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Possession

A Romance

by A. S. Byatt

ISBN: 0679735909
ISBN-13: 9780679735908
Format: Paperback

Summary

Maud Bailey is a scholar researching the life and work of her distant relative, a little known 19th-century poet named Christabel LaMotte. Roland Mitchell is looking into an obscure moment in the life of another Victorian poet, the celebrated Randolph Henry Ash. Together, the two uncover a dark secret in Ash's life: though apparently happily married, he conducted a torrid affair with LaMotte that has never before come to light. As Maud and Roland dig into the facts, they also find themselves falling in love. A.S. Byatt cleverly evokes the world of the Victorians, juxtaposing it to the dryer, less passionate lives of her modern-day protagonists. She also has created extremely convincing letters and love poetry, ostensibly by each of the poets. As the truth about the past emerges, it also illuminates the present-and changes it radically.

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Media Reviews

"At once literary and highly readable, the book boasts a compelling narrative...This wonderfully written work is highly recommended."

   -- Library Journal

"POSSESION is inordinate, but not indiscriminate; it is unfashionable; it is generous, teeming with more ideas than a year's worth of ordinary novels."    -- Anita Brookner

   -- Spectator

Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Random House Inc
Published date: 1991
Size: 5.5 x 8 inches
Weight: 1 pounds

Publisher's Notes

An exhilarating novel of wit and romance, an intellectual mystery, and a triumphant love story. This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom.

Other Editions

Hardcover - Random House Inc (1990) - from $1.00
Paperback Reprint - Random House Inc (1991) - from $1.00

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Possession: A Romance

Byatt, A. S

[ISBN: 0679735909]

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Vintage Books, 1991 Trade Paperback. Good. (more information)

Offered by Patrico Books (United States)

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