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Welcome to our May 2022 group read of....



Possession

by

A.S. Byatt


Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire—from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany—what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas.

It's almost May and I've just started reading this - it's a reread for me, as I've read it a couple of times years ago. I gave up looking for the copy I know I once owned, and have bought it on Kindle.

Also tempted by the Audible version so beautifully read by Samuel West - I've listened to a sample.

Who else is reading or has read the book?

I’m about a quarter of the way through now and enjoying the portraits, the views of academia, the invented Victorian literary master and the unknown poetess and fable writer and their works. Very clever and fun!

Good to hear, Ben. I much preferred the Victorian story to the present-day one when I read this previously, and I'm sure I will again, but I'm being struck by how the portrayal of 1980s academia is now a period piece too, with all those filing cabinets and typewriters - and the very number of people working at the "Ash Factory"!

I’ll be reading it but I want to finish South Riding first. That will probably take 4 or 5 days, then on to Possession�

I previously listened to the audio book - Samuel West's reading is brilliant, but I found it difficult to recall what was happening, and I didn't fully appreciate the poetry, so I have also bought the Kindle version. At the moment I'm nearly 3/4s through (I think).

I loved it when I read it; I read slowly and did appreciate the poetry, but I did find it a bit of a slog towards the end, and have no intention of reading it again; I do want to see what people make of it though, so I'll follow the discussion.

Rosina wrote: "I previously listened to the audio book - Samuel West's reading is brilliant, but I found it difficult to recall what was happening, and I didn't fully appreciate the poetry..."

Thank you, I don't think I will get the audio book then, although I'd like to listen to Samuel West reading something else. I thought this book might be hard to follow on audio, and also hesitated because the audio book is so long, more than 20 hours.

A minor point - I've just realised that, confusingly, the Lincoln University where Maud teaches in Possession is fictional, and not the same as the real University of Lincoln which was founded in 1996, just a few years after the book was published in 1990! So I don't suppose the real university has a Maid Marian or Tennyson Tower.

I have read this twice so won't be rereading it, but will be following the chat here with interest. I really liked it, obviously, and think that Byatt's ability to ventriloquise all those different voices in the letters and poetry is marvellous.

I've read so many reviews where people have said they skipped the poetry - hopefully no-one here will as it contains important links in the story, as well as being very well done in itself.

I read this a few months ago. It was fine? I was a bit disappointed since so many people love it. I just got bogged down in the letters and poems. I loved the modern literary mystery stuff though. I still gave it four stars, because I do see what people would like about it, it just didn’t do it for me in the same way.

I am currently reading this with another group. I found the language a bit dense, and it contains too many small details. Right now I am reading chapter 10 which has a correspondence as content. Till now I have guessed about the plot which concerns the past but about modern plot I still have no idea.

I would love to reread Possession but I am not sure I will find time for it this month. Will follow the discussion.

I alternated between kindle and Audible, but agree this was beautifully read. I had read it some years ago - loved it then and loved it now. I must admit I was more interested in the present day story than the Victorian one, so that is a difference with Judy's take, but I really enjoyed my re-read.

I think it's often the case that in these time-switch books, readers prefer either the past or present day story, but I genuinely loved them both in this book.

What does anyone think about Val? I'm about a third of the way through. When I read the book before, I think I mainly found her annoying, but, although that's still the case, I'm feeling more sympathy this time around. I get the impression Roland isn't sharing the housework or cooking, even though she is also working full time.

There are also similarities between the way her career has been overshadowed by Roland's and Ellen Ash becoming "helpmeet" rather than a poet herself.

That is a good point, Judy, as Val has something of Ellen about her. Both her and Roland are unhappy, but Roland - through inertia - doesn't seem able to do anything about it. It's like a lot of people, who end up in an unhappy relationship, or job they hate. They get so stuck, they can't seem to face change, even though it is usually possible.

I enjoyed this when I read a few years ago, but confess to being one who skimmed over the poems.

