Matrix cover art

Matrix

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Matrix

By: Lauren Groff
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 courtly life, Marie de France is cast from the royal court. Woefully, 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.

©2021 Lauren Groff (P)2021 Penguin Audio Fiction Historical Fiction Romance Royalty Middle Ages
All stars
Most relevant  
The general history of nuns in the middle ages is interesting. However I did not find much else to keep my attention, which is a pity because the artfully crafted prose made for pleasant listening.

Historically interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
However, they read it I listened!!
The reader made this book come alive!
Superb reading, can’t say how much I loved listening to this reader, it was like poetry. Her character voices, pitch, cadence and inflection made this book incredible to listen to. Thank you!

Not everyone at bookclub enjoyed it…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Within the words and throughout the telling of the recreated lives and story of ‘Matrix’, the readers and listeners are drawn into many private and fascinating worlds of time and places of medieval Angleterre and France of the 12th Century. Entwined in their lives from the Royal court to the island Abbey, is its reconstruction, deepening community of nuns and their individual characters, sublime singing and devastating experiences and the burgeoning power of one woman, who can claim a life well-lived.
The language of the storytelling is exquisite, tracing the visual descriptions of the lands in poetic beauty and the voices of the nuns and sundry characters in accent and, often, rye humour. It is here that Lauren Goff’s words are given the clarity of many human voices in Adjoa Adoh’s performed reading of the book itself. An excellent and inspired production!
Thank you for a marvellous experience of medieval Life!

Lauren Geoff & Adjoa Andoh recreate a stunning medieval experience!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Superb reading by Adjoa Andoh, and a great story. I enjoyed the protagonists changing interpretations of life over time.

excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m a feminist and I was really looking forward to this book. There will be many who like the language used. But I just found the characters unpleasant and the story unbelievable. When we started getting mystical experiences it was all too much for me and I returned the book.

Too weird

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Did not get far with this, while the writing is beautiful the reader was so extra the whole time I found it unbearable to listen to her.

Reader unbearable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.