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.
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(@PenguinUKBooks, 23 September 2021, ebook, 262 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox)
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I've enjoyed other books by the author so I was looking forward to Matrix. I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm not sure if the book is based on real events but I loved all of the historical detail. Marie is a great character, feisty for a woman during the era the book takes place. I found this a compelling read.