Matrix
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Adjoa Andoh
-
Written by:
-
Lauren Groff
About this listen
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE 2022 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2021
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, NPR, The Financial Times, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Vulture, Marie Claire, Vox, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and more!
“A relentless exhibition of Groff’s freakish talent. In just over 250 pages, she gives us a character study to rival Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell .” – USA Today
“An electric reimagining . . . feminist, sensual . . . unforgettable.” – O, The Oprah Magazine
“Thrilling and heartbreaking.” –Time Magazine
“[A] page-by-page pleasure as we soar with her.” –New York Times
One of our best American writers, Lauren Groff returns with her exhilarating first new novel since the groundbreaking Fates and Furies.
Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease.
At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions. Marie, born the last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, is determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects. But in a world that is shifting and corroding in frightening ways, one that can never reconcile itself with her existence, will the sheer force of Marie’s vision be bulwark enough?
Equally alive to the sacred and the profane, Matrix gathers currents of violence, sensuality, and religious ecstasy in a mesmerizing portrait of consuming passion, aberrant faith, and a woman that history moves both through and around. Lauren Groff’s new novel, her first since Fates and Furies, is a defiant and timely exploration of the raw power of female creativity in a corrupted world.
©2021 Lauren Groff (P)2021 Listening LibraryYou may also enjoy...
-
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
- Written by: Shehan Karunatilaka
- Narrated by: Shivantha Wijesinha
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali.
-
-
Best book I read in years
- By Ola Chalikova on 2024-06-29
Written by: Shehan Karunatilaka
-
Song of Solomon
- A Novel
- Written by: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.
-
-
Didn't draw me in
- By Aleasha Forbes on 2018-08-21
Written by: Toni Morrison
-
The Book of Disquiet
- Written by: Fernando Pessoa
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
-
-
A work in progress
- By Dakota O'Neill on 2025-01-13
Written by: Fernando Pessoa
-
Cleopatra and Frankenstein
- Written by: Coco Mellors
- Narrated by: Kit Griffiths
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank’s life is full of all the excesses Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint and the opportunity to apply for a green card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could’ve predicted.
-
-
LOVE IT
- By emma on 2024-05-29
Written by: Coco Mellors
-
One Puzzling Afternoon
- Written by: Emily Critchley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street, fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living with her eccentric mother and her mother's new boyfriend, she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life. So when the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. Even though Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing. Now in 2018, Edie is eighty-four and still living in the same small town, when one afternoon she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen.
-
-
Nice easy listen
- By Kelly D on 2025-01-24
Written by: Emily Critchley
-
My Brilliant Friend
- The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1
- Written by: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila, who represent the story of a nation and the nature of friendship.
-
-
weakest of the series
- By alexandra e noga on 2018-07-23
Written by: Elena Ferrante
-
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
- Written by: Shehan Karunatilaka
- Narrated by: Shivantha Wijesinha
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali.
-
-
Best book I read in years
- By Ola Chalikova on 2024-06-29
Written by: Shehan Karunatilaka
-
Song of Solomon
- A Novel
- Written by: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. As Morrison follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s origins, she introduces an entire cast of strivers and seeresses, liars and assassins, the inhabitants of a fully realized Black world.
-
-
Didn't draw me in
- By Aleasha Forbes on 2018-08-21
Written by: Toni Morrison
-
The Book of Disquiet
- Written by: Fernando Pessoa
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
-
-
A work in progress
- By Dakota O'Neill on 2025-01-13
Written by: Fernando Pessoa
-
Cleopatra and Frankenstein
- Written by: Coco Mellors
- Narrated by: Kit Griffiths
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank’s life is full of all the excesses Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint and the opportunity to apply for a green card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could’ve predicted.
-
-
LOVE IT
- By emma on 2024-05-29
Written by: Coco Mellors
-
One Puzzling Afternoon
- Written by: Emily Critchley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street, fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living with her eccentric mother and her mother's new boyfriend, she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life. So when the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. Even though Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep. Then Lucy goes missing. Now in 2018, Edie is eighty-four and still living in the same small town, when one afternoon she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen.
-
-
Nice easy listen
- By Kelly D on 2025-01-24
Written by: Emily Critchley
-
My Brilliant Friend
- The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1
- Written by: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila, who represent the story of a nation and the nature of friendship.
-
-
weakest of the series
- By alexandra e noga on 2018-07-23
Written by: Elena Ferrante
What the critics say
“A radiant novel about the 12th-century poet and mystic Marie de France. . . Groff richly imagines Marie's decades of exile in a royal convent, which she eventually leads. A charged novel about female ambition.” – Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air
“Just when it seems there are nothing but chronicles of decline and ruin comes Lauren Groff’s Matrix, about a self-sufficient abbey of 12th-century nuns—a shining, all-female utopian community… it is finally its spirit of celebration that gives this novel its many moments of beauty.” – Wall Street Journal
“An electric reimagining . . . feminist, sensual . . . unforgettable.” – O, The Oprah Magazine
What listeners say about Matrix
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendy McLaughlin
- 2022-01-12
Amazing!
Fabulous story about a kick ass nun in the 12th century. The narration is spectacular.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- mavo
- 2022-06-09
Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder
Although I would call this historical fantasy rather than historical fiction, this is a very compelling story with a modern theme--the importance of female communities for health, prosperity and protection. Ostensibly set in a Catholic nunnery, the abbess focuses on the feminine in the divine and this is in no way a religious treatise. The development of the abbey under Marie's influence shows the deep bonds between sisters, mothers and daughters and between lovers and the strength in a community of women who work for themselves and each other and who protect themselves. This is an important narrative that gives #MeToo a whole new perspective.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- linda gerbig
- 2024-04-04
Falling In Love
The cadence of the story was like a song. If you like history. If you like feminism. You will fall in love with the with the characters and the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-01-07
A must listen
Excellent book and Adjoa Andoh is excellent in her performance. Thumbs up and thanks Audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean
- 2022-03-18
an amazing and affecting book
a remarkable and well crafted utopian vision with surprising insights balanced with texture and detail.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!