Book Review: Possession by A.S. Byatt

Possession by A.S. Byatt
Length: 555 Pages
Genres: Literary Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

"I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed."

Trigger Warnings in this book for Attempted Sexual Assault, Lesbophobia and Biphobia

(This review, like all of mine, contains spoilers!)

I honestly cannot tell you how long this book has been not only on my TBR, but in my own possession. What I can tell you was that I was afraid to start it. I worried I wouldn't be smart enough to understand, or enjoy it, when I had such high expectations. But I'm so proud that I finally tackled this monster (more in the style of the prose vs. the length!), and made it my second book, of 2021.

"Possession" is complicated. It is incredibly dense, sometimes meandering, certainly for a specific kind of person with specific kinds of interests. We follow a plethora of characters, with our main focus being Dr. Maud Bailey, a Feminist expert on Christabel LaMotte, and Roland Michell, a man adrift in the world of Academia, harboring an obsession with Randolph Henry Ash, another poet. And through letters we learn the story of the two mysterious poets, LaMotte and Ash, and of a secret and all-consuming affair between the two, which will change what was thought of them - forever.

I loved the medium this story was told in, with us following Maud and Roland in the present, and with letters, pages from books, poetry, diaries, etc., interspersed, giving us tantalizing glimpses of the past and the fascinating people at its center. A.S. Byatt's writing was incredible. I loved how descriptive she was, in a way that was somehow both floral and matter of fact, and the accuracy in which she wrote Victorian love-letters from two brilliant minds was such an enjoyment. There are so many threads and so many topics broached, from feminism (which gets a bad rap, but is probably just an unfortunate product of its time), to relationships between men and women, to Religion and bugs and sea-anemones, and more.

This book suffered from what I think most 400+ books do, a sagging in the middle, and I couldn't help but feel it could have been cut down about a hundred pages to make it more concise. I was expecting to give this book four stars, however several things knocked half a star off of it. Firstly, the character of Leonora Stern. I actually think Leonora could have been a really interesting character if it was not for the handling of her sexuality. She is a bisexual Professor from America, who has a close friendship with Dr. Bailey. While staying with her, she attempts to sexually assault Maud. It smacked of "bisexual/lesbian women are predators" and left a very bad taste in my mouth. Leonora is also described as having a "touch of Africa" about the lips, which was just another thing that left me cringing. Lastly, and continuing on with the previous theme, Christabel has a very close, some believe romantic, relationship with a woman she lived with. This woman does everything to keep her from being with Randolph, going so far as to rips up the letters he sends before she can read them, going to his wife with proof of their affair, and in the end, committing suicide. A.S. Byatt seemed to have a real bias against Sapphic women, portraying them predatory and unhinged and I really, really wasn't a fan.

If you can get past those aspects, there is really a gem of a story here, and an excellent choice for history and poetry lovers, for English majors, or for someone, who like me, wants a challenge.