Matrix

The new historical novel from the bestselling author of Fates and Furies

'Luminous; divine; her masterpiece' DAISY JOHNSON

'A thrillingly vivid; adventurous story about women and power that will blow readers' minds. Left me gasping.' EMMA DONOGHUE

'An audacious piece of storytelling; full of passion; wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS

'Lauren Groff is a virtuoso' EMILY ST JOHN MANDEL

'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

MEET THE INDOMITABLE MARIE DE FRANCE

Born from a long line of female warriors and crusaders; yet too coarse; too wild; too rough-hewn for 12th-century courtly life; Marie de France is cast from the royal court. To her dismay; she is sent to the muddy fields of Angleterre to take up her new duty as the prioress of an impoverished abbey.

The abbey is a dreadful place its inhabitants are on the brink of starvation; beset by disease; stoic and stern; yet plagued with an unholy tendency to gossip. Marie cannot help but pine for the decadence and comfort of France her secret lover Cecily; her queen Eleanor; and the very court that had spited her.

Yet Marie soon realises that; though she may be tied to a life of duty; she wields more power than she could have imagined. With the fearlessness that has always set her apart; she inspires her new sisterhood to awaken their spirits and finally claim what is theirs.

A dazzling work of literature; Matrix gathers currents of violence; sensuality and ecstasy in a mesmerising portrait of consuming passion and womanhood.