''Matrix'' is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

by American author Lauren Groff, published by

Riverhead Books Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy. Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carl ...

on September 7, 2021.

Premise

Groff's fourth novel, ''Matrix'' is about a "seventeen-year-old

Marie de France Marie de France (floruit, fl. 1160–1215) was a poet, likely born in France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court of Kin ...

... sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease." Alex Preston, writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', described it as "a strange and poetic piece of historical fiction set in a dreamlike abbey, the fictional biography of a 12th-century mystic." Within the novel, Marie, whom Groff writes as a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, turns around the abbey's fortunes and treats it as a quasi-mystical female separatist "utopia".

Reception

''Matrix'' received very favorable reviews, with a cumulative "Rave" rating at the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, based on 31 book reviews from mainstream literary critics. The novel debuted at number eleven on ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list for the week ending September 11, 2021. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', in its

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

, praised Groff's "boldly original narrative" and her "transcendent prose and vividly described settings" for bringing to life "historic events, from the Crusades to the

papal interdict of 1208 The Papal Interdict of 1208 was an interdict laid on England and Wales by Pope Innocent III which generally enforced the closure of the churches, forbade the administration of the Catholic sacraments, and prohibited the use of churchyards for buria ...

." ''Publishers Weekly'' concluded, "Groff has outdone herself with an accomplishment as radiant as Marie's visions." In its starred review, ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' wrote, "Groff's trademarkworthy sentences bring vivid buoyancy to a magisterial story." However, historians of medieval women were more critical of the novel, with a review in ''Nursing Clio'' critiquing the book's "clichés

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

make the medieval world of the novel feel both more artificial and more distant from the present than it might" and its "bleak and stagnant medievalisms". It was selected for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''s "10 Best Books of 2021" list. Former United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

named ''Matrix'' one of his favorite books of 2021.

Awards

On April 19, 2022, ''Matrix'' was awarded the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. ''Matrix'' was shortlisted for the 2021

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...

and the 2022

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction __NOTOC__ The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are named in honor of ni ...

. It was also a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction.

References

{{Authority control 2021 American novels American historical novels Novels by Lauren Groff Novels set in England Novels set in the 12th century Novels set in convents Novels about nuns Riverhead Books books Novels about lesbian topics American LGBTQ novels 2020s LGBTQ novels 2021 LGBTQ-related literary works

Premise

Reception

Awards

See also

References