Possession - the Movie

From Topic 136 today: Response 305 of 309: aishling (aishling) * Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (05:13) * 1 lines Four days off-line and look what happens. Well done Karen on update of cast for Possession. Bought the book at the weekend and have not put it down. So many parts to cast. Last night's BBC News (East Midlands) reported that three days of filming had begun in Lincoln. Showed GP and AE (dark, longish hair) filming at Lincoln railway station. Today's shoot is in the University and Friday in a local pub for the 'pub brawl'.

From the column in today's Hollywood Reporter: So will we see LaBute directing the next "Die Hard" sequel? "You're safely able to write that you won't see that," he laughed. "That's the beauty of what we do. Even though it continues to be the same kind of work, you get to clean the slate. Right now I'm (in England) soaking up Victorian literature and at some point I'll be able to clean that (slate) and start off on something else. You get to take a taste of many things in the course of a career." When we spoke, LaBute was calling from London where he was about to start production on the romantic drama "Possession," starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart. "It takes place in the late 1850s and the present day," he said. "It's the story of two academics who uncover a Victorian love story that no one knew existed. We're shooting all over the London area and up in Yorkshire. It's a co-production between USA Films and Warner Bros." The film, produced by Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson and executive produced by Stephen Pevner, is based on the novel "Possession: A Romance" by A.S. Byatt.

(Aishling) AE (dark, longish hair) good, v.good. Did he look mole-like? ;-)

What worries me is why Neil LaBute after having worked with Colin did not see fit to offer him a role in P. Even the lawyer that ends up with Roland s girlfriend would do! Did he not think much of Colin? Aishling, keep us posted, thanks! So who will play Blanche and Leonora, any news?

When did Neil LaBute work with Colin? BTW, I'm thinking now that Trevor Eve will play Fergus Wolff (he is described as being older than Maud) and Toby Stephens will play Euan, the yuppie lawyer guy (with red Porsche) that Val goes to work for.

(Karen) The film, produced by Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson and executive produced by Stephen Pevner Is Paula related to Harvey?

Have no idea. Can't ever remember seeing that mentioned. (btw, there is an article in the Times today about Simon Russell Beale--Ev's all-time fav actor--and how some director think's he is the definitive Hamlet) ;-) And Moon, I like your suggestion about Camryn Mannheim being Leonora, but don't you think Leonora should be older?

The first of three articles from This Is Lincolnshire: Hollywood to Brayford (18 August 2000) As revealed on This Is Lincolnshire yesterday, Oscar-winning Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow will be in Lincoln this month to shoot scenes for her latest blockbuster movie. Here, Jacquie Pryce looks at the city location, the plot, and the star's career so far... Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, who scooped the Academy Award for Best Actress last year for her role in Shakespeare in Love, will spend five days in Lincoln filming Possession, an adaptation of the 1990 romantic novel by A. S. Byatt. The city campus of the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside has been chosen as one of the key locations for shooting the modern-day scenes. University spokesman Jez Ashberry said staff were delighted that the campus would be used for filming. "A lot of the book is set in the university of Lincoln - which didn't exist when Byatt wrote it!" he said. "But when the production company came to look for an location they found out that there was actually a University of Lincoln now. "They came to look round last month and decided it was just the right kind of modern building, with views of the castle and the cathedral." Staff at the university heard that the campus was to be used as a location after a recent visit by production company London-based Possession Films. Location manager Sue Quinn said the company had been delighted to learn that it could fulfil its shooting requirements in the city. "The modern university is actually mentioned in the book as Lincoln - so we are trying to keep as true to the book as possible," she said. "Lincoln is the first location we are going to for the beginning of our shooting and we are looking forward to the visit." "We are really pleased that we can film at the university and get shots of the cathedral because that will make it clear where we are." The 140-strong film crew will be on campus from Wednesday, August 23, until Monday, September 4. Filming is expected to take place from Tuesday, August 29, until Saturday, September 2. University press officer Sam Hendley said tonnes of production equipment would start arriving at the campus next week to make sure the university provides the perfect backdrop. "Setting up the cameras and masses of other equipment, including Miss Paltrow's 55-foot trailer, will take six days," she said. "Locations for filming the scenes which will feature Miss Paltrow include the third floor of our Learning Resource Centre, the atrium in the main academic building and the two lifts." Despite the news, university staff stress that Paltrow fans and autograph hunters are likely to be disappointed. The production company will probably use a closed set, giving no opportunities for a sighting of the Oscar-winning star. Mr Ashberry said the timing of the visit would disrupt the working of the university as little as possible. "There are no students here at the moment so there should not be too much distraction, although obviously there are a lot staff still here preparing for the next semester," he said. "Our security people will have to work very hard to make sure the filming is not disturbed. "This is a very exciting time and it is great publicity for the university but we have to stress that people will not just be able to walk on to the set." This may not be the only location, however, for fans to catch a glimpse of the star. The White Hart Hotel, in Eastgate, has been approached by the production company for rooms. "We were contacted by the Possession film company and they expressed an interest in accommodation," hotel manager Tim Hooton said. "It would be fair to say that we have not been told any names of who will be staying here. But they asked for our most significant and quality bedrooms for a five-night stay in September. "We do have a history of stars staying here." On Page 430 of the book, the main characters go to the bar in the White Hart on their first outing as a couple. The plot of Possession, set partly in the present and partly in Victorian England, tells the story of two modern-day academics who discover a secret romantic link connecting the poets they are studying. Rumours suggest that Paltrow has been offered $5 million to star in the film, in which she will play literary scholar Maud Bailey. She is said to be "delighted" at the role. A number of top Hollywood names are in negotiation for the other main roles in the film, but no official signings have yet been announced. In the director's chair will be Neil LaBute, who has previously directed the controversial films In The Company Of Men and Your Friends And Neighbors. He also directed the forthcoming release Nurse Betty, which recently caused a stir at Cannes. The film of Possession is expected to be released in America by Warner Brothers in the autumn of 2001.

When did Neil LaBute work with Colin? In my dreams of course, just pulling a butterball. ;-) (Karen), And Moon, I like your suggestion about Camryn Mannheim being Leonora, but don't you think Leonora should be older? She looks old to me and she will certainly look old next to Gwynnie. Toby Stephens will play Euan, This works for me. Who will play Val? I always felt that Roland and Ash should have some physical similarities as well as Val and Blanche and Maud and Cristabel. I guess that is not going to happen. Simon Russell Beale--Ev's all-time fav actor-- I do not remember what he looks like. Refresh my memory, please.

I still like Kathy Bates as Leonora. Tara Fitzgerald as Val. can picture her.

I think (it just hit me) that Robson Green would've been a good Roland.

(Moon) I always felt that Roland and Ash should have some physical similarities as well as Val and Blanche and Maud and Cristabel. For R&A and M&C, there will be the important similarity, although I've never bought off entirely on the third leg of the triangle (Blanche, Val, Ellen and Leonora).

Laura, I hope you were joking about RG!!!

That goes for me too Laura. (Karen), For R&A and M&C, there will be the important similarity, I am all ears and eyes. Please continue.