Susan wrote: "That is a good point, Judy, as Val has something of Ellen about her. Both her and Roland are unhappy, but Roland - through inertia - doesn't seem able to do anything about it. ..."

Yes, I think that's true, their relationship is all too real, compared to the apparently dream-like romance Roland is uncovering in the past.

I think I also find the stroppy and frustrated Val more real than Maud gliding around in her shimmering green outfits and pristine bathroom! I am slightly hoping for Maud to have something break in her house, or just for her to wear something that is not green. ;)

Just finished. Not a project to be undertaken lightly but much that is worth the effort. A monumental amount of work.

For me at least, the poetry had more worth as part of the plot than in itself. And I liked the references to mythological creatures about as much as I enjoy Tolkien and CS Lewis (hardly).

On the other hand, the accounts of the séances, the debates about literary criticism, the academic politics and all the English personal awkwardness made me laugh. And the characters were wonderful, other than perhaps the colourless Roland.

Not quite a masterpiece in my view. The pieces were better than the whole, but many of the pieces were a lot of fun.

Oh, I quite liked Roland. Like Judy, I felt a lot of sympathy for Val and was glad she found the right person, who appreciated her, by the end. Maud probably suited Roland better though.

The novel was packed with themes, but pulled them off. It must have been such a challenge to write and is definitely worth the effort.

I have finished the re-read, which I enjoyed - all the different themes and 'voices', the poetry and the romances, the analysis of textual criticism and the role of the metaphor, and the feminist take on biography ...

I also know just where I was during the time of the final show-down - asleep under the dining room table, while the tall sycamores outside our house danced and creaked and groaned.

I'm enjoying James Naughtie's interview with Byatt in an old BBC Bookclub episode. Among other things, she says she wrote the poetry as she went along in the book, just as she wrote the prose.

She also said she was perfectly happy for readers to skip the poetry. She's a "great skipper" when she reads, only going back to read the other bits if she absolutely loved the book.

I am using this group read as impetus to finish this book, which I started back in January! I find it difficult to read very much of it at one time. It is so densely written. I do love the writing style, though it seems overly elaborate in places. There are many beautiful passages where I find myself saying, "wow!" I am enjoying it very much overall.

Thank you for the link to the Book Club episode, Ben. I'll look forward to listening to it after finishing rereading the book. Very interesting to hear that she wrote the poetry as she went along.

Good to hear you are enjoying it, Joy. So far I've also been finding it quite a slow read - the sort of book where I want to read a bit, then stop and think about it.

I've been enjoying some of the poems a lot, especially the short Dickinson-style ones by Christabel and the one in the style of Robert Browning about Swammerdam. I didn't enjoy the section from The Fairy Melusine that I've just read quite as much, but maybe I wasn't in the mood for it. I also like some of the prose pastiches - I loved the memoir fragment by Cropper and would probably have read the whole book if it was real! With all these different voices, Byatt herself is a "Great Ventriloquist".

Cropper is a very funny character. Every novel needs at least one villain.

Thanks for the link to the Byatt interview, Ben. I enjoyed the passages about the Spiritualists. My great-grandfather was a Spiritualist and I have his copy of the Spiritualist book mentioned in Possession. I enjoyed it when I read it, although I don’t think I’ll reread it, I would reread Byatt’s The Children's Book though. I loved that novel.

I really must read the Children's Book, WndyJW. Definitely on my TBR list.

Susan wrote: "I really must read the Children's Book, WndyJW. Definitely on my TBR list."

Me too.

I loved the book and it’s good for book clubs, I think, because it’s set in the Victorian era through WW1 and includes social, political, and cultural movements of that era. It’s good historical fiction-well written with lots of historical information.

I really liked The Children's Book too - I thought I read it 3 or 4 years ago, and am slightly reeling after looking it up in My Books and discovering it was in 2011. This is always happening to me.

I often have that experience, Judy, and reeling is the right word!

