A very interesting book, in the sense of being a literary phenomenon. Part of the action takes place in Victorian England and in my opinion this is the reason why the style of the whole novel, even in the part that takes place in modern times (several decades ago), uses a rather Victorian pompous style. This is good, I understand the idea, I am amazed at the skill with which it is executed, but I have completely got used to this style. The first three hundred pages (out of almost 700) I could hardly bear (especially the wordy, imaginative and witty letters of two of the main heroes). Yes, it is a fact that the style of the letters is completely authentic for people of that era and with that social status. Towards the end it was already difficult for me to put the book down. The novel has a very complex and precisely crafted narrative structure using different techniques: frequent changes of points of view (and a good penetration into them), a mixture of the epistolary part, poems and a traditional story, a gradual revelation of the whole story, and towards the end there was also tension. Overall: a remarkable book from which I experienced aesthetic pleasure, but in which I did not fall in love. I also want to mention that the Bulgarian edition of the book (Agata-A Publishers) is produced with great care: the translator Dimana Ilieva, the editor Angel Igov, the translators of the poems Valentin Krustev and Angel Igov, the layout, the good proofreading work - all have done an excellent job. I only have remarks about the small font, but with 700 pages - I understand.

Rewritten and expanded:

Anagnostiki apolausi, anaparamilo aristourghima, bathia agapi gia tis lexeis kai tin glossa. This is not just any ordinary work. It is a remarkable piece that showcases a deep love for words and language. It is a significant reissue from all perspectives, coming from the most important circulations of the year. It offers a unique reading experience that engages the reader on multiple levels. The craftsmanship is evident in every detail, making it a true masterpiece. Whether you are a language enthusiast or simply looking for a great read, this work is sure to captivate you and leave you with a sense of wonder and appreciation.

"I cannot bear not to know the end of a tale. I will read the most trivial things – once commenced – only out of a feverish greed to be able to swallow the ending – sweet or sour – and to be done with what I need never have embarked on. Are you in my case? Or are you a more discriminating reader? Do you lay aside the unprofitable?"

I have never come across a novel as magnificent and exquisitely written as this. A.S. Byatt undoubtedly has an outstanding literary talent, and it becomes crystal clear to me why she won the Booker Prize in 1990. Reading this remarkable piece has been an astonishing journey. My imagination has been sparked to expand more than ever before, far beyond my expectations. Shifting back and forth between two eras that are told alternately, I was gradually traversing an amazing enigma through various forms of writing: letters, diaries, poems, and even fairy tales. Byatt demonstrates how imagination and creativity can potentially be manifested in diverse modes and are not strictly confined by a clear definition or a specific genre.

Possession: A Romance (1990) mainly relates the story of two literary scholars, Maud Bailey and Roland Michell, who uncover a mystery (a secret love affair) behind the lives of two prominent Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. The dual plot of two different eras, told alternately, not only serves as a comparison but also relates and complements each other. Throughout the modern world, Byatt seems to emphasize the issues faced in the literary academic sphere: rivalry among scholars, obsession with research, literary criticism, and interpretation. Meanwhile, the Victorian part depicts not only the love affair but also the issues that prevailed in those days, such as religious doubts, the emergence of science, and social-class conflicts. What amazes me here is how skillfully Byatt manages to vividly portray the significant differences between the two eras using two distinct styles of language that are characteristic of each era.

The Victorian era is narrated at a slow pace with a rich description of a Victorian setting that is so believable that you can almost sense the atmosphere of the 19th century, as if you were reading a novel by the Bronte sisters. On the other hand, the modern part is plotted in a typical popular fiction form with its plot-driven style. As I have mentioned earlier, what makes this book unique is the several different devices that the author employs. Letters and diaries not only play crucial roles in advancing the plot with hints related to the main mystery but also clearly convey the power and importance of written words. Handwritten letters and diaries were evidently important intimate literary devices that were predominantly used in the Victorian era, and here Byatt emphasizes to draw a comparison on how the circumstances have changed so drastically in modern times.

Not only that, through the poems that Byatt uses as epigraphs, it provides clear evidence of how much more deeply connected people in the previous century were with poetry. Byatt showcases a high level of ability in creating poems that accurately resemble the styles of those Victorian and Romantic poets. Another essential device is the use of fairy tales throughout the story. Similar to the poems, the fairy tales in the story function as riddles that need to be deciphered. I found that the fairy tales reflect the entire course of the story while simultaneously deconstructing the basic structure of a classic, predictable, happy ending. The relationships between the characters are to be regarded as a fairy tale, yet etched with a bittersweet touch that appears to be more realistic.