(Karen)Simon Russell Beale--Ev's all-time fav actor-- (Moon)I do not remember what he looks like. Refresh my memory, please. Pl. don't bother.He's not handsome at all....and he can't act.I don't care how many Oliviers he wins!!I saw him in Summerfolk last November...all he did was rant around the stage shouting "Vanya, Vanya[JE]". ~~~~~~~ Have just really started P. but can picture Toby Stephens and Tara F. as Euan and Val.Can't picture Trevor Eve.But which Hollywood star will play Mortimer Cropper? ~~~~~~~ Thanks Aishling for all the updates on filming. Isn't this in your neck of the woods???

PLEASE, no *In Defense* of Robson Green here. We all know he can't act and there isn't one iota of physical similarity between him and the character of Roland. I saw on another board that someone had initially thought of Ben Chaplin for the role. That would've worked for me. Re: other characters' physical similarities When more people have finished book. I hate to ruin anything as it relates to the plot. Please note this, Laura.

(Ann) I hope you were joking about RG!!! Ann, you don't have to worry on 2 counts. First, the character of Roland would never appear with Christabel (JE) because he's present day and she's Victorian. Second, this is a major film production and RG is a British Television actor and I use that term loosely. ;-D

(Evelyn) Can't picture Trevor Eve Try this: Through my searching, have found out that he played Andrew, the ex-husband in the Taster's Choice commercials (and is married to Sharon Maughan IRL) and this is his second Byatt production. Was also lead in the Politician's Wife.

I knew that TE was in Taster's Choice commercials. Oh, I'll take note. RG was joke. TF would be good.

(Karen) and is married to Sharon Maughan IRL (Trevor Eve) Hmmm, didn't know that. I saw him at the Donmar sitting with Jane Leeves from Frasier. He looked good in a fisherman's knit sweater. *sigh* That might have been the night of the cast party, because HBC was there, as was Ciaran Hinds.

Karen, I have ordered "P" from the library (very small library here) but I was wondering if you would just give me a clue as to how big a role Christabel is, without giving anything away). I realise Maud and Roland are the main stars but how much of the book does Christabel and Ash appear in.(sorry about the grammar but you know what I mean) I am very intrigued with the romance between Ash & Christabel, do they appear for half of the book for instance?

(Karen)Re: Trevor Eve....he played Andrew, the ex-husband in the Taster's Choice commercials (and is married to Sharon Maughan IRL) I lead a shltered life....don't know who Sharon Maughan is...and didn't realize people actually knew the actors in commercials. TE is v. handsome;Wolf Fergus, you say, uh? [Though Tom Conti and Jennifer did a series for Vauxhall cars...] Thanks for the sleuthing, Karen. You know, I like to think they contacted Colin for Ash, but he already had made a commitment to SB for "Armadillo"...and being the loyal friend that he is, he couldn't back out... upcomingfilms.com says Anne Massey is also in the cast. Wonder what house they will use for Seal Court...and if they'll film in Richmond, Surrey for Christabel's home. Can feel an expedition on "Possession" locations is in my future:-)

(Ann) I am very intrigued with the romance between Ash & Christabel, do they appear for half of the book for instance? It's hard to gauge. Ash and Christabel and NOT small parts. The book goes back and forth between present day and the past, but it's not equal (50-50). Also, the past sections will only have short bits with C&A; they are actually apart for most. You will like that there's an important part with Jennifer alone that would be set in Brittany.

(Moon) Simon Russell Beale--Ev's all-time fav actor-- I do not remember what he looks like. Refresh my memory, please. You asked for it... Here is Simon as Hamlet. By the way, I posted this a while back on 132, but you were out and about at the time... Here is David Leveaux.

Wow!! The resemblance to the prince of Denmark is amazing. Did he go to continuing adult ed at night?

Tee hee, can you imagine sitting through 3 hours of him?

Am sure he is finest living actor, at least that's what I keep reading in the newspapers. Has he done any Accuvue commercials?

(Karen) Has he done any Accuvue commercials? He's being considered for Beano.

Didn't he play Napoleon in Blackadder B&F? Am counting the words to see who had more, CF or SRB. Definitely more pics of CF in book than SRB.

Donna! Thank you so much for DL. I have put this pix in memory. Now where I can meet him? ;-))

From The Hollywood Reporter today: Northam, Ehle in 'Possession' of LaBute film (Thurs., Aug. 31, 2000) By Cathy Dunkley Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle have joined Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart in USA Films/Warner Bros.' co-production "Possession" for director Neil LaBute. The project is slated to begin shooting this week in London. "Possession" is an adaptation of A.S. Byatt's 1990 novel of the same name about a pair of literary sleuths who unearth the amorous secret of two Victorian poets only to find themselves falling under a passionate spell. USA Films is slated to release "Possession" domestically, with Warner Bros.Pictures handling international rights. LaBute revised Laura Jones' screen adaptation of "Possession," which has Paltrow as an English academic researching the life of poet Christabel LaMotte (Ehle). Eckhart plays an upstart American scholar in London on a fellowship to study Randolph Henry Ash (Northam). Toby Stephens also joins a cast rounded out by Anna Massey, Graham Cowden, Trevor Eve, Tom Hollander and Tom Hickey. Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson are producing with David Barron executive producing. Northam's most recent credits include "The Golden Bowl," "Happy, Texas," "An Ideal Husband" and "The Winslow Boy." Repped by ICM, Northam will next be seen with Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet in Intermedia's "Enigma." Ehle, who recently won a Tony Award for her performance in "The Real Thing," stars on screen in Istvan Szabo's "Sunshine" for Paramount Classics. The actress, repped by WMA and London agent Sally Long Innes, also starred in the 1995 miniseries "Pride and Prejudice" and last year's indie feature "This Year's Love." Stephens, repped by ICM, most recently was featured in "Space Cowboys," "Onegin" and "Cousin Bette." *************** All sorts of NEW information: -Roland is now an American -Others in supporting cast: Graham Cowden, Tom Hollander and Tom Hickey

If Roland is an Am. there will not be such a contrast between him and Mortimer C. This is a bad move, IMO. Roland had to be British. There are supposed to be only two Americans, this stinks of Hollywood. Nice to see JNs next project already lined up. ;-)

(Moon) Nice to see JNs next project already lined up. ;-) You mean Enigma? That's in the can already. there will not be such a contrast between him and Mortimer C Sure there will. They are very different character types. As Aishling reported, AE looked kind of grungy. MC is a fastidious pseudo-Anglophile.

.... The actress, repped by WMA and London agent Sally Long Innes, WMA must be her US agent...[since when?].London agent is ICM.WMA must be Wm Morris Agency.Hmmmm..... Tom Hollander again? The guy is in everything...Who will he be...James Blackadder?[I always enjoy this "useless"casting that we do...It was great fun in BJD.]

