I’m not entirely sure where my rating falls on this book. It’s a high rating, for sure, but I’m not quite set on how I feel just yet. This is a beautifully written novel, with some amazing prose, quotes that are cry worthy, and a unique and refreshing writing style.

It’s historically rich and I can see it easily making my list of favorite historical or literary fiction. It does take liberties with it’s history, however. It falls back on medieval cliches which historians have been painstakingly trying to correct over many years. It takes liberties with historical figures and the work that historians have done to piece together about their lives.

Despite these nitpicks, this is a deeply gorgeous novel and I almost want to dive back in, to pick on more that I missed, make connections to the Lais, and relish in the imagined world Groff created.