Possession: A Romance is a story that touches on many aspects, but one that is evident is that it shows how 'possession' operates in each person's life. Each of the characters in this story is obsessed with something or someone. The story not only reveals how one can be possessed but also how far one can go in possessing. In the end, this story shows that nothing can be completely possessed, no matter how obsessed they may be. Most of the mysteries are unfolded through the works of diaries, letters, and poems that the modern scholars discover. However, there are two parts where the author switches to her own point of view. Byatt portrays what truly happened in those poets' lives that are unknown to the modern scholars and characters. These important parts are only known to us, the readers. The scholars cannot possess complete information about what they have been so obsessed with. I find this to be an extremely clever and important statement that questions the meaning and essence of 'possession' itself. Can we truly possess the being we deeply love? Can a researcher or biographer possess accurate information about a real person's life? Can we possess complete knowledge of the past (history)?

This isn't an easy read, but it is definitely not a once-in-a-lifetime one. I'm certain that I will be reading it again sometime.

Where to start? A rich, complex, and boundless reading experience! The narrative unfolds on two different temporal planes: on one hand, we have a pair of young university researchers, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey, and on the other, two Victorian poets, Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. The discovery of a hitherto unpublished correspondence between the two writers will set in motion what can be defined as a sort of "academic spy story," where the two modern scholars will embark on the difficult task of reconstructing the mysterious personal story that links the two poets.

However, Byatt does not content herself with hastily creating ordinary characters and instead molds anew the figures of two poets who tower over the entire story with a staggering plausibility. The writer composes the entire bibliography of the two Victorian poets, so that the narrative is interspersed with their numerous poems.

Moreover, Roland and Maud's investigation occurs through the discovery of various written sources, so that alongside the traditional narrative, the account unfolds through letters, diaries, poems, and critical essays. Byatt has proven to be a writer with encyclopedic knowledge, and often I had to resort to using the internet to navigate through all the references to Breton and Norse mythology, science, literature, and spiritualism. More than reading a novel, it seemed to me that I was opening an incalculable number of Chinese boxes or a huge matryoshka - a sensation not always entirely pleasant.

I have read several reviews where people said they loved this book but skipped the poems, which leaves me rather amazed. It's like watching a musical skipping the dances and songs! It is certainly undeniable that many of the verses of the two poets, especially those of Ash in my opinion, are terribly cumbersome, which can be frustrating during the reading, but completely ignoring them subtracts a large part of the charm from this ambitious work.

The advice I can give you is to arm yourself with patience and... a magnifying glass, because whenever there are letters, diary pages, and essays, the font becomes tragically tiny!

The book would have been a 4.5 star had it not been for the absolute brilliance of Ms. Byatt in concocting a tale that is akin to the optical illusion puzzles in magazines. It truly has depth and layers. The Brick and Mortar: This book is an ode to writing, covering every form of it - from love letters, diary entries, suicide notes, travel journals, poems, fairy tales, narratives, biography, to research papers. It delves into exploring the plot with every possible connotation of the term 'possession', such as possession of artifacts, of a researcher on the researched and vice versa, the obsession and single-mindedness of pursuit, mediums and seances, demoniacal power over one, belonging to oneself etc. All of this would surely have set the book clubs scrambling. In short, it is a work of genius!

The Soul: At the center of it all lies a buried romance. And the quest for truth by the living through the pages of the dead, in search of meaning and connection. The book grips you tightly, and you can't help but want to know what happened to Ash and Christabel while also worrying about Maud and Mitchell. The characterisation is beautiful, and even Ellen Ash and Blanche Glover come to life through the words. The romance is never overstated, and the book hooks you into a literary journey. The blurring of facts and the trivia about legends is truly fascinating.

Set in the background of academic research, the author has her fun in drawing caricatures of researchers and portrays them as not even short of grave robbery. Academicians and historians, obsessed with their subject, go beyond the works to the why and hence the race to interpretation. This, I imagine, is the truth not just of scholars but also of readers. For example, would you take something away from JK Rowling if you knew her thesis was on the works of Tolkien (it was)? Would you not read into the narcissistic admiration of a man's beauty in "Picture of Dorian Gray" if you were told Oscar Wilde was tried for Homosexuality? Such is the intellect of humans.

It takes a good book to make the reader empathize with the characters. It takes a brilliant book to make the reader invest emotionally into a book. This is indeed a brilliant book. Oh, the initial deduction of 0.5 stars was for some of the poems that went over my head and exposed my lacuna with the poetry form of writing. But this in no way takes credit away from the author.

