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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Period violence and punishment in a medieval context
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Same-sex romantic content and mystical erotic visions; tasteful but present
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
Themes of female ambition, divine vision, and what women built in the cracks of a patriarchal world
What this book is about
Marie de France — a young, illegitimate royal — is sent to a crumbling English abbey in the twelfth century. What she builds over her lifetime is nothing less than an institution: a self-sufficient community, a visionary's landscape, and an alternative to the world that discarded her. Groff's novel is compressed, luminous, and fiercely feminist.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Same-sex romantic content
Medieval violence
Religious mysticism
Reader Verification
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