Play Audiobook Sample
Possession Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(4.10) - 20 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
Winner of England's Booker Prize and a literary sensation Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story. As a pair of young scholars research the lives of two Victorian poets, they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire -- from spiritualist sénces to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany. What emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passion and ideas.
Performed by Virginia LeishmanDownload and start listening now!
"Absolutely loved this book when it came out many years ago. This is one I'd love to read again. I highly recommend if you enjoy reading about writers and the art of writing, as well as stories set in multiple time periods. Beautifully written. "
— Karen (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“Gorgeously written…dazzling…a tour de force.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A genuine winner…original and unforgettable.”
— Time -
“[A] wonderfully two-tiered mystery of letters, the most craftily constructed conjuction of Victorian and modern styles since The French Lieutenant’s Woman…[Byatt’s] elaborate creations of poetry, correspondence, and journals in Victorian style are vivid…You will be transfixed.”
— People -
“An exhilarating, virtuosic exploration of the many ways language has of speaking…[Byatt] ingeniously juxtaposes the previous century with the hothouse world of the contemporary academy [and] puts all her linguistic and parodic skills on display…[a] tour de force.”
— New Republic -
“An altogether convincing literary romance…as lushly sensuous in detail as a pre-Raphaelite painting yet wonderfully entertaining.”
— Vogue -
“[A] gigantic treasure hunt of a literary novel.”
— Village Voice Literary Supplement -
“A triumphant success on every level.”
— Cosmopolitan -
“Brilliant…Virginia Leishman brings the dusty scholarly world to life in the voices of its singular characters and the myriad styles of its literary manuscripts.”
— AudioFile
Awards
-
A New York Times bestseller
-
Winner of the 1990 Man Booker Prize
-
Winner of the 1990 Irish Times/Aer Lingus International Fiction Prize
-
Winner of the 1991 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book: Europe and South Asia
-
One of Time Magazine's Best 100 English-Language Novels from 1923–2005
Possession Listener Reviews
-
" This was a wonderful book filled with mystery,romance and poetry all of which are seemlessly intertwined. Great characters with a story you are drawn into and can't wait to figure out how it all ends. "
— Isabel, 6/30/2011 -
" This book bored me to such a potent degree that it put me off AS Byatt for more than a decade. "
— Yllacaspia, 6/15/2011 -
" OMG. Had I not been determined to finish this book I would thrown it away! As it was, I gave my beach reading time for this. It may be high literature, but the story just drags. I doubt I will ever read anything by A. S. Byatt again. "
— Jennifer, 6/11/2011 -
" A little slow going in parts, but a really enjoyable book. The juxtaposition of the two love stories is an intriguing component. The movie's worth a look as well. "
— Erica, 6/9/2011 -
" One of my favorite romance novels and while reading you learn a lot about historical author Ash. I am amazed by the writing in this. "
— Ruth, 6/8/2011 -
" I've read this many times and am amazed each time at the narrative layering. Pure pleasure once again. "
— Candace, 6/4/2011 -
" This is one of the best books I have read. So so wonderful. This is the second book of A.S. Byatt I have read. She is a great storyteller. "
— Kathleen, 5/31/2011 -
" Do not see the movie before reading this; or if you are unfortunate enough to have seen the movie already, wipe it from your memory and do not let it spoil this beautiful book. "
— E_h, 5/27/2011 -
" This book is beautiful. The poetry is so well written. The interconnecting stories are so well told and the characters fully dimentional. This is a firm favourite. "
— Jenny, 5/27/2011
About A. S. Byatt
A. S. Byatt (1936–2023) was a distinguished critic and author of numerous works, including Possession: A Romance, which won the Booker Prize for Fiction, the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Her other works also garnered awards and acclaim, and she was granted numerous honorary degrees. She was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge; Bryn Mawr College; and Somerville College, Oxford. In 1999 she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
About Virginia Leishman
Virginia Leishman successfully revived The Railway Children and other titles by E. Nesbit. She parses phrases carefully for nuance, and flavors dialogue with personality and spontaneity, as exemplified in her rendition of A. S. Byatt’s Possession. She has earned three AudioFile Earphones Awards.