Possession
British novelist, 1936–2023. Won the Booker Prize in 1990.
Possession is a 1990 novel by A.S. Byatt. It won the Booker Prize in 1990.
On 4 of the 20 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- A.S. Byatt
- First published
- 1990
- Length
- 624 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- Booker Prize winner, 1990
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Love story, Historical setting, Postmodern
Is Possession worth reading?
4 of the 20 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them the Booker Prize and The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| Booker Prize (winners and shortlists) (Booker Prize Foundation, 1990) | Winner | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 60 | See the list |
| The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture, 2015) | No. 49 | See the list |
Best edition of Possession
The edition we link to is the Vintage paperback (1991), 624 pages.
- Publisher
- Vintage (paperback, 1991)
- Pages
- 624
- ISBN
- 9780099800408
How critics, prizes and readers rate Possession
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 33% of the points available on prize lists, against 18% on critics' lists and 13% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work