I can clearly understand why this might not receive a five-star rating from some people. However, it is precisely the kind of book that appeals to me. Secret letters, intriguing riddles, the rich tapestry of art history, the quietude of study halls, and the charm of old books, all presented with luscious detail. Somehow, I found this story truly enthralling.

Although the narrative unfolds at a leisurely pace and is interrupted by poetry, biography, and analysis, I was still captivated. These sections did cause my interest to wane slightly, but I read closely enough to grasp the context, parallels, and their significance to the book as a whole. It is impossible not to admire the remarkable skill of AS Byatt in creating and writing this masterpiece. And that ending! It was simply breathtaking.

I am beginning to recognize that the Booker Prize can be a great source of excellent reads for me. I have truly enjoyed most of the books I have read that have won this prestigious award, or at least relished the beautiful writing within them. This book, which is the second in my 30 Years 30 Books project and was published in 1990, is a prime example of the quality and depth that can be found in Booker Prize-winning literature.

Language, perspective, and romance - oh my.

Complexities abound in this multi-perspective, multi-style, literary jig-saw puzzle of a novel. A.S. Byatt showcases her brilliance. However, I had a complex relationship with this book. At first, I was truly in love with it. It started out stimulating all the correct zones of my brain, triggering all kinds of wonderful synapses. It seemed destined to be a true romance for the ages between this book and me. But then, there were multiple times throughout the book when I found that the momentum stalled a bit due to overwriting or the bludgeoning of a point.

For the most part, I felt that the poetry and letters interlaced throughout were spectacular. They added dimension and life to the story and characters. However, sometimes all this gorgeous writing overflowed, and a more sparing use might have had a sharper impact. By the end, the primary/current plot suffered. It felt thin, a mere necessity compared to the richer story our protagonists were piecing together within it.

A theme that was repeatedly touched upon was that of the perspective of the writer and context. We see how individuals infer much of their own views on their interpretations of others' works and into how they present those people in biographies. How much is the subject altered by the views of the biographer and the lens they view their subject through? We may never know. Does it really matter? Perhaps it depends on your perspective. In this book, intimate details change the way these Victorian era poets are viewed/interpreted. But perhaps we, the public, don't need to know the intimate details. How much of a biographer's work is like that of a grave robber, disturbing the peace of the long dead for academic gain, peeling away the facade to get at the flesh? I don't think this book answers these questions of morality versus knowledge or of how much of a biography tells you about the subject versus the biographers themselves. But it does pose the questions, which, in this humble reader's view, is a much more important task than getting at some derived answer.

Read this book for its beautiful language, for its intelligent discussion of writing itself, for the poetry, and the mystery. This is a lovely book with so many wonderful things going on, but to that end, it can be a bit overwhelming.

I enter the bookstore one day as you say, and the bookseller of our hearts is waiting for me with a book in hand. "I HAVEN'T READ IT, but THIS is DEFINITELY for you." I took it, opened it and...

One thing about books though. When you read something truly important, from the beginning, how can I put it.

IT SMELLS!

I had written on the Instagram of vasilakosbooks since then, at the end of August.

"The best book for 2022. Perfect."

But now let's get into the details, because I told you a little lie. The book "It Smelled" before I even started THE BOOK. In the INTRODUCTION of it (which is not the actual book), the amazing Byatt writes: "My original plan was to write a kind of Experimental novel, a fantastic palimpsest of theoretical and indistinctly biographical texts, behind which the lovers and the poets would be distinguishable, although not clearly. What changed EVERYTHING was the reading of the novel of Umberto Eco "The Name of the Rose" and its parodic medieval detective plot".... "I owe a lot to Umberto Eco" (end of introduction).

As many of you know, "The Name of the Rose" and its sequel "Foucault's Pendulum" are among my favorite books of all time, and of course having read the entire work of his and to avoid all of you starting to shout "Zeppelin Zeppelin" together,

I ADORE UMBERTO ECO and I believed from the start that Byatt had not used his name in vain.

And I was SO RIGHT.

Without giving you spoilers, but only some information, "The Obsession" is a unique creation of a girl whose limit was not just the visible sky but the invisible universe, who dreamed big things and became so worthy in front of them that the final result for her was to make you stand up every 100 pages to applaud her.

Speaking about the life of two scholars, whose subject was two poets, and building a world of literature and poems without precedent, she created a world in which you were literally happy to be able to participate through her pen, full of rare and unknown words. Every page is a puzzle, but nothing was left unanswered at the end (what a TERRIBLE feeling to deliberately ask you a question on page 85 and answer it on page 604!), it let you climb a reading wall full of holes and shiny treasures, to reward you at the end with a masterpiece without precedent, I'm telling the truth I can't think of a book that surpasses the greatness and magnificence of her work, without saying anything more, and warning you that it is VERY DIFFICULT I'm telling you.

