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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2021
A BARACK OBAMA BEST BOOKS PICK 2021

‘Lush, gripping and ferocious, MATRIX is animated with sensual detail on every page’ MADELINE MILLER

‘An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic’ SARAH WATERS

‘A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read’ SARA COLLINS

Seventeen-year-old Marie, too wild for courtly life, is thrown to the dogs one winter morning, expelled from the royal court to become the prioress of an abbey. Marie is strange – tall, a giantess, her elbows and knees stick out, ungainly.

At first taken aback by life at the abbey, Marie finds purpose and passion among her mercurial sisters. Yet she deeply misses her secret lover Cecily and queen Eleanor.

Born last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, women who flew across the countryside with their sword fighting and dagger work, Marie decides to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects. She will bring herself, and her sisters, out of the darkness, into riches and power.

MATRIX is a bold vision of female love, devotion and desire from one of the most adventurous writers at work today.

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

‘Both epic and intimate, this sweeping novel explores questions of female ambition, creativity and passion with electrifying prose and sparkling wit. A propulsive, captivating read’ BRIT BENNETT

‘A dazzingly clever tale’ THE TIMES

‘A remarkable novel: unusual, profound, transcendental’ EVENING STANDARD

Publisher Review

A thrillingly vivid, adventurous story about women and power that will blow readers’ minds. Left me gasping. — Emma Donoghue Luminous, divine, her masterpiece — Daisy Johnson An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic — Sarah Waters 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 Transcendent prose and vividly described settings bring to life historic events, from the Crusades to the papal interdict of 1208. Groff has outdone herself with an accomplishment as radiant as Marie’s visions. * Publishers Weekly *