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sminismoni's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing, despite the hype. The narrative was jumpy, with sudden shifts in timeline. There was no plot, it was more of a series of vignettes in the life of the Abbey e.g. a flood, plague, invaders. The heroine organises a response, the problem resolves, and next we are 10 years down the track with another event. I didn't like Marie, the abbess; the decades of unrequited love she had for Queen Eleanor despite up to 30 years with no contact, seemed ridiculous for one thing. Indeed, none of the love stories or sexual element had any depth at all. And as an exploration of the advantages of female leadership and power (which the author has stated was an aim, as she wrote it in the Trump era), this book merely showed that power can corrupt and isolate anyone, male or female.
sucreslibrary's review against another edition
3.0
while this had flashes of brilliance that broke through, I mostly dreaded slogging through this book. the final day where I read 80 or so pages was a trial. it's a shame, because I do think this has a lot of interesting things to say, the writing just didn't engage me enough.
I do like how the author brought climate change and conservation to the forefront in smaller ways, such as describing the animals forced from their homes (and some driven to extinction) due to the expansion of the abbey. I don't agree with a female-only utopia, but can understand somewhat the author's desire for one. she talks of "subverting" the expectations one has when it comes to a person that runs a closed off utopia like the abbey, but I'm not sure how subverted any of that was other than that Marie is a woman.
Marie herself is a fascinating character, but I felt very removed from her. her switch to becoming devout and then an accomplished mystic were strange to me, and I wish I had a better understanding of her reasoning. there's great leaps of time that are skimmed over (we are covering 60+ years of Marie's life!) which only added to the detached feeling. I do like spending so much time with her when she's older and post-menopausal. there are many women in this work that are older and still accomplished and it was refreshing to read. unfortunately because there are so many women, many of them are not given rich interior lives (though this is possibly because the work is so focused on Marie, who herself has trouble with relating or imagining the lives of the people she rules over).
I did get lost with the sheer amount of characters and names that get mentioned. there are so many, and so many of them die, and it could be hard to keep track of them all. a few stand out by nature of being with Marie from the beginning, but a lot are introduced over the decades that appear only once or twice. I did quite enjoy the small section with the girl who aimed to rule the abbey herself, and only wish it had been longer and involved more mind games.
all in all, this is not my usual genre, but I can see a lot of the merit in this work. it just wasn't enough to engage me or make me excited to pick up the book to finish it.
I do like how the author brought climate change and conservation to the forefront in smaller ways, such as describing the animals forced from their homes (and some driven to extinction) due to the expansion of the abbey. I don't agree with a female-only utopia, but can understand somewhat the author's desire for one. she talks of "subverting" the expectations one has when it comes to a person that runs a closed off utopia like the abbey, but I'm not sure how subverted any of that was other than that Marie is a woman.
Marie herself is a fascinating character, but I felt very removed from her. her switch to becoming devout and then an accomplished mystic were strange to me, and I wish I had a better understanding of her reasoning. there's great leaps of time that are skimmed over (we are covering 60+ years of Marie's life!) which only added to the detached feeling. I do like spending so much time with her when she's older and post-menopausal. there are many women in this work that are older and still accomplished and it was refreshing to read. unfortunately because there are so many women, many of them are not given rich interior lives (though this is possibly because the work is so focused on Marie, who herself has trouble with relating or imagining the lives of the people she rules over).
I did get lost with the sheer amount of characters and names that get mentioned. there are so many, and so many of them die, and it could be hard to keep track of them all. a few stand out by nature of being with Marie from the beginning, but a lot are introduced over the decades that appear only once or twice. I did quite enjoy the small section with the girl who aimed to rule the abbey herself, and only wish it had been longer and involved more mind games.
all in all, this is not my usual genre, but I can see a lot of the merit in this work. it just wasn't enough to engage me or make me excited to pick up the book to finish it.
annacabrespina's review against another edition
3.0
a veure m’ha agradat, subtrames molt interessants. però se’m ha fet un punt lenta i avorrida la història, tot tan medieval que m semblava quasi fantasiós. però bueno, molt ben escrit i algunes escenes xules
spenkevich's review against another edition
4.0
The spicy nun novel we deserve, this is a fun and imaginative take on history through a fantastical and feminist story of mystical visions, poetry and power struggles. A real treat.
cafffine's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite type of feminist historical fiction - a story where women and their complex lives and power are given a full voice while maintaining the realistic and oppressive setting that they had to live through. This really did feel like a successful answer to the question of what a powerful woman could have looked like at this time and place in history, I was so captivated by this level of care given to setting, just adored the whole experience.
Realism was never the full driving force though, there was a satisfying progression in tone and motive, and each mini arc almost had a feeling like a fable (i.e. how’s marie gonna get out of this one!? stay tuned!)
Special note on the writing style as well, the sparsity of dialogue worked so well for this story in particular, felt like I was being told a handful of gossip by a nun.
Every aspect of storytelling was on show in this one.
Realism was never the full driving force though, there was a satisfying progression in tone and motive, and each mini arc almost had a feeling like a fable (i.e. how’s marie gonna get out of this one!? stay tuned!)
Special note on the writing style as well, the sparsity of dialogue worked so well for this story in particular, felt like I was being told a handful of gossip by a nun.
Every aspect of storytelling was on show in this one.
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
4.0
When I think I finally have a handle on the kind of writer Groff is she goes and writes a novel about a female warrior with royal blood turned nun in the 12th century. And it’s fierce as hell. I loved this. Groff basically takes the plot of The Favourite but changes the setting to an abbey and the year to 1158. Women are and always have been a force and Groff seems keen to illustrate that in the most interesting of ways. The research is so well folded into the narrative. I love it when writers surprise me. I love it.
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
5.0
When I think I finally have a handle on the kind of writer Groff is she goes and writes a novel about a female warrior with royal blood turned nun (Marie de France) in the 12th century. And it’s fierce as hell. I loved this. Groff basically takes the plot of The Favourite but changes the setting to an abbey and the year to 1158. Women are and always have been a force and Groff seems keen to illustrate that in the most interesting of ways. The research is so well folded into the narrative. I love it when writers surprise me. I love it.
grafe_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
alesh's review against another edition
5.0
I nearly bailed on this a few pages in, kinda turned off by the "fake history" aspect. Glad I didn't. What's happening here is actually pretty remarkable.
Groff takes what (extremely little) is know of Marie de France's life and builds a remarkable biography around it. It's an unlikely story, but of course history is full of unlikely stories, and all the details are well researched and feel real. Mary feels both supernatural and real.
Also worth pointing out is the language. Groff weaves archaic and convent-life words through the text, creating a writing style that feels old and contemporary, and quite sharp.
Groff takes what (extremely little) is know of Marie de France's life and builds a remarkable biography around it. It's an unlikely story, but of course history is full of unlikely stories, and all the details are well researched and feel real. Mary feels both supernatural and real.
Also worth pointing out is the language. Groff weaves archaic and convent-life words through the text, creating a writing style that feels old and contemporary, and quite sharp.