Possession by A.S Byatt

[m_oonmoon]

Possession is an interesting mix of romance, poetry and detective story. Two scholars, Roland and Maud, are thrown into a hunt to uncover the lost history between two Victorian poets. The situation gets more complicated as they try to keep their discovery a secret while also grappling with their own complicated feelings. As the title suggests, much of the novel is tries to grapple with the idea of possession:

• Possession in romantic love/the fear of being owned (The desire to be their own independent person, uninfluenced by a man in a severely patriarchal society manifests as an aversion or wariness to men, even as one desires their company. Feeling tiny in the presence of someone you love who is nonetheless so much bigger and influential than you, being entirely too conscious of the class disparity and feeling inadequate to 'possess'.)
• The desire to own everything or feel entitled to own something of the historical figure that you have spent years analyzing and studying
• Ownership of letters, which will determine how the historical knowledge within those letters will be distributed 
• Feeling possessive of someone who is supposed to share the same worldview as you 

While it can be read as a traditional romance, so much of it is also about how one thinks about the concept of love itself. Is it necessary to forego it in the interest of maintaining your selfhood? Does love necessarily mean giving up part of yourself? I think this is the heart of the Byatt's Possession. Most interestingly, she does not limit herself to romantic love. The novel is filled with characters who have a singular purpose, a lifetime's worth of dedication to a Victorian poet. This love for the poet, be it Henry Ash or Christabel LaMotte, has led them to analyze and investigate everything about them but leaves little room for looking into themselves. Who are they without the poets they so fastidiously study? 

I was quite surprised by the direction the novel took towards the end. Byatt ties up everything neatly, which I really did not expect. I thought she would leave some parts vague, if only to say "We will never know for sure" as most of historical inquiries probably go. Nevertheless, I did really enjoy it and there is a lot of satisfaction from a neatly concluded story.

I highly recommend this book. I don't think I've read anything quite like it. I will say though, if you dislike poetry then probably skip this one. I'm not much one for poetry myself and I admit the poetry bits were hard to get through. However, it did make me want to look into how to properly read poetry. It's jut a skill that I've never learned.