Possession cover art

Possession

A Romance

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About this listen

Winner of the Booker Prize 1990

Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once a literary detective novel and a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars investigating the lives of two Victorian poets.

Following a trail of letters, journals and poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time.

Cover illustration © Aitch.

©1991 A. S. Byatt (P)2019 Audible, Ltd Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Fiction Heartfelt
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A good read, but got repressive and long winded at the end. Most of all I loved the side stories, the poems and retold fairy tales, just for these is worth a read.

Mostly enjoyed it

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Don’t be put off by the few negative reviews - why do we always give them more weight than multiples of great ones?
I wasn’t sure if this audiobook was going to be for me, based on some of the reviews. I’m not particularly literary and worried “all the poetry” would be beyond me but I needn’t have worried. Samuel West’s narration is exceptional, carrying me away to mythical lands and back to tide pools in Yorkshire.
I’ve a hole in me now that the book has ended.

Genius writing complimented by marvellous narration

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I bought this first when it came out. I was 20 or so and found it very romantic. Nearly 30 years later I admire the intelligence and quality of the writing and plotting but my god what a dreadful bunch of characters. Hateful people do joylessly hateful things to each other! If it wasn’t for Sam West’s gorgeous and lively reading, I would have struggled. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a great book, just that ALevel English left its scars.

Read the poems

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So would I love the audio? Absolutely. Very well read by Samuel West. if you’re dithering as to whether or not to buy, I’d say go ahead, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Already love the printed book

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A very complex and satisfying book with a lot of layers thrillingly brought to life by the best narrator in the business!

Wow!

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