Am clueless as to Tom Hollander's role. Maybe he's Euan? Ack! When are all the other women's parts to be announced? I mean, this is Byatt! The women are more important. There are even parts for French actresses in this. Have to go look up those other guys. Could be that Blackadder and Cropper will be played by those. Here are two more items from the local Lincolnshire press: Work with star appeal (8/22/00) by Jacquie Pryce Eighty aspiring actors have a one-off chance to star alongside top Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Extras are needed for the Oscar-winning actress's new film and the people of Lincolnshire have been invited to come forward. As reported on This Is Lincolnshire last week, Miss Paltrow will be in Lincoln for five days at the end of this month to film scenes for her new movie Possession. The Lincoln scenes are set on the Brayford campus of the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside--and the film company is looking for extras to play students and lecturers. University spokesman Jez Ashberry said it was a chance to work right alongside the Oscar-winning star. "They are looking for 70 people to play students and 10 people of either sex to be lecturers and they will actually be on set with Gwyneth in her scenes," he said. "The scenes will be mostly on campus and one scene is in the pub." Extras are needed for Wednesday, August 30, Thursday, August 31, and Friday, September 1, and will be paid �50 a day. [...] Aaron Eckhart to join Gwyneth Paltrow in blockbuster (8/24/00) by Jacquie Pryce The name of the actor who will star opposite Gwyneth Paltrow when she shoots her new film in Lincoln has been announced. Aaron Eckhart, who starred opposite Julia Roberts in her latest blockbuster Erin Brockovich, will be the other name to shoot scenes at the Lincoln campus of the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside. As reported on This Is Lincolnshire, a 140-strong film crew will arrive in Lincoln on Tuesday to film scenes for an adaptation of A. S. Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel Possession. The Lincoln scenes, which will involve a crowd of local extras, should take five days to complete. Eckhart will play Roland Mitchell, an academic researching the life and work of a Victorian poet. Miss Paltrow will play Lincoln-based academic Maud Bailey and the two discover a romantic link between their Victorian poets which is soon mirrored in the modern-day. Possession will be the fourth film Aaron Eckhart has made with director Neil LaBute--he has already appeared in In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors and Nurse Betty. Possession Films Limited, who are producing the film for Warner Brothers, should announce the casting for the Victorian characters in the next week.

(Karen) Did he look mole-like? ;-) We only saw AE for a split second as GP was standing directly in front of him. I thought his hair might be longish because, in that brief moment, it looked as though it was tied back. But....... (Evelyn) Isn't this in your neck of the woods??? Well - it's a couple of counties away but a little nearer to me than you. I would consider visiting for other cast members. I can pick up their local tv station though so will keep watching.

Picture of GP filming:

My question is, "Where's her headscarf?" :-(

(Moon),there will not be such a contrast between him and Mortimer C (Karen), Sure there will. They are very different character types. As Aishling reported, AE looked kind of grungy. MC is a fastidious pseudo-Anglophile. I did not mean physically, that is v. obvious. Roland needs to be British and poor and confused. Here comes this American exchange PA with his American sensibilities. It does not work!

Roland needs to be British and poor and confused. Here comes this American exchange PA with his American sensibilities. Am only half-way through the book, but American PA's don't all have to be rich and loud-mouth blow-hards. Possession will be the fourth film Aaron Eckhart has made with director Neil LaBute Lucky Aaron. Looks like NLB is out to make AE a super-star. That's what ODB needs.. a director who has enough faith in him to give him a starring role even though he doesn't have star-wattage. Cute pic of Gwynnie.She looks like Maud to me.The great thing about reading the book now is that I have no pre-conceived ideas of the characters...I picture them as the cast is announced!

(Moon) I did not mean physically, that is v. obvious. Neither did I. There will be a huge difference in their characters; in fact, are quite the opposites. Face it, hon, a wimp is a wimp is a wimp. ;-) My only concern would be that Roland is very much in awe of Maud because of that *class* thing. He is content to be in her shadow. She's the academic with the credentials and he's a doormat. If they totally ignore that class thing, it won't suffer all that much IMO. Info from the IMDB; one of these guys has to be Blackadder. Graham Crowden was born in 1922 in Scotland. Was most recently an Elderly Elf in TV's the 10th Kingdom, but has been in lots of TV and films, especially "Waiting for God" on TV: Tom Hickey is another older actor (no date or place of birth given, although he's in a lot of Irish parts), with his credits listed back to the 1960s. Was in Butcher Boy, An Awfully Big Adventure, and Circle of Friends. Lot of priest roles...hmmm Picture of Tom Hickey in Royal Court production of "On Raftery's Hill":

(Evelyn) Cute pic of Gwynnie. She looks like Maud to me. That's why you didn't hear any squawking from me when it was announced. ;-)

Possession: No spoiler, just a first description of Maud. Gwynnie all the way to me...hope she keeps the wrapped scarf! "She was dressed with unusual coherence for an academic, Roland thought, rejecting several other ways of describing her green and white length, a long pine green tunic over a pine green skirt, a white silk shirt inside the tunic, and long softly white stockings inside long shining green shoes. Through the stockings, veiled flesh diffused a pink gold, almost. He could not see her hair, which was wound tightly into a turban of peacock-feathered painted silk, low on her brow. Her brows and lashes were blonde. He observed so much. She had a clean milky skin, unpainted lips, clear-cut features, largely composed. She did not smile." Karen, do you think Toby Stephens will be Wolff, instead of Trevor Eve? Eve seems a bit long in the tooth for Tobias.

Murph, I think I posted a few back that I changed my mind and that Trevor Eve might be Fergus Wolff and Toby Shephens would be Euan....but maybe Tom Hollander is...or TH could be Euan's friend (need to put that Butterball book firmly down and pick up Possession again). Ack! Why don't they give the characters' names in those press releases.

How come TS and JN. have done so many films recently, when Colin has done only one and that is RZ's film. I really don't understand it, what is his Agent doing, he is every bit as good as TS & JN. It is so hard being a CF fan, because even when he does finish something we have to wait and wait to see it. Even his brother's latest TV drama has been highlighted in this week's Heat magazine (A Likeness in Stone for the BBC) and is scheduled for mid-September. Needless to say no mention of DQ.

"Ehle to join Paltrow in Possesion" reports Teletext today, it is certainly getting a lot of early publicity.