I know, but that's somewhat impressive if you can still recall it fairly clearly, Judy :)

I read all of Byatt's novels between 2010 to 2012, and that does seem a fairly long time ago now (I didn't join GR until 2014 so I didn't review most of them). Since then I have read the remaining short story collections. If you liked Possession and the Children's Book and have plenty of free time, I strongly recommend the Frederica Quartet (The Virgin in the Garden, Still Life, Babel Tower and A Whistling Woman. One of these days I'll reread them and review them properly.

Susan, must admit I don't remember it in much detail, but that is often the case for me even with books I read a relatively short time ago, unless I've read them two or three times!

Hugh, I have read the quartet, also some years ago, and remember enjoying them too, though I again don't remember them in any detail. I've just noticed that Byatt has also written a novel called Ragnarök: The End of the Gods, first published in 2011, which I think should be interesting to read after seeing Ash's treatment of the Ragnarök legends. Has anyone read this one?

Judy wrote: "Susan, must admit I don't remember it in much detail, but that is often the case for me even with books I read a relatively short time ago, unless I've read them two or three times!

Hugh, I have ..."

Ragnarok was the last one that I read, and I don't remember much about it, except that I found it rather disappointing, but maybe my expectations were unrealistically high.

Which of her books of short stories would you recommend?

Ben wrote: "Which of her books of short stories would you recommend?"
The Little Black Book of Stories, particularly "A Stone Woman", or if you like Angela Carter's fairy tales The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories, though that does repeat at least one of the stories quoted in Possession (and it is a long time since I read either).

I have the Federica Quartet on my TBR list. Just too many books and not enough time, but I do want to read them. I've never really got on with Angela Carter and haven't been tempted to try again.

I've finished Possession now and must say I really enjoyed rereading it. I do feel a bit sorry for Sir George and Lady Bailey as I don't think they will get much of the money in the end - while of course it is their choice to go on living in the big house, Byatt shows how it would be a wrench to them to move. They are quite vivid characters!

Yes, Roland did seem to really care what happened to them, didn't he? I thought it was jarring that Maud questioned him when he kept on mentioning Lady Bailey, but he obviously did care about them. One of the reasons I really liked Roland.

I've enjoyed reading your comments, everyone, and very much enjoyed the book. I watched this interview as well with Byatt from 2010: She makes some interesting comments about feminist literary criticism and how she developed the idea for the novel.

A thought I had while I was reading: Was Ash the one who impregnated Bertha the maid? She may be despondent not only because she is carrying his child but also because had left. It would certainly show RHA in a different light.

Erich C wrote: "A thought I had while I was reading: Was Ash the one who impregnated Bertha the maid?..."

Thanks for your comments, Erich. This is something that puzzled me - I thought Ellen seems to hint at it as a possibility she has considered at least momentarily in her diary, saying something like that she was sure Ash would not touch any of their staff.

But then there is nothing more about it or about what happens to Bertha. It wouldn't go with everything else we see of Ash's character in the book.

I finished - it took me a long time to get through it but ended up enjoying it very much. I couldn't quite give it 5 stars because of all the poetry and other "works" that just seemed a bit too much for my taste (a little goes a long way).

Possession by A.S. Byatt - 4.5* - My Review

I thought she did an excellent job of using different writing styles to reflect the various authors of the included "works."

The characters are marvelous. The ending seemed like giving the reader a fine payoff for all the effort invested in reading it. I enjoyed the parallels between the 2 stories - one set in Victorian times and the other in 1986. Byatt’s writing is extraordinary. It is an impressive work.

I just finished this and without doubt it will be in my list of Best Reads of 2022 (if I do one). Another great read from this group's bookshelf, and another from outside my usual picks.

Splendid news Wayne

That's great to hear, Wayne. It's a brilliant book.

This is one of the best book i have read this year, a treat for poetry lovers. The ending made it a 5 stars from me. I loved everything about the book, the myths and legends and verses, the only thing which i don't like is reading personal correspondence , that was indispensable in this book.

Glad you enjoyed it, Nidhi. Totally agree, it is a wonderful novel.