Scan barcode
thaurisil's review against another edition
5.0
Roland Michell, a scholar on the Victorian poet Randolph Henry Ash, discovers two unfinished love letters of Ash's to an unknown woman. Hiding this from his boss James Blackadder, he researches and believes that the woman may be Christabel LaMotte, and he seeks out icy Maud Bailey, a LaMotte researcher. Together, they visit Sir George, a descendent of LaMotte, and, inspired by a poem LaMotte wrote on dolls hiding secrets, Maud finds, under a dolls' bed, a stack of love letters between Ash and LaMotte. The letters end with a mysterious separation and return of the letters to Ash. Roland believes that LaMotte may have joined Ash on a journey to Yorkshire, and the two scholars, hiding from Roland's girlfriend Val, make their way to Yorkshire, where they find possible references in LaMotte's poetry to Yorkshire and similar lines in both of the poets' writing. Maud then gets a tip from her lesbian co-scholar Leonora Stern about a diary of LaMotte's cousin in Brittany. They head to Brittany where they read the diary and realise that LaMotte bore a child in Brittany, but it's a mystery whether the child survived. Meanwhile, Blackadder and Leonora are on the chase for the scholars, as is Mortimer Cropper, the main villain of the story, who wants all of Ash's memorabilia and is backed by American money. These three have a confrontation in Brittany. Back in London, Beatrice Nest, a scholar of Ash's wife Ellen Ash overhears Cropper saying that he wants to dig up Ash's grave to find a box that contains final letters. He digs up the letters, only to be hurled into a storm, and the rest of the characters, who had intended to catch him red-handed, ultimately rescue him. They find LaMotte's last unopened letter to Ash on his deathbed, explaining that the illegitimate child had been given to her sister, and is Maud's great-grandmother. The story ends with a postscript that reveals that Ash had earlier, while in search of LaMotte, found the child and kept a braid of her hair in his watch.
When I finished this, I felt like my heart was going to burst into a million pieces. I had to put it down, breathe deeply, and take a walk before I could recollect my emotions. The strange thing is, I was initially really bored by the novel. The letters and poetry bored me, yet as the letters and poetry lengthened, I was sucked in and captivated.
This novel is brilliant in a number of ways. Byatt adeptly takes on several tones and styles of writing – narrative, epistolary, lyrical, philosophical, conversational, flirtatious, fairytale – intersperses prose with poetry, and does all this in both Victorian and modern styles. This imitation of different styles is well done, to the point that Ash and LaMotte both have their own distinctive voices, different in their personal letters and in their poetry, and you know who is speaking the moment you start reading it.
I know some people have commented that there's too much poetry. I'm not a big poetry fan myself, but I loved the poetry in the book. It's contextual. You read the story, then you read the poetry, and you find elements in the poems that were influenced by the authors' lives, and the poems shed light on mysteries about their lives. This book teaches you to read poetry in the context of real life events, and gives a glimpse of what literary scholars do.
As the story progresses, there are clear parallels between the nineteenth century and the modern day. The relationship between Roland and Maud develops like that between Ash and LaMotte, slowly, passionately and clandestinely, behind the backs of Val/Ellen. Both couples take secret trips to Yorkshire, and discover the same scenery and shop. There's a lesbian lover, Blanche Glover for LaMotte and Leonora for Maud, though Glover is significantly more attached, eventually committing suicide out of jealousy and despair. Both Ellen and Val accept the couples, Ellen hearing it as a confession from Ash and immediately forgiving him for it as a past sin, whereas Val struggles with jealousy until she finally gets her own boyfriend. The main difference? Roland and Maud, unlike Ash and LaMotte, have a happy ending.
What are the genre and themes of the book? The cover says it's a romance, and it does cover all sorts of love – passionate, slow and steady, unrequited, sexual, platonic. But it's also a detective novel, and a sort of parody on scholarship, where the quest for information on the nineteenth century poets takes over the lives of the modern day scholars, and they take it so seriously that there are alliances and enemies formed, yet in the end everything pales in the face of what they crave most, information and knowledge. There is feminism, yet it's not a feminist book. There are discourses on spirituality and religion, from Christianity to atheism to cult fortune-telling.
Ultimately, it's a deeply satisfying novel. It's the sort of novel that starts off sort of aloofly, then draws you in slowly, until you're so hooked you can't let go, like the relationship between Roland and Maud.