Also on Ceefax (BBC)

Let's see, where did I leave off... City pub's brush with Hollywood (8/2900) Film fever has swept the city ever since it was announced that Gwyneth Paltrow would arrive in Lincoln today to begin shooting scenes for her new romantic film, Possession. But it's not all fun on the film set. Jacquie Pryce and Wendy Inkster talk to a man with Hollywood experience who missed this chance and staff who find a brush with fame not all it's cracked up to be... Hollywood arrives in Lincoln today--but for one business it's a brush with fame they could do without. Staff at the Hogshead pub, at Brayford Marina, were horrified to hear that the descending crew arriving in town to film Possession, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, were thinking of changing the colour of their pub for the shoot. Manager Rebecca Linney said the rumour was that the white exterior had been judged "too bright" for the view from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside's learning and resource centre, where scenes with Gwyneth will be filmed. "We heard that they wanted to paint the outside of the pub but no-one from the production company has approached us," she said. "Our brewers, Whitbread, also knows nothing about it. Perhaps they think they are too important to have to get permission. "It would cost a fortune to repaint it all and then put it back again. But we don't care how much money they've got, it still wouldn't be enough for us to repaint the pub." The 140-strong film crew arrives in Lincoln today for five days of filming at the university's Lincoln campus. University spokesman Jez Ashberry said he had also heard of the painting plans. "The crew came out for a site visit a few months ago and were looking around all the locations for filming," he said. "Shortly after, we heard that they wanted to paint the Hogshead because it was too white and was quite noticeable in the view from the learning and resource centre." Miss Linney said the production team might arrive to a bit of a shock. "The funny thing is that we actually closed on Sunday for two and half weeks of refurbishment," she said. "We will be keeping the outside walls white but we will be having some minor structural work done right in the middle of their film set! "I must admit I'm tempted to paint the pub bright pink myself and see what they say about that! "But I hope they don't all turn up with their paint brushes because they'll find it all shut up." However, what could have been a decorating disaster might be all white on the night. Possession Films Limited location manager Sue Quinn said the pub would stay white after all. "Our production team has visited the site and it may have been discussed," she said. "But the pub is fine--we will not be painting it." The scenes that will feature Miss Paltrow include a pub scene, although it has not yet been announced if the nearby Adam and Eve pub in Lindum Road will be used or a special set built. Eighty local people have been hired as extras for this scene and others in the university during the week. The star now arriving...(8/30/00) by Emma Snedden Hollywood fever hit Lincoln yesterday as Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow began shooting her new movie in the city. Crowds gathered at Lincoln Central railway station hoping to catch a glimpse of the superstar as she began the first of five days filming. Miss Paltrow is staring alongside Aaron Eckhart in the latest Neil LaBute movie, Possession. Central Trains spokesman Garard Burgess said: "We have a lot of stations from different periods in history and it's great that Lincoln had the right look for this film. "Often when a landmark 'star' is in a film, it can be great news for tourism in that city and so I hope Lincoln will benefit even further from this. "Plus, it's exciting for the city to have such a big name pay a visit." Superstar on campus (8/31/00 by Echo Reporter The University of Lincolnshire and Humberside was buzzing with excitement yesterday as Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow began shooting her new movie on campus. Miss Paltrow and her 140-strong crew arrived in Lincoln on Tuesday and began work by filming several scenes at the city's Central Station. The team has now set up shop at ULH for three days to continue filming Possession. The university and the station make up a total of 43 locations in the country to be featured in the film. Although tight security stops members of the public catching a glimpse of the Oscar-winning star, ULH press officer Sam Hendley said everyone on campus was keeping their eyes peeled for a chance sighting. She said: "If you sit in the canteen you can just about make out what is going on the ground. "Everyone is really excited and it seems as if the cast and crew are all really busy. "We have been looking forward to them coming since we found out about the filming and its really interesting to watch everyone at work." Sam said watching the crew at work made you realise exactly how much effort goes into making a film of such calibre. "We watched them film one scene over and over again and it took the best part of an hour before they moved on, she added. "It must get so tedious for everyone involved, particularly the extras who looked as if they were starting to flag a bit by the end of the day. "I never realised how hard everyone worked on a film set, and Gwyneth still looks as lovely as she does on film." Along with the cast and crew are hordes of trailers parked around the campus containing everything the team need to get through the week. "You can see Gwyneth popping in and out of vans getting her make up done and having dinner," she added. "It is staggering how much equipment is needed to produce a film." In addition to the lead actors, 80 men and women from Lincolnshire have been invited to star as extras in the film. Among them is ULH marketing manager Jez Ashberry, who plays a college tutor. "I have had a wonderful day," he said. "It's really exciting, if a little tiring. I haven't met Gwyneth or Aaron yet. "It is a bit difficult to speak to them, but it would be great if we did get a chance at some point. I'm glad I took part. It's been really good." The film is due to be released in America in October next year and is expected to arrive in England in January 2002.

(Moon), Roland needs to be British and poor and confused. Here comes this American exchange PA with his American sensibilities. (Evelyn), Am only half-way through the book, but American PA's don't all have to be rich and loud-mouth blow-hards. I will add that to my list of American sensibilities. ;-) In my experience, there has always been a great difference between American professors and British ones. I do not see Roland as an American and what Karen stated about their class difference is important as well. (Karen), Face it, hon, a wimp is a wimp is a wimp. ;-) Hey, but he gets the girl in the end. :-) Plus three job offers. Graham Crowden would make a good Sir Bailey. Tom Hickey should be Prof. Blackadder. Those would work for me. Thanks for all the news, Karen.

(Moon) Graham Crowden would make a good Sir Bailey. Tom Hickey should be Prof. Blackadder. Good casting. I concur. :-) (tut tut--spoilers) Today's report from the university's marketing officer, who was an extra: (am leaving out the bits about how they kept looking out the window) Extra special day (9/1/00) We were all put into position. Some extras had to pretend to be reading books, some were wandering around the library shelves. I was sat down pretending to read a book and take some notes. We had all the props, like books and pens, all around us and we ran through it a few times with Gwyneth stand-ins to make sure the light and everything was right. Then the stars came up--Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart--and we started filming about 9.30am. Gwyneth was wearing a long cream coat with a skirt and boots and carrying a bag. She also did a few strange facial exercises with her voice coach before we started and she was doing quite a good English accent. I managed to keep looking at her until right before the camera was on me and I was trying my hardest to make sure I was in the background of the shot. I have to say that she fluffed her lines twice and Aaron Eckhart kept walking in the wrong direction, which gave us all a good laugh. We did the same scene, with her walking down the library, about 15 times. But it wasn't boring because each take was a bit different. We didn't finish filming it until 11.30am and then we just waited around to be called for the next library scene. I thought there would be hundreds of screaming fans trying to get on the campus, but there have only been a few people hanging around. Gwyneth seemed really nice. There was one scene in the main building where she had to walk down a staircase above the canteen. There were loads of people in there eating and the crew had to keep asking us to stop eating for a moment because it was making too much noise. But they did the scene so many times that Gwyneth eventually turned round and mouthed "I'm sorry!" at us. I thought that was really nice of her. And she's under so much scrutiny here all the time. Let's face it, with all us lot on set, nothing is going to get past us!

Oh Karen...thanks for the "you are there" reports...I can't wait for the canteen scene in the movie....Like the churling scene in MLSF...Remember how your contact told us about it? When I saw the film, I looked for him... The film is due to be released in America in October next year and is expected to arrive in England in January 2002. Can't decide whether this is good or not. UK reviewers usually like Gwynnie and Jennifer...I'm afraid our reviewers will find the story "schmaltzy" unless it's v. well done.On the other hand Byatt is a UK author and most UK reviewers will probably have read her book and comment on the differences and won't like it. Our reviewers don't read books.... Ohgawd....I'm getting like Bethan!! Moon) Graham Crowden would make a good Sir Bailey. Tom Hickey should be Prof. Blackadder. (Karen) ...I concur Ditto. Toby Stephens has to be Euan...he has the panache.

