Product Description

Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once a literary detective novel and a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals and poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7945 in Books
• Published on: 1991-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
"Literary critics make natural detectives", says Maud Bailey, heroine of a mystery where the clues lurk in university libraries, old letters and dusty journals. Together with Roland Michell, a fellow academic and accidental sleuth, Maud discovers a love affair between the two Victorian writers the pair has dedicated their lives to studying: Randolph Ash, a literary great long assumed to be a devoted and faithful husband, and Christabel La Motte, a lesser- known "fairy poetess" and chaste spinster. At first, Roland and Maud's discovery threatens only to alter the direction of their research, but as they unearth the truth about the long- forgotten romance, their involvement becomes increasingly urgent and personal. Desperately concealing their purpose from competing researchers, they embark on a journey that pulls each of them from solitude and loneliness, challenges the most basic assumptions they hold about themselves, and uncovers their unique entitlement to the secret of Ash and La Motte's passion.

Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize, Possession is a gripping and compulsively readable novel. A.S. Byatt exquisitely renders a setting rich in detail and texture. Her lush imagery weaves together the dual worlds that appear throughout the novel--the worlds of the mind and the senses, of male and female, of darkness and light, of truth and imagination--into an enchanted and unforgettable tale of love and intrigue. --Lisa Whipple

Review
As always, Byatt wields beautiful prose, and the mix of prose and poetry gives the book a sensuality as mysterious as anything in the plot Intelligent, ingenious and humane Times Literary Supplement Intelligent, literary, and ambitious...combines the drive of the thriller with the 19th-century novel, and throughout she threads the poetry and passion of "romance"...races to a riotous final scene of storms and graveyards The Times You turn its last page feeling stunned and elated, happy to have had the chance to read it. This is a novel for every taste: a heartbreaking Victorian love story, a take-no-prisoners comedy of contemporary academic life, and an unputdownable supernatural mystery that starts with an old book in a London library and ends on a storm-wracked night in a churchyard before an open grave. Washington Post Proves that a serious, intricate book can also be a page turner...manifest intelligence, subtle humor and extraordinary texturing of the past within the present make Possession original and unforgettable Time

Cosmopolitan
'a triumphant success on every level – as a critique of Victorian poetry, an unbearably moving love story and a satire on the modern "Biography Industry"’

Customer Reviews

Savour this literary feast
I first acquired a copy of 'Possession' some fifteen years ago, and it remained on the bookshelf unread as a friend whose judgment I trust warned me that it contained reams of poetry and was generally hard work. I am now so glad that I have finally made the effort to read this wonderful book and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Let me deal first with my friend's warnings... Yes, 'Possession' does contain large amounts of poetry. It is probably possible to read, comprehend and enjoy the novel whilst skipping over all or most of the poetry, although I tend to feel that the poems are an indispensable part of the overall magic of the work. At the other extreme, there may be avid poetry readers that devote a lot of time trying to fully interpret the poems. For the record, I took a middle path of reading the poetry without being overly concerned at the references and allusions that escaped me. Although the poems are not masterpieces in themselves, they do give insights into the character of the two poets, and references in the poems are sometimes tied into developments in the main prose narrative. And most of all, they are enjoyable reading - particularly for those of us that rarely make the effort to read poetry nowadays. With regard to the second warning, 'Possession' does make significant though not impossible demands on the reader, particularly in the early stages due to the multiple plotlines and range of new characters. I read the 500-odd pages in just under two days (rescheduling a couple of social activities!) and would recommend such intensive reading for those that can make the time; conversely, I suggest that this is not a book that can be approached as a casual read over a long period of time.

The plotline to 'Possession: A Romance' is fairly straightforward: two academics, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey follow their interests in two Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte respectively, to discover, after much sleuthing and examination of the Victorians' letters and poems, that the two poets were lovers - and in the process allow themselves to fall in love themselves despite their anxieties over doing so in this post-modern world. However, A.S. Byatt's Booker-winning masterpiece is so much more than this précis suggests... The subtitle of 'Possession' is 'a Romance', and the novel commences with a quotation informing the reader that a romance allows a writer 'a certain lassitude, both as to its fashion and material'. A.S. Byatt certainly takes such liberties, leading the reader on all manner of journeys with an infectiously exuberant writing style that meant that I, for one, was willing to be transported anywhere her whim dictated... 'Possession: A Romance' defies simple pigeon-holing into a particular genre: it is a historical novel and a detective novel and a romantic novel rolled into one, with lots of insights into (and digs at the expense of) academia, postmodernism and feminism. To top it off, 'Possession' is a feast for lovers of language, and contains a cast of interesting, credible and fully developed characters. For those willing to devote the required time and effort, I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

A flawed masterpiece
There are some good novels which are technically perfect but somehow lack the quality that gives real greatness. This novel, I think, is the opposite - a great novel with deep flaws. It is strange, but entirely apt, that it is the Victorian characters, Ash and LaMotte, who come to life vividly and grow to an almost mythic stature whilst the 20C characters never quite convince and finally dwindle into a rather weak campus comedy.

The point is that it's the Victorians this book is about. I know I'm not supposed to get into debates with other reviewers but... More than one has said 'skip the poetry' and even 'skip the letters'. Please give the poetry a go and certainly read the letters. Without these, the letters especially, you won't understand Ash and LaMotte properly. When you do this lifts the book way beyond a literary detective yarn. It does need patience, which is hardly a modern virtue, but the rewards are worth it.

A gourmet feast of a novel
I am currently reading this book for the fourth time, which must prove something!

A tale whose basic plot concerns two academics researching a couple of dead poets might not sound very promising, but I was involved and fascinated right from the off, on my first reading. The characters, major and minor, past and present, are beautifully realised, and live and breathe on the page.

Ambitious in concept, broad in scope, this book contains so much to enjoy: the quest for personal fulfilment; a literary detective story; two love stories, one cool and modern, one Victorian and quite heartrending; academic mickey-taking; literary pastiche and more. The skill with which the author weaves all these elements (not to mention action in two centuries) into a crafted and coherent whole leaves me breathless with admiration.

Be warned: if you are after quick and easy escapist entertainment, this is not for you. This is a big, solid book, a gourmet feast of a novel that demands a certain commitment from the reader if it is to be appreciated. Make that commitment, take the time to savour the rich depths of its plotting, characterisation and detailing, and you will be well rewarded.

A modern masterpiece that, in my opinion, fully deserves the Booker Prize.