by A.S. Byatt
After reading Possession by A.S. Byatt, I was looking forward to another masterpiece when I came across her lesser known novel, The Children's Book, while I was perusing the shelves of our local bookstore.
This was when I was still pregnant with my son. I knew I wouldn't have time to finish the 879 page behemoth of a book before the birth, but overtime I read it and finished it, now nine months later. Those nights of sneaking in chapters in the late hours of the night while the baby slept made me feel reminiscent of the childhood nights I would spend beneath my bed with a book after bedtime.
To say that I enjoyed the book would be an understatement. It was one of the best books I've read in a long while. Despite the length of time it took to finish it, I knew I had to get to the end of the book in order to know what happened to the characters. I had to know. From the gorgeous craftsmanship of Byatt's writing to the wonderfully human, and large cast of characters that burst from the novel, the characters are the book's most important asset.
Set in England during the end of the Victorian age to World War I, the story is really a myriad of stories of the characters whose lives all intertwine together like yarn in a knitting basket. From a children's author who was also the mother of a house hold of children, her sister who lived in the shadows of her author-sister and cared for the children, a boy who lived in the basement of a London Museum, and so many more characters that compel you further into the story, especially after you reach a specific point in the novel when the seemingly picturesque life of the characters comes crashing down. You'll have to find out for yourself on that.
Like Possession, Byatt makes the reader work as she writes richly and in detail of the politics of the time period, and various important and true incidents that happened in the world which her fictional characters are placed. Not only that, but she slips historical figures in to her novel, such as Oscar Wilde, Bernard Palissy, Winston Churchill, etc. These historical figures and events influenced and shaped the novel, such as the fight for the right of women's votes (the forced feedings of the prosecuted women), the death of Queen Victoria, and the growing tensions in Europe as World War came into the scene.
At times, these passages on the events surrounding the characters came when all I wanted was to get back to the characters, and sometimes, it seemed tedious. But Byatt is a genius and her knowledge on England's history (especially Victorian through the Edwardian eras) is incredibly extensive. Despite it being tedious to read through, you come out the other end understanding the time period far better when you first dove in. And the real magic of it all is that Byatt makes this time that has long been past real to the reader. It feels palpable; the corset dresses, the old English countryside, the angst felt by the women as they felt like they had to choose between marriage and thinking, etc. Never have I felt like I could picture this time period so clearly as I did while reading this book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Byatt, and likewise, to anyone who has never heard of her. I would suggest reading Possession first before trying The Children's Book, however. Possession is the perfect gateway novel into Byatt's work, while The Children's Book has a bit more weight to it. I also think that anyone who is fascinated by the historical events surrounding the Victorian and Edwardian eras in England and Europe should check out The Children's Book as well as Possession.
Lastly, if it means anything at all, I thoroughly enjoyed Byatt's Possession, it was also another favorite novel of mine. But after finishing The Children's Book, A.S. Byatt is now solidly one of my favorite authors to date. She is definitely in my top ten.
Comments