San Jose State University has a site for Possession, in which they've created Annotations for the novel. You might want to check it out. Basically gives you dictionary type explanations for many of the historical, mythological and literary references, as well as translates foreign words. Saves time looking things up, but thankfully doesn't tell *what* all those things necessarily mean - just what they are. ;-D http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/jwss.old/possession/fr-annot.html There's also a link to study questions created by the publisher: http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/read/possession/

Anything will help me...Thanks Karen. I must admit I'm a dunce with modern poetry. It certainly enhances the enjoyment of this work if one can decipher what the poems are about. But the story is enough for me right now...I'll get around to the poems later.No one will want to borrow this book from me...I have it all marked up!!

Evelyn, when I first heard of Possession, I was told to skip over the poetry and just read the story, then read the poetry. When I think back, it was a good idea. The poetry in itself is separate, but yet whole. (It's late). Keep plugging along with the book, it really is a wonderful story.

I just finished Possession yesterday and I have to say it is one of the best books I have ever read.I could not put this book down, something that rarely happens. I also did not really understand the poetry but the story was captivating. I plan on going back to see if I can make sense of some of the poetry now that I know how Christabel and Ash's story unfolds. As for casting, Gwenyth will make a perfect Maud, Jeremy a perfect Ash, Jennifer a perfect Christabel. I am not sure about AE. I don't know his work too well and he looks so different for each part. I sort of picture a young William Hurt as Roland,very academic-looking. At least he will not be faking an English accent which if it is not done well, is very annoying and distracting. I am just grateful that the other bumbling,academicish English actor with the blinking problem did not get cast. Can you imagine Hugh Grant (who seems to get many more roles than he deserves) as Roland. It is a horror not to be contemplated. Thanks Karen for the links. Evelyn is not the only one who needs all the help she can get. I am sure I need much more help than most. I was always better at math than the language arts. I look forward to discussing the book when more people have read it.

Congrats, Sue! I'm betting that Ev finished it last night too. Nice to see that many are as enthralled by it as I was 10 years ago. Going back over the poetry afterwards is a good idea. Essentially, what it does is provide clues as to what was really going on with Ash and LaMotte and that had been misinterpreted by subsequent readers and academics. Byatt has been called a "bookworm's" dream author. Just yesterday, I set off in search the meaning behind Fergus and have hit paydirt. It's such fun, but not necessary to your enjoyment of the book. It can be enjoyed on so many levels, and the movie will only be the basic plotline. There's no way all this hidden meaning can be carried over onto film, but that's OK.

I'm betting that Ev finished it last night too. I did, I did...(and I didn't even peak at the ending beforehand, Karen;-) I'm glad I was reading the ending at home..had done a lot of it in airports and on planes...would have been embarassing...tears flowed.... Am eager for others to finish it...I have questions...

I guess I'm bringing up the rear here. More than halfway through (the poetry, too!;-). Very compelling book. Can absolutely see the 4 leads in these roles. Great fun to have the casting in mind as you read it. Colin couldn't have been Roland anyway--Roland is 29 and "a compact man," shorter than Maud. I could see him as Ash, though.

I chose to disregard the height issue; decided it wasn't important. ;-D

From Empire: Paltrow Possession Pics 04/09/2000 Principal photography began last week on Possession and Empire Online managed to get our hands on some pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow on the set in Lincoln. The film, directed by Neil LaBute, began filming on location at the University of Lincoln and Humberside's campus last week, with a cast that includes Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Ehle, Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander. Once again, Paltrow puts on a British accent to play Maud, an academic who falls in love with an American scholar, played by Aaron Eckhart. Gwyneth is expected to be filming for the next 11 weeks in Shepperton and at various locations in Yorkshire.

I too finished this great book. I also found it easier to get the gist of the story first and will go back to the poetry. (Mari) Great fun to have the casting in mind as you read it. Isn't it just. (Evelyn) ...tears flowed Mine too. Thanks for the links Karen.

Couldn't put it down and finished it at 3 a.m. Beautiful book; looking forward to discussing it with you all. What a wonderful role for JE--the best in the book, IMO.

(Mari) What a wonderful role for JE--the best in the book, IMO. Quite! The mystery of Christabel really IS the story, even though Maud and Roland will have more screen time. And speaking of time, boy, did you finish it in record time. Didn't you say you were only halfway through yesterday! Should we rename you Evelyn Wood? ;-D I started rereading last night, but I go slowly, savoring every detail and picking up on new things each and every time.

I reread "Possession" at the beginning of the year. It still manages to enthrall me. All of those characters are interesting and you really want to know about them. When I first read the book, I didn't care for Christabel at all. She drove me nuts. And Ash with his bugs and nature (reminiscent of "Angels and Insects"!), at first I thought they were two boring people in Victorian England. But as I've read it about 4 times know, I realize how wrong I was!!!! I'm glad all the new readers are enjoying it. This novel really is a treat to read. A feast for all the senses!

(Mari) What a wonderful role for JE--the best in the book, IMO. (Karen)Quite! The mystery of Christabel really IS the story, even though Maud and Roland will have more screen time. I hope they don't just"cameo" Christabel and Ash...and feature Maud and Roland. The pics on the set....publicity is already starting! Gwynnie *is* Maud. ..."Gwyneth is expected to be filming for the next 11 weeks in Shepperton and at various locations in Yorkshire." That brings the shoot to December. Wonder when filming of Jennifer and JN will kick in. She starts rehearsals for the Noel Coward play in NY in January.

O have been listening to Colin in the car playing Rupert Brooke and I think he would have been excellent as Ash, oh hum.

"I have" oh what a terrible sentence but you get my drift,I hope.

(Evelyn), I hope they don't just"cameo" Christabel and Ash...and feature Maud and Roland. What a thought! Of course, it would be typical of the Hollywood machine to do just that. They never read the book. :-( How many of us have read the book? Sadie are you done? I too cried at the end and I confess to re-reading Ash's visit with May many times. I love that part.

(Karen) Didn't you say you were only halfway through yesterday! Should we rename you Evelyn Wood? ;-D Hee hee. I *do* come racing around those paragraphs at about 100 mph.:-) Once Christabel and Ash were on that train to Yorkshire, I was off to the races! Great stuff. Love when he tells her I hope you won't regret this, and she says, don't talk nonsense, of course I'll regret it! Oops, no spoilers . . . Moon, don't fret. If they were going to crank this out of the Hollywood "machine," they wouldn't have hired LaBute. He's one of our least conventional filmmakers.

(Mari) If they were going to crank this out of the Hollywood "machine," they wouldn't have hired LaBute. Didn't one of the articles say that there were 3 attempts to bring this to the screen? Wonder who the other directors were. I still have huge qualms about this production and the director. NLB has no track record for this kind of major production and there's nothing in his past repertoire to suggest he has the vision and understanding of the subject matter. BTW, I emailed one of the reporters in Lincolnshire and she said they have all left. Was trying to find out if any of the other actors was in town for the pub scene. Then we'd know who was playing Euan and Val. But, alas, no. However, she said she'd email me if they returned to the area.

