Possession
Subtitle: a romance
By: A.S. Byatt.
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 2001
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 555
First sentence: The book was thick and black and covered with dust.
Description: from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christabel_LaMotte

Possession: A Romance is a 1990 bestselling novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. It is a winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

Part historical as well as contemporary fiction, the title Possession refers to issues of ownership and independence between lovers, the practice of collecting historically significant cultural artifacts, and to the possession that a biographer feels of their subject. The novel incorporates many different styles and devices: diaries, letters and poetry, in addition to third-person narration. Possession is as concerned with the present day as it is with the Victorian era, pointing out the differences between the two time periods satirizing such things as modern academia and mating rituals.

Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.