groff

April 14, 2022

The Matrix by Lauren Groff

In the late 12th century, 17 year old Marie de France was exiled from France by Eleanor of Aquitaine. Unattractive and ungainly, Marie was deemed to be unmarriageable and unfit for court life, so she was sent to England to become the prioress at an abbey. Accustomed to the luxury of court life, the abbey was a rude shock for Marie, since it was poor and rural. Devotion to the sisters at the abbey replaced Marie's desire for her family, homeland, and court life, and she quickly turned the abbey into a show place. Marie wrote poetry and sent at least one of her books to King Henry II of England.

With the exception of the facts that she lived in the late 12th century and wrote poetry, that whole paragraph is a fiction, which means that 95% of the book is pure fiction. Marie was a real person but her actual name is unknown - the nom de plume of Marie de France is taken from a like in one of her books. The author drew on the life of Marie d'Anjou, another person entirely, to write about Marie de France's life.

Marie sounds like a fascinating subject and I wanted to love this book but was seriously disappointed. Marie gets to England and makes short work of vanquishing poverty, disease, hunger, prejudice, and misogyny at the abbey, without much effort. Her writings are mentioned only briefly. I could have done without the lesbian love angle, too.

The only known picture of Marie de France