Hello all, I'm new to this board. Found my way from the Ehlenews site. Thanks for the link Evelyn. I am also reading Possession and look forward to further discussions on the book and movie. I can't wait for the movie to come out. My only worry is that JE character Christabel will be much reduced for the movie. I agree with others that her character is the best in the book. Michelle

(since Moon's been talking about doing some psychedelic stuff later this week... Michelle Glad you've joined us. You'll find any and all news posted here and I expect we might want to start the discussion *after* our Colin birthday bash. No really hurry, as they've just started filming. Also, don't want to pressure anyone. Like I said before, this is a book to be savored over and over again.

Karen, what kind of spinster is Christabel, primne and proper or a kind of femme fatale? sp?

Christabel, by all accounts, seems like a prim and proper spinster, but has many, many, many secrets.... don't want to give away too many spoilers!

Just wondering, what sort of spoilers can we give??? If I had a spoiler, should I forewarn, then say scroll down like this??? S P O I L E R S Then add the spoiler? Is that acceptable? I just don't want to give anything away. Because AnnW's question, is just brimming with spoiler info....

Ann, I would say she is neither and both. Pale and passionate, a condtradictory woman. I can't see how Christabel can be a cameo. She is the story. Roland and Maud were not half as interesting. I hope the first we see C&A is in the train scene and the previous letter writing is done in voiceover. I think it would be great to have Rosemary Harris as the old Christabel-the witch in the turret.

Welcome to our merry group, Michelle! Karen! You must be in charge of decorations. Is there anyway to change the backgraound colour of the page. I noticed that Marcia did it. :-) (Mari), Once Christabel and Ash were on that train to Yorkshire, I was off to the races! It was a slow starter for me too. The train does get it moving. ;-)))

Sue, loved the RH idea. Perfect! But we do not know if they will include that scene. It would be great to get a copy of the script.

Thanks Laura, Sue and everyone. I am afraid I am going to be a bit behind the Library still does not have the book!! but please discuss I will not peep!!

No spoilers, Laura, not even with the scroll down stuff yet. (Sue) Roland and Maud were not half as interesting Ah...but they are IMO. It *could* be that you were reading it with a little bias toward one character. Lemme think! Now why might that be? ;-D I hope the first we see C&A is in the train scene and the previous letter writing is done in voiceover. Sue, you have incredible artistic taste. What a coincidence. The woman who led the previous discussion was a theatre person and she imagined a very similar beginning to the movie (not the letter writing read in VO, but the train). Sorry, Moon, I don't know how to change the background of Drool pages.

Regarding starting the discussion: There probably are others (will check with Eileen) who haven't inhaled the book yet. Possibly others from the Ehle list.

RE: first sighting of Christabel amd Ash-- they do met at Crabb's house early on. I can picture a scene in which there is very strong--but repressed--mutual attraction. The type of scene in which Andrew Davies might have written one of his famous stage directions ("Darcy has an erection.") Hee hee . . .

Have just got the book from them library, but I am a very slow reader so don't wait for me but I would just like to to know is Christabel plain or attractive and I believe I read the Ash is older than Christabel, by how much. I know I am about to start reading it but I would really like to know. Is JE not too pretty to play Christabel? Have not been cheating honest, well just a little bit.

Have just got the book from them library, but I am a very slow reader so don't wait for me but I would just like to to know is Christabel plain or attractive and I believe I read the Ash is older than Christabel, by how much. I know I am about to start reading it but I would really like to know. Is JE not too pretty to play Christabel? Have not been cheating honest, well just a little bit.

She had big teeth. ;-D CLM was 33 when she met RHA, who was 44. Now, stop cheating and read, even if slowly. There's no race.

Okay Karen, it's just that from the little I have read JE does not seem to be right pysically and lookswise!!

One last question Karen and then I won't asking any more until I have finished. Did you like Christable and Ash?

Both are blonde and moon-faced. Otherwise, JE's probably larger than CLM, but doesn't appear that LaBute and the casting director care. Last I looked, Aaron Eckhart wasn't a "compact" man. Don't think Gwynnie will tower over him. Did I like them? Hmmm, never thought about that much. Wanted to kick both of them...quite often. ;-)

Thanks everyone for the welcome. I am now halfway thru the book. I have a question which has probably already been discussed but I haven't been thru all of the old posts so forgive me if it has. I had read that Ralph Fiennes was to be in this movie but for some reason he is not. Do you think he would make a better Ash than JN? Now I do like JN, I saw him in "Emma" and "The Winslow Boy " and he is very good and very attractive. I just think RF is a more intense actor and he seems to fit the part better. I also think him and JE would be better together. Who knows maybe it's because I haven't seen much of JN's work. I do think that JE tends to make all her leading men look better. Michelle

We didn't talk about the RF thing on this topic, Michelle. It was in the news before and there was some talk on Odds and Ends, but at that time only a few of us were familiar with the book. My opinion about RF is that he was never right for the role. Besides, if RF did take the role, I doubt Jennifer would've been cast. (them's the facts) When I first read the book long ago, Daniel Day-Lewis was my choice for Ash. However, JN is much better suited and the way he was in Emma and TWB should lay a perfect groundwork for the character.

As much as I like JN, I do think RF would have made a better Ash. JN would have made a good Roland. I like GP as Maud and I honestly had not pictured JE as Christabel. I had pictured Cate Blanchette as Christabel.

For once we disagree, Karen. ;-))))

It's OK. After my initial preference for Joely Richardson (ages ago) as Maud, I came up with Uma Thurman about 3 years ago. You can't get much taller or icier than she...but alas and alack, she cannot act. ;-D

Karen, why do you doubt that JE would have been cast if RF has played Ash, I thought they were very good together in Sunshine, as Michelle says JE brings out the best in her co-stars and she made RF less distant and cold, more human.

Because they were just seen together. Has nothing to do with how well they worked together.

If repeat casting weren't an issue, then, GP would be partnering with Joe Fiennes as Roland... don't get much darker or furrier. ;-D

and maybe that is why CF is not partnering Jennifer, I know it was 5 yhears ago, but they are bound together ad Darcy & Lizzie.

Yes, there's even less likelihood that Colin and Jenn will appear professionally in anything together.

No one has ever said that about Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. I most respectfully disagree.

(Sue) Roland and Maud were not half as interesting (Karen)Ah...but they are IMO. It *could* be that you were reading it with a little bias toward one character. Lemme think! Now why might that be? I'm caught. I have to acknowledge an high partiality for darling Jennifer. For the record, I am also a GP fan and still don't think Maud is as interesting as Christabel. Christabel was struggling against much more stringent society rules than Maud ever had to. Plus, Christabel had the better love story and I am always a sucker for a good romance. All right, perhaps I have a bias that I cannot overcome. :-)) We'll have to discuss what makes Maud interesting when everyone finishes the book. I guess Ehle and Firth and Ehle and Fiennes ain't no Gere and Roberts or Hanks and Ryan. They would need big boxoffice in addtion to their superior acting and chemistry together. As for Christabel's beauty or lack thereof. Jennifer is more attractive than Christabel, but I think she can be toned down a bit-pull back her hair, drab clothes, pale make-up. I just hope they don't put some big caps on her teeth.

