It’s been six years since the publication of Groff’s novel Fates and Furies. Crying is also part of my work,” she adds with a wry laugh. “There are weeks, months, maybe even a full year where I would just sit there and write shitty sentences, or no sentences at all, and just stare at the page and cry.

“I have swung through periods of profound depression, and I find it almost impossible to write when I’m depressed,” she says.

The emotional realities of the pandemic have hit Groff hard, she tells me. In Florida, where she lives, the average number of daily Covid cases has catapulted over the 17,000 mark during the first week of August, when we chat over Zoom. The critically acclaimed author of four novels and two story collections, Groff spent her afternoon cancelling plans. But it also may leave you wondering whether this is a story about one woman's feminist aspirations - or her overzealous ambition.Lauren Groff is running behind schedule. exposes the complexity of being a woman living in a world where men make all the rules, regardless of the era. But there are instances where allusions are not enough, and she is graphic, leaving little to the imagination when discussing death and sickness.

Her allusions to female pleasure - such as masturbation and oral sex - are done as stealthily as her allusions to heinous actions such as rape, almost like a whisper that you might miss if you're not paying attention. Her use of short but not entirely quick sentences, particularly at the start of the novel, is a tricky way of pacing a story that is written in such a formal tone. The novel's prose is well constructed and filled with strong imagery that will remain embedded in your subconscious days later.

Eschewing direct dialogue and traditional chapters for a three-part structure, the story starts slow but then picks up the pace, barreling through Marie's years at the convent. The writing itself is a demonstration of power. With masterful wordplay and pacing, Groff builds what could have been a mundane storyline into something quite impossible to put down. It has sisterhood, love, war, sex - and many graphic deaths, all entangled in a once-forgotten abbey in the English countryside. an inspiring novel that truly demonstrates the power women wield, regardless of the era.

Matrix lauren groff review