Ragnarok is just the BEGINNING.

And of course _ _ _ _ _ _ at the end. (Yes, the word has 6 letters, if I write it it will give more spoilers to the reader who will be convinced by this text, and it's not right, he shouldn't have ANY SUSPICION of what he's going to read!)

This is a truly remarkable and hefty novel. It delves into the lives of a group of present-day (around the 1980s) academics who are on a quest for documentation that will expose the relationship, specifically an affair, between two fictional Victorian era poets. The structure of the novel is a masterful blend of various styles, including fictional diary entries, letters, and poetry. Some of these elements are as long as a chapter, and their connection to the overall plot isn't always immediately clear.

A reader who perseveres through to the end is rewarded with a captivating and engaging conclusion. However, the experience of reading this book had me questioning whether it was a waste of time. Initially, while reading, I was inclined to give it 1 or 2 stars, but upon finishing, I felt it deserved 4 or 5, so I settled on 3.

The word "romance" in the title might mislead some romance novel fans, as this book is quite dense and literary. I'll admit that I may be stereotyping romance novel fans unfairly. But for those readers who relish getting lost in the long, meandering writing style of the 19th century, this book will be a delight. They will cry at its end and wish it never stopped.

I also found the novel's portrayal of competition, secrecy, and deception among the individuals in the academic world quite interesting. In particular, I enjoyed the extreme "dark and stormy night" near the end of the book when all the present-day academics involved in the story stumble over each other in a graveyard.

"Possession: A Romance" won the Booker Prize in 1990 and was later made into a movie in 2002. It is a feast of literary and storytelling invention, as described in PageADay's "1000 Books to Read Before You Die" Calendar for October 27, 2020. The story begins in September 1986 when British academic Roland Mitchell discovers drafts of a letter from a famous Victorian poet to a woman who isn't his wife. Sensing an opportunity, he steals the evidence and teams up with Maud Bailey to uncover the truth. As they do so, the reader becomes immersed in two parallel love stories, one historical and one contemporary, both told brilliantly.

Sadly, A.S. Byatt, the scholar who found literary fame with this and other works of fiction, passed away at the age of 87. Her contributions to the literary world will be remembered.

Where I got the book: my bookshelf. It's a re-read.

I have always been inclined to cite Possession as one of my favorite books. However, do you ever notice that every now and then when you re-read a beloved book, you have a feeling that this might be the last time you'll read it? Well, that's exactly how it was for me. I simply didn't get that shining glow from Byatt's writing that I always had in the past. Naturally, I still admire her brilliance, especially her ability to write original poetry in two different styles that seem completely true to the period.

This is a dual time period story. It's about two academics who have a rather bad track record when it comes to relationships, exploring the relationship between two Victorian poets. The possession in the title refers, in typically Byattian metaphysics, to possessive love, to the possession of the truth, and to the physical possession of the objects the poets have left behind. The story progresses through both narrative and document. Byatt is extremely capable of inventing an entire world of materials (letters, poetry, disquisitions, and stories) to create such a convincing reality that you could almost find yourself looking up Randolph Henry Ash on the internet. After writing those words, I actually tried that very thing and found that he and Christabel have many fans. In fact, they have a strange kind of ongoing life in virtual reality, which speaks volumes about Byatt's ability to bring an utterly convincing nineteenth-century world into existence.

And yet, perhaps it's because my allegiance is shifting to Hilary Mantel with her shiny dialogue and pithy, short bits of narrative that I now find Possession just a touch staid and dated. It's like a ghost of my earnest, classics-reading youth. The bloom is off the rose, the fizz is off the champagne. While I'll always remember Randolph, Christabel, Roland, and Maud with fondness, I may now leave them to new readers and move on. They're starting to feel like a shell that's become too tight for me and needs to be shed. Alas for a brilliant book, but as Dorothy L. Sayers pointed out, reading is part of our growth as people, and if we are to grow, we need to expect loyalties to change.

In England, the scholar Roland Michell makes a remarkable discovery. He comes across two hand-written letters penned by the Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash to an unnamed woman. Through meticulous research, Michell deduces that the unnamed woman might be Christabel LaMotte, another notable Victorian poet. This leads him to Maud Baily, a scholar delving into LaMotte’s influence in feminist literature.

