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Possession: A Romance | 
 enlarge | Author: A.s. Byatt
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
New (33) Used (101) Collectible (2) from £0.01
Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 3698
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0099800403
EAN: 9780099800408
ASIN: 0099800403
Publication Date: February 7, 1991
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Creasing to covers, especially back cover, and spine. Tanned pages. Contents clean. Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize. Shipped via Royal Mail next working day from UK. Delivery within 2-3 working days. International shipments will take 7-10 working days. Heavy books will be sent via Surface Mail.
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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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma October 22, 2007
Linda Bulger (Avon, Maine)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
POSSESSION: A ROMANCE has been on my shelf since 1991. I read it because it won the 1990 Booker Prize, and once under its spell, I've never wanted to let it go. A.S. Byatt -- sister of award winning novelist Margaret Drabble -- tells a complex story within a story, moving back and forth between modern-day scholars Roland Michell and Maud Bailey, and the fictional Victorian poets who are the subjects of their research.
Victorian literature can seem like a dry and rocky road, but Byatt foreshadows and advances her story with the poetry, letters and journals of the Victorian pair, whose love affair is revealed as the research progresses. From simple lyric poems ("They say that women change: 'tis so: but you / Are ever-constant in your changefulness ...") to complex narrative poems and stories, they are well integrated with the story, though sometimes lengthy. The Victorian scene comes to life most successfully, and it's astonishing how fluently Byatt moves not just from present to past, but among the many different literary forms of the two Victorians.
The story within a story, or more specifically the unraveling of a mystery from the past, is a popular device. It's been used in Josephine Tey's DAUGHTER OF TIME, THE MOONSTONE by Wilkie Collins, THE NAME OF THE ROSE by Umberto Eco; and more recently, THE DANTE CLUB and THE POE SHADOW by Matthew Pearl, THE RULE OF FOUR by Caldwell and Thomason, even Dan Brown's blockbuster THE DA VINCI CODE. Byatt weaves her two stories together beautifully: POSSESSION may be the standard by which to judge this type of book, as both stories are richly developed and rooted in the idiom of their time. The Victorian imagery reveals the love affair between the poets, and eventually between Roland and Maud, with its typical mix of emotion and restraint. The modern story satirizes the British academic scene.
POSSESSION: A ROMANCE may not be the easiest book I ever read, but it's among the most rewarding. If you haven't read it in the many years since it was first published, then I recommend it to you.
Forgotten passion June 12, 2007
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Possession" is far above and beyond the kind of books usually labelled "romance." It's lushly written, with exquisite characters, great poetry and interweavings of legend and myth. It's almost chastely erotic, mysterious and dripping over with Victorian-era romance. It's hard not to be drawn in.
A young scholar, Roland, stumbles accidently on an old letter from acclaimed poet Randolph Ash. He soon has reason to believe that the letter was to Christabel La Monte, a lesser-known "fairy" poet -- except Ash was happily married, and La Monte was single all her life. Roland and the chilly fellow scholar Maud investigate caches of hidden letters, poems, and diaries by the lovers, wife, friends and relatives.
In the past, the cordial letters of Christabel and Randolph blossomed into love and passion. They vanished for a short, blissful time together. But what happened to Christabel and Randolph's love, and why did Christabel leave England, while her companion Blanche committed suicide? And how do these events somehow involve Roland and Maude's own growing attachment?
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and in "Possession" it's a valuable historical tool. When words are hidden or read, it can change perceptions and even lives. Byatt's own words are wonderfully lush, dreamy and vivid. Given the rather formal language and writing, it almost seems like a nineteenth-century novel, as if Byatt got so swept up in the characters that she started writing like them.
Byatt has an excellent eye for the language of the era. The letters, poetry and fiction of Christabel and Randolph have a very authentic feel. Especially since Byatt manages to change tones for different people's writing (Christabel's poetry was a bit reminiscent of Emily Dickenson's). The only problem is when the book veers into long tangents; Byatt seems to get a little off-track there. But most of the time, the richness of Breton legend adds depth and mystery to an already beautiful novel. The sunken city of Is, the legend of Melusina, and many others are here.
Byatt gives us an amazing look at the ill-fated lovers, Christabel and Randolph; you can feel their passion and love. They aren't just attracted to each other, but drawn together in the mind and spirit. The supporting characters, such as the artist Blanche and devoted, wistful Ellen Ash, are equally well-drawn; you can't dislike any of them. Roland and Maud seem a little anemic by comparison, but they are still compelling characters, caught up in a love affair from over a hundred years ago.
After taking the recommendation of a good friend, I found that "Possession" is the kind of genuine, heartwrenching romance that you don't see much of -- meetings of minds, genuine passion and love. It's a beautiful thing, and something to be deeply treasured.
Excellent recreation of the morbid and insecure Victorian mentality June 5, 2007
Trevor Coote (Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia)
Possession is an outstanding novel and one of the better Booker winners. It is an academic tour de force, long and complex, cleverly woven, deeply layered, if sometimes a little arcane. It is Murdoch-esque but less rollicking and not as dark, and with a large debt to George Eliot. The recreation of the morbid, insecure and fatalistic Victorian mentality and milieu was excellent and convincing, thanks to what seems to have been a mighty research effort. It was this aspect that worked best. The modern characters, as in the novels of Iris Murdoch, were well-drawn with a tendency to egotistical, almost camp flamboyance, self-indulgence and pretension; not unusual personal attributes in the academic world. I actually liked Roland best. Though he has been criticised for being a dull character (plainly intentionally), it is his ordinariness tinged with that slight self-doubt that accompanies non-middle class academics, that appeals. In that peculiarly English way, he is decent. The rest are self-seekers. Towards the end the story began to read a little like a `best seller' but by then some fun was required and it came at the right moment in the right measure. In these sound byte days of two minute attention spans there may be a case for another (abridged) version of this novel for those without the stamina to plough through the lengthy myths and poems.
poetry, piety and passion March 24, 2007
A. Busborg (Aalborg, Denmark)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's all been said from the best to the worst about this plunge into the depths of poetry, piety and passion, and an attempt to deepen the understanding of this magnificent literary story would be to lessen its power, for it is truly one of the best written novels of the ninetees. I warn you, though, it is not an easy read and, alas, the first eighty pages might bore you to insanity (as they did me) - but should you persist beyond these, you are in for stomach aches of pure joy and sparks flying off the page from that one thing we're all looking for and of which we persist in believing the truth - and it is truly time well-spent. So read no more of this and get on with it.
 Poetic drama which merges two centuries March 10, 2007
A. Tatton (stoke newington)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's taken me sixteen years to read this book and I would love to say it's been worth it, but to be honest I'd probably have been better off trying to read authentic nineteenth century literature rather than this stuff which AS Byatt has made up. A nineteenth century poet (Ash) has an affair (with Lamotte) - which gets found out about a hundred or so years later by literary academics (Roland and Maud). There are some good aspects to the work - how the correspondence between the two having the affair gets more passionate is written in a very subtle, truly believably authentic nineteenth century style. Also the more direct nods to the progress of feminism - without feminism the existence and influence of Lamotte would not have been realised. But the poetry is not good enough to still be rated surely? And the implausibility of some of the story undermines the subtle nods to feminism, art and academia. For example, the characters of Blackadder and Cropper - at least one is superfluous to the storyline. And why should Maud be related to Lamotte, especially 'twice'? The book for me got very corny at the end when characters were saying things like 'I've always wanted to say "you are surrounded"'.
I know that 'Luvvies' is the term for drama enthusiasts - this book could coin the term 'possies' for historical academic literary theory enthusiasts.
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