No one has ever said that about Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. I most respectfully disagree. It took 10 years and I wish it had taken 100. Loved PW; hated RB. Repairing are v.v.v. rare and, these days, don't often work as they did during the golden age of studio-controlled stars. BTW, the Lincoln reporter said that the Possession crew went straight to Whitby, as her friend spotted them on the pier. So that would be more scenes with GP and AE as they are re-creating the trip.

And Sue, I think *all* of the characters are equally interesting, with so much going on that it's difficult to know where to start. Here's the region where they went: About midway between Robin Hood's Bay and Ravenscar is the Boogle Hole. It's real and it's on maps.

Have to agree with Karen...don't think JE will play with those guys again...but she is running out of the good looking ones...;-) I too think CB would have made a good Christabel..esp the long face ,but then she played opposite JN in An Ideal Husband ;-) JF would have been a terrific Roland. Possession crew went straight to Whitby, as her friend spotted them on the pier. Thanks Karen....I wonder if they'll also shoot JE and JN there now while they're at that location.

(Evelyn) I wonder if they'll also shoot JE and JN there now while they're at that location Would seem likely. My guess is that they're doing GP's stuff now, so that she can head off to Toronto for the Duets screening on Saturday and then do some junket stuff for the film's opening the following week in the States. So while she's here, JE and JN's location work would be done.

Evening Standard had a side article about NLB and NB. Ended with this: About Possession: "It will be a surprise for some, others will say it's a natural progression," says LaBute. "There are two really f***ed-up couples, and who better to deal with them?" Argh! He's the last person... *shaking my head in disgust* http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/hottx/film/film.html?in_review_id=312425&in_review_text_id=256796

Karen says: I still have huge qualms about this production and the director. NLB has no track record for this kind of major production and there's nothing in his past repertoire to suggest he has the vision and understanding of the subject matter ********** The New Yorker this week gives a terrible review for Nurse Bette, with NLB taking a lot of the heat. I just can't imagine him directing Possession, this most romantic of romantic stories, but then... You guys are ahead of me. I too read it ten years ago and couldn't put it down then. Have a first edition, I was so eager to buy it. Started to reread last week, but the eyes aren't what they used to be. Go ahead with the discussion. It will all come back, I know. I read the poetry with the story, They seemed to belong together, and you learned something about C and A from the poems. Murph

Mary, we haven't yet started our discussion. Please hold off posting any critiques. We will start on Monday. Have saved your article or you can repost then. Sorry. :-(

From the Scarborough Evening News (printed yesterday, so filming today): FILM STAR LOOKS IN GWYNETH Paltrow is coming to the Yorkshire Coast. The Oscar-winning actress is filming scenes from her latest movie Possession at the Raven Hall Hotel in Ravenscar tomorrow.\ Crew members have been at the hotel preparing the set since Sunday and getting things ready for the arrival of the star, who is staying at a secret location. The crew, from Shepperton Studios in Middlesex, are staying at the hotel, which will be featured in Possession, based on AS Byatt's Booker-prizewinning novel set along the North Yorkshire coast. Raven Hall Hotel sales and marketing manager Yvonne Rounding said: "The outside of the hotel will be predominantly featured with six horses and carriages. The production crew have been using a local stable. "Things are getting hectic and it doesn't help that we are fully booked." The film, directed by Neil LaBute, follows the story of two literary detectives investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Paltrow, who is rumoured to be back with Oscar-winner Ben Affleck in what is one of Hollywood's most on-off relationships, plays the part of Professor Maud Bailey, an academic who researches the life of poet Christabel LaMotte. It is not the first time Paltrow has made films in England. She made Sliding Doors and Emma here and caused a storm when she criticised British food and diet. Starring opposite her in Possession is Aaron Eckhart, who plays the part of an American scholar in London on a fellowship to study the poet Randolph Henry Ash. The pair fall in love as they follow a trail of clues across England to the continent, the same journey taken by the Victorian poets. Whitby was also chosen as a location, with filming starting there yesterday and features the purchase of two Whitby jet brooches. AS Byatt, who is the sister of author Margaret Drabble, was born in Yorkshire and set some of Possession in Robin Hood's Bay and Boggle Hole. ~~~~~~~~~~ Horses and carriage? I'd say this is where JN and JE will be shooting today. ;-D

Here's a nice pic of the hotel where they are filming: And here's their website: http://homepages.go.com/~ravenhall1/title.htm

Oh Karen....I want the Bay Hood view room with the champ and chocolates... What a glorious place for Ash and Christabel's first night....:-)))

Haven't read it yet, but very long article about Neil LaBute in LA Weekly: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/00/42/cover-dargis.shtml Ack!! Says he lives somewhere outside of Chicago! The part about Possession: ...just last week he began production in Northern England on Possession, a lavish romance set in the Victorian era and the present day, based on the novel by A.S. Byatt. A fan of the book, LaBute sought out the project, and though there was already a screenplay by Laura Jones (The Portrait of a Lady), whom he credits with "breaking the back of the book," he plunged into a rewrite. The stars are Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Jennifer Ehle and the director's college friend and regular collaborator Aaron Eckhart; the companies footing the bill are USA Films and Warner Bros. Much as in Nurse Betty, in which Zellweger plays a woman who's forced to flee her home in order to discover her true self, Neil LaBute is following his own glittering road.

Thanks for the picture Karen. It looks appropriately romantic. Does anyone have a recommendation for another Byatt book?

(Karen) Ack!! Says he lives somewhere outside of Chicago! LOL! "Of all the gin joints in all the world . . ." Maybe you could go into a fugue state and visit him sometime.;-)

(susanne) Does anyone have a recommendation for another Byatt book? Ha, now this I can answer!!! YES!!! You can read her short stories "The Matisse Stories" "Sugar and Other Stories" "Angels and Insects: A Novella" Her novels: Tetralogy (sp?) "The Virgin in the Garden" Alexander Weddeburn (has CF written all over it!) "Still Life" "Babel Tower" I was fried after reading it! But loved it! She's in the process of writing the fourth and I believe sequel to all of them! "The Game" sibling rivalry amazingly, her sister is Margaret Drabble....:)

(Sue) Thanks for the picture Karen. It looks appropriately romantic LOL! I didn't want to scare anyone by posting it here. ;-D Try The Game first. It's short...before you embark on the series.

From the September 6 Northern Echo: IN POSSESSION OF THE PAST THE tourist port of Whitby is suddenly looking even more picturesque - after movie-makers wove their magic. Parts of the town have been transported back in time to the Victorian era for a big screen version of A S Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel, Possession. Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow - the star of Sliding Doors - is starring in the Warner Brothers production, which also features Jennifer Ehle and Jeremy Northam, among others. Yesterday, filming focused on the famous 199 steps, an area which has been turned into a Victorian market, with dozens of locally-recruited extras dressed in period costume (pictured). Other filming will be taking place on the beach and West Pier over the next few days. ~~~~~~~~ Wonder about that picture...

