Possession cover art

Possession

A Romance

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Possession

By: A. S. Byatt
Narrated by: Samuel West
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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 Literary Fiction Romance Fiction

What listeners say about Possession

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  • Overall
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The beauty of the prose and the poetry

This is not a book that is not able to be put down
It is a book that deserves to be put down and taken up and considered and appreciated
It is exquisitely written beautifully detailed and displays an unerring Voice for each character and each century
It is truly wonderful

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book

Great storyline. funny romantic. My new favorite book, I'm going to reread it again and again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A linguistic delight

Loved this! Excellent narration and a wonderful tale, part love story, part detective novel, brimming with linguistic exquisitness.



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    5 out of 5 stars
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Possessed of greatness

This is a truly marvellous performance of a work of intense depth and beauty - my very favourite 20th-century novel.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Baffling

Baffling because I closed it and sought to return within a few chapters. The language and the poetry... annoying. A while later I persevered, still disliked the oratory nature of the prose and found annoying the jumps from so varied points of view. It cannot be 'light listening', one must be immersed. Only then is it magnificent and pulls you under.

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1 person found this helpful

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My review of Possession.

A haunting novel, beautifully written. easy to see why it won the Booker Prize for 1990.

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Possession

I love this book. I read it 20 years ago and it is still as compelling. A fantastic book

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Simply Extraordinary

I listened to it twice through. A work of literary genius brilliantly read and communicated by Samuel West. I listened and re-listened while painting my house and it was one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life. I want more time off work to do more house painting so I can re listen again. This novel is so ambitious, and so expertly rendered you dont realize you are engaged in a work of fiction, It feels like participating in uncovering the most interesting, revolutionary, romantic, historical mystery. I'm awe struck.

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A magnificent achievement

An enthralling story from an unlikely subject suffused with amazing writing and scholarship. The reading by Samuel West is of the very highest quality, bringing it to life.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully written but dull

I struggled to get through this one. The writing was lovely but the story itself was a bit dull, so Ioften found my mind wandering when I was listening.

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