When I finished this, I felt like my heart was going to burst into a million pieces. I had to put it down, breathe deeply, and take a walk before I could recollect my emotions. The strange thing is, I was initially really bored by the novel. The letters and poetry bored me, yet as the letters and poetry lengthened, I was sucked in and captivated.
This novel is brilliant in a number of ways. Byatt adeptly takes on several tones and styles of writing – narrative, epistolary, lyrical, philosophical, conversational, flirtatious, fairytale – intersperses prose with poetry, and does all this in both Victorian and modern styles. This imitation of different styles is well done, to the point that Ash and LaMotte both have their own distinctive voices, different in their personal letters and in their poetry, and you know who is speaking the moment you start reading it.
I know some people have commented that there's too much poetry. I'm not a big poetry fan myself, but I loved the poetry in the book. It's contextual. You read the story, then you read the poetry, and you find elements in the poems that were influenced by the authors' lives, and the poems shed light on mysteries about their lives. This book teaches you to read poetry in the context of real life events, and gives a glimpse of what literary scholars do.
As the story progresses, there are clear parallels between the nineteenth century and the modern day. The relationship between Roland and Maud develops like that between Ash and LaMotte, slowly, passionately and clandestinely, behind the backs of Val/Ellen. Both couples take secret trips to Yorkshire, and discover the same scenery and shop. There's a lesbian lover, Blanche Glover for LaMotte and Leonora for Maud, though Glover is significantly more attached, eventually committing suicide out of jealousy and despair. Both Ellen and Val accept the couples, Ellen hearing it as a confession from Ash and immediately forgiving him for it as a past sin, whereas Val struggles with jealousy until she finally gets her own boyfriend. The main difference? Roland and Maud, unlike Ash and LaMotte, have a happy ending.
What are the genre and themes of the book? The cover says it's a romance, and it does cover all sorts of love – passionate, slow and steady, unrequited, sexual, platonic. But it's also a detective novel, and a sort of parody on scholarship, where the quest for information on the nineteenth century poets takes over the lives of the modern day scholars, and they take it so seriously that there are alliances and enemies formed, yet in the end everything pales in the face of what they crave most, information and knowledge. There is feminism, yet it's not a feminist book. There are discourses on spirituality and religion, from Christianity to atheism to cult fortune-telling.
Ultimately, it's a deeply satisfying novel. It's the sort of novel that starts off sort of aloofly, then draws you in slowly, until you're so hooked you can't let go, like the relationship between Roland and Maud.
roulan's review against another edition
4.0
This novel exhibits pacing and language similar to a Victorian novel. I enjoyed it highly!
aleruuu's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kakesandtea's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
bharat_ravi's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this book for three main reasons: the idea, the language and for opening me up to a new domain of knowledge. AS Byatt is marvellous. I certainly feel that I have to revisit the book again; I know I have deliberately skipped some sections due to my impatience (or perhaps my ineptitude towards appreciating descriptive language). I am not sure when I'll get back but am certain that I would and the next read is likely to be a different experience altogether, for now I shall focus my attention on the language. I skipped a day's work to finish the book and now, having finished it, I feel quite lost (the surroundings feel so empty). A better methodology, for those whom it suits, would be to read slowly and enjoy each word.
I do try to avoid long verbose poems and I shamefully skipped some in this book (I'll try my best to savour them in my second reading). However, there were some small ones that I felt really moving. These are a couple of them:
"Men may be martyred anywhere,
in desert, cathedral or public square.
In no rush of action, this is our doom,
to drag a long life, in a dark room
-Christabel LaMotte"
"But we, by a love so much refined,
that ourselves know not what it is,
inter-assured of the mind,
care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.
-Christabel LaMotte"
I do try to avoid long verbose poems and I shamefully skipped some in this book (I'll try my best to savour them in my second reading). However, there were some small ones that I felt really moving. These are a couple of them:
"Men may be martyred anywhere,
in desert, cathedral or public square.
In no rush of action, this is our doom,
to drag a long life, in a dark room
-Christabel LaMotte"
"But we, by a love so much refined,
that ourselves know not what it is,
inter-assured of the mind,
care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.
-Christabel LaMotte"
rapini's review against another edition
I read about a third to a half. I didn't like these characters.
dreamsoffolly's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
jkpanda's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0