I never thought a medieval French woman poet I studied at university would be the subject of a historical fiction novel about lesbian nuns, but here we are and I loved every minute of it. Little is known about Marie de France, beyond the fact she was likely of noble birth since she was literate, and she spent most of her life in England despite likely being born in France. But Lauren Groff has taken these meagre facts and spun an engrossing fictional life for her, rewriting queer women into history where usually they are erased - by which I mean never mentioned at all. Matrix focuses mainly on day to day life at an abbey where Marie is sent as a young woman, born a bastard with no other prospects, and against everyone’s expectations, flourishes into a strong, capable abbess. She is honestly such a badass, and the way Groff writes about her desire - amazing!! It took me a little while to get into it and occasionally the lack of speech marks threw me off (something that doesn’t usually bother me), but I’d highly recommend this one for a gorgeously written, queer narrative!