Matrix

I loved the book Matrix by Lauren Groff. Set in medieval times, Marie de France is banished from Eleanor of Aquitaine's court because the is the bastard daughter of the king, too tall and skinny, and too educated to be made a wife. She is sent to an abbey in the countryside. Once she gets there, at age 17, she finds the nuns are starving and many are diseased. At first she is taken aback by these circumstances. Then she takes action. She exerts her leadership. She adds a scriptorium to the abbey. The nuns transcribe texts which is a bold move because only men are deemed capable of that. By charging under market value for the texts, the abbey starts making money. The procedure of having the nuns do the work they are the least capable of doing (to serve as penance) is overturned and she has nuns doing the work at which they excel. For years local farmers have not been paying rent to the abbey and the former abbess didn't insist on rent because that might look bad on the abbey. Marie makes an example of the most flagrant family taking advantage of the abbey and after that all the farmers catch up on their rent. Over the years of her leadership the abbey has more nuns, plenty of food to eat, a flock of sheep and goats and cows. This story illustrates the sheer power of female creativity in a corrupt world.