The story then unfolds into a captivating love story. One strand is set in the Victorian times,描绘着Ash和LaMotte之间的情感纠葛, while the other takes place in present-day (1986),聚焦于Michell和Bailey之间的感情发展.

However, simply labelling this book as a love story fails to fully capture its essence. It is a literary novel rich with an array of fictional works. There are poems, letters, multiple diaries, academic papers, fairytales, and historical texts. Byatt crafts these in diverse styles to signify different authorships. Additionally, there are numerous literary references scattered throughout the text. We accompany two scholars as they strive to unearth the real lives and a clandestine love affair of these poets from the past.

The main theme of the book explores the concept of “possession” from various perspectives. It delves into the obsession with a loved one, physical ownership of property, copyrights, reputations, academic status, collections of historical artifacts, and the knowledge of a person’s past. Despite the fact that the person in question may have desired privacy, feeling that certain aspects of their lives were their own and no one else’s business.

The book features several fascinating characters, especially the villain, Mortimer Cropper. An American, he harbours the intention of taking Ash’s works out of the country. He conspires with one of the heirs to the Ash estate. Towards the end, the story presents a strikingly vivid gothic scene, complete with a storm and a cemetery. It encompasses overtones of various genres, such as romance, detective, and gothic literature.

This is indeed a complex story. It took me a considerable amount of time to read and understand. I could only absorb small portions at a time. I found the inclusion of the diverse fictional works to be highly creative, although some of them were extremely long. It is a convoluted search for the truth, with the two storylines presenting numerous parallels.

I found Possession to be a challenging read. It demands a willingness to analyze Victorian era documents, which hold the key to the scholars’ quest. Byatt’s writing is truly extraordinary, and her techniques pique the reader’s curiosity, compelling them to discover what becomes of these characters. It is an impressive and thought-provoking work.

1 star for the first 300 pages

2 stars for the next 100 pages

3 stars for the last 150 pages


I guess that all averages out to two stars.


"Possession" is a novel that centers around two academics, Roland and Maud. Each is engaged in researching a different deceased poet, Ash and LaMott respectively. During the course of routine research, Roland discovers a letter from Ash that hints at a romantic interest in a woman other than his wife. This discovery sets in motion a mystery: who is the object of Ash's affection (it's not a huge spoiler to reveal that it's LaMott) and what exactly transpired between them? In parallel, Roland and Maud develop their own romantic feelings for each other as they strive to uncover the truth.


This book won the Booker Prize, and it's definitely a book that caters to literary critics. The story is told through a combination of narration, letters, and journals. The characters are revealed and developed through these means, along with a generous dose of poetry.


There's no denying that Byatt put in an enormous amount of work into this book, and her approach is highly creative. However, does all that hard work and creativity truly mean she deserves the Booker?


Frankly, I don't think so. The first 300 pages are incredibly boring. Byatt's style can be suffocating, as she describes everything in excruciating detail, to the point where the already thin plot is smothered. Then there are the letters upon which the entire story hinges. In these letters, Ash and LaMott discuss poetry in a kind of Victorian academic language (I made that word up). But you can't simply skim them because every 700 words or so, there's something of interest buried within, without which the story won't hold together.


In addition to being seriously dull, I also feel that Byatt didn't develop her primary characters very well at all. There are some supporting players who are far more interesting, and you actually get a sense of them as real human beings. But the four main characters... I couldn't care less about any of them until the very last chapter, where Ash suddenly seems like a three-dimensional person.


The book has what some might call a twist or a surprise at the end. After 550 pages, I didn't really care, and I doubt you will either. However, the last 150 pages or so are by far the best part of the book, as that's where Byatt actually starts to unravel some of the mysteries. And I actually thought the plot was reasonably interesting... just buried under the overly pretentious language, the poetry, and so many superfluous academic observations. The end was plot-driven, which held my interest a little.


A lot of people thought Byatt was clever in her use of two different voices for the poets... I didn't see it at all. They both sounded like the most pompous, snobby people you could ever meet for the vast majority of the book, especially in their letters. I'm not a student of poetry, so maybe I just didn't appreciate the fine work there - but I ended up just skipping the poems because I had no idea what they meant.


A lot of people LOVED this book. So before deciding whether to read it, you need to check out those reviews for yourself. I'd hate to put people off something they might LOVE. And I think there was at least one PBTer who felt it was terrific.


In the end, I actually think I did like "Possession" the slightest bit better than "Love in the Time of Cholera" (my gold standard for books that had me going WTF). It was creative. There were a few nicely drawn minor characters. And from time to time, it read like a regular book - and at those small points, it was reasonably interesting.


But I really can't bring myself to recommend this to a friend...