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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
No graphic violence; minor historical violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Sexual content in both Victorian and contemporary storylines; handled with restraint
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
Academic obsession and possession dynamics; the seductive pull of past lives and other people's stories
What this book is about
Roland Mitchell and Maud Bailey, two contemporary literary academics, uncover evidence of a previously unknown love affair between celebrated Victorian poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Their scholarly pursuit becomes a love story of their own, interwoven with the Victorian narrative in Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel. Both a romance and a meditation on possession—of the past, of other people, of literary legacies—told with extraordinary intelligence and feeling.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Some sexual content in both storylines
Academic obsession and possession dynamics
Reader Verification
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