A S Byatt is 
a seriously good, and by that I also mean literary, writer. But of all her books, none has quite caught my imagination as this one.
I first read Possession on a road-trip around New Zealand’s gob-smackingly lovely South Island and found it hard to tear myself away from the book. The two experiences are happily entwined in my mind, making it one of my best holidays ever. Ignoring the scenery, Possession has such a lot going for it:
- hidden letters revealing a secret love affair between two Victorian poets;
- two academics discovering a connection from across the Atlantic over said poets;
- a narrative that see-saws between past and present as events from the past are slowly revealed and which keeps you reading;
- characters you really connect with;
- superb writing;
- a story of such emotional pull you can read this book again and again.
I guess it might be time to reread this one.
Judith McKinnon 