I reread Possession recently in part to see how it held up to the test of time, but mostly in the hope that I could escape into something complex and romantic. Possession is about the growing romance between two literary scholars as they delve into the mysterious relationship between two Victorian poets. Roland is a literary scholar who has trapped himself in an unsatisfactory job and relationship. While doing research on behalf of Professor Blackadder, he happens upon what he is sure are never before seen letters from the famous Victorian poet RH Ash to an unknown woman. Ash is not only the subject of widespread academic interest, but a wealthy American collector has also determined to acquire all his letters and paraphernalia. Roland absconds with the letters from the London Library, keeping them secret even from Blackadder. The consequence of Roland’s desire to possess the letters and discover their meaning creates chaos in Roland’s professional and personal life. Byatt must have enjoyed skewering academics by giving tired tropes new life. The desire to possess the poets’ legacy drove the all the academics in the novel to extremes. Roland’s research takes him to the woman’s studies department of a northern university where he meets Maud, who is an expert on the Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte. Unlike Ash, La Motte is not a considered part of the literary canon. Byatt gives her a feminine poetic style, reminiscent of Emily Dickenson, but with references to the fairy stories and folktales of Brittany. LaMotte lived with her friend Blanche and these scholars speculate that they had an exclusive, lesbian relationship. When LaMotte disappears briefly, Blanche kills herself and LaMotte spends the rest of her life a spinster. The novel details the love story of LaMotte and Ash letters the letters recovered through Maud and Roland’ s investigation and reanalysis of their poetry using the new information. Academics, collectors, and past lovers chase Maud and Roland as they try to discover what happened to LaMotte and Ash. Still, the novel’s heart is the tragic love story between LaMotte and Ash, but their legacy is about daring to love.