One of the (very) few contemporary novels that actually lives up to its hype.
A reviewer on goodreads complained that it took too many liberties, and didn’t really do justice to the real Marie de France, and that seems like a fair critique, but fortunately, I don’t know that much about Marie De France, so I didn’t really mind. Of course, there was some vague frisson to the suggestion that maybe this was what an actual person’s life was like, and the mentions of familiar historical names, etc, but for me at least, that really wasn’t the point.
The real thrill of the book is that the prose is absolutely wonderful and it totally pulls you in. I was oddly resistant to this book for some reason (probably the hype), but it completely won me over, and not just because it had well-written sex scenes (though that never hurts). It’s very much an intellectual’s feminist fantasy of Medieval life — like, if you’re still cringing over how much you loved The Mists of Avalon as an adolescent, rest assured that this is much more highbrow — which is pretty perfect for winter break reading. I enjoyed it mightily.
Kasia Reads 