Whitby harbor - you can see the 199 steps going up to the Abbey West pier: From a Whitby website: Victorian Jet Works: Situated near the bottom of the 199 steps, this building holds the only surviving Victorian Jet Workshop, plus working modern craftsman. http://www.whitbyjet.co.uk/ The 199 Steps: From these centuries old streets, 199 steps lead up to the parish Church of St Mary, one of the finest Anglo Saxon churches in the country, featuring carved pews made by ship's carpenters and craftsmen from Whitby's once booming whaling fleet. Its churchyard is famous for providing the setting which inspired Bram Stoker to write his classic novel - Dracula. Dickens and Tennyson are also known to have enjoyed the hospitality of Whitby's ancient inns. Nice page here: http://www.yorkshire-tour.co.uk/whitby.htm

I like Neil LaBute's work as a writer and director. It may well also be noted that there is no accounting for some people's tastes. To me, LaBute's dark, disharmonious comedy is reminiscent of Balzac. I find him an interesting choice to direct "Possesion"; a choice which I like. I think his modern sensibility will provide an interesting juxtaposition to, and commentary upon the material.

Thank you Karen for posting the beautiful photos of Whitby.

Thanks, Karen! The Victorian Market will probably be where they find the brooches.

I think his modern sensibility will provide an interesting juxtaposition to, and commentary upon the material. The book was written in 1990 and most of it takes place in the present.

Thanks Laura and Karen for the book recommendations. If any of her other books are half as good as Possession than I shall be happy with any of them. I could never call Possession dull. I had trouble putting the 500 page book down. Needless to say, I did not get anything done for a whole day. I read until the last 20 pages and saved them for the next day. I put off picking up the book again until the evening because I just did not want it to be over. The locations for the filming look just gorgeous.

Karen...the Yorkshire website is a gem....there is also a link to Robin Hood Bay...did Ash and Christabel ever go there? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I choose to ignore Anna..but please delete her postings, Karen. And any future ones that fall in that inpolitic category. Thank you.

That should be impolitic....but you get the general idea.

Hmmm.. I guess someone was possessed??? The pictures were beautiful. Just back from Atlanta and missed a whole bunch, however, remembered that today is someone's 40th bday...:) That must be on another board...;)

From a Film Festival report in the Toronto Sun: As for what else the future holds, Paltrow next returns to England, where she is working until the end of October filming Possession, a movie based on the A.S. Byatt novel.

Beware, from this point on, there be dragons

Looks like a too friendly dragon though. Need a more sinister dragon... :) Can't take to heart other people's opinions. Found out I must be more like a duck. OR was that I have to duck..... (does that dragon have wings???)

FYI, the dragon had *nothing* to do with that other message. (Think old maps)

Am about 150 pages into Possession (well, it is football season). Started reading the posts here but have come across too many quasi-spoilers for my taste so quit around #75 (should be reading book, not posts, anyway). Just wanted issue a warning *heehee* that I'll be joining the discussion at some later point. PS. So far cannot fathom AE as Roland. Reading here that the character's been changed to an American (obviously to accomodate AE's casting--*tsk*) helps. Am also concerned about NLB directing this. Will be interesting to see his interpretation, to say the least.

This is a reposting from Charlotte. She put this on Fan Fic and is not fiction, I believe: Hi Everyone I just wanted to tell you about my experience in Whitby!.We were just by luck staying in a cottage at the bottom of the 199 steps, so when Tuesday morning came I was amazed by the site of cameras postioned on my doorstep & actors parding in front of me. I leaned out my window to be waved at with a glint in his by Jeremy Northam!!. He is a star in every sense of the word and had the crew in stiches with his dancing on the 199 steps!. At one point Jenniffer nearly fell down the very slippy steps, the perfect Northam came to her assistance (what a man). But Jennifer could not look him in the eyr due to his comedy antics!! I have photos galore & more stories !

Good find, Karen. Will look forward to seeing more stuff from Charlotte. Sounds like the filming of the Christabel & Ash portion of the story is proceeding nicely. *picturing Jeremy Northam coming to *my* assistance . . .yum . . .*

Eileen, have you seen Erin Brockovich? It's a good rent. Aaron E. plays Julia's love interest--not a huge role, but you'll see he is quite good at playing nice guy/semi-wimp. Maybe this will help you visualize him as Roland.

From the Victorian poetess Christina Georgina Rossetti this short poem -- An Emerald Is As Green As Grass An emerald is as green as grass. A ruby red as blood. A sapphire is as blue as heaven. Flint lies in the mud. A diamond is a brilliant stone To hold all the world's desire. An opal holds a firey spark But flint holds fire. Have any of you read Rossetti's long poem Goblin Market? Am sorry I've not posted a link to it. It is a worthwhile read.

Thank you, Saskia. The flint reference is interesting. Wonder how it relates to Byatt's continuing mention of stones throughout the book. Yes, Goblin Market is THE one to read for background. Once found out something interesting about Rossetti: there was a missing year in her life too. ;-D Here's a link to it: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/rossettc8.html

Love to hear more Charlotte, can you describe what JN & JE were wearing?

(Mari)"Erin B." Aaron E. plays Julia's love interest--not a huge role, but you'll see he is quite good at playing nice guy/semi-wimp. Maybe this will help you visualize him as Roland. I agree, Mari. I rented EB this weekend just to check out Aaron Eckart...I can easily see Roland.Thought he did a great job as Julia's biker-boyfriend too. There's a tenderness to him that could transfer . Charlotte in Whitby....what a coup!!You were right Karen...JN &JE were fillming up there.

Ooh, I LOVE Goblin Market (with the name of Laura, how could I not!) Rosetti's brother did all the drawings (or art work) for it. She had a very sad life...

Nice place you have here, I have been lurking a bit and talking about Possession may become one since there are so many sides to it and a very intricate story line. I look forward to that. It is one of my favourite novels! I got your link from Ehlenews as well. I think it's exciting that Possession is being adapted and even more so that JE is to play an essential part, the one to inspire it all!! I think her perfect for the part...I mean starting out with the picture of Elizabeth Bennet, cleaned of any beautifying make-up she still has that inner beauty that is Christabel... As far as RA is concerned I haven't seen much of JN (only Emma) and I'm not really impressed, but that may change. There are many others that would fit the bill, and I agree that even though we all want to see a certain actor in the role that it is unlikely that they will ever be partners....it may evoke to many associations and comparisons to previous work!! Wow, that was a lot for a first time...so now I'll hold my peace;-D susanne) Does anyone have a recommendation for another Byatt book? The Game is a serious and somewhat unhomely and unsolved novel about sisters and their failure in resolving their problems! A nice one is "The Djin in the Nightingale's Eye" a collection of modern fairy tales....really interesting and fascinating! But I do agree with Laura that her trilogy is a delightful read, albeit very very long at least 6oo pages each!!

Thanks for the link, Karen! Please keep us posted on any news from Charlotte. Welcome, Hanne!

Hi Thanks to everyone who replied to me, I did not realise there were so many posession fans out there! Having started to read possession i can start to place the characters although it does say in the book that roland is dark haired i think but Arron is definetly ash colouring!(poetic liscence) I have some photos which i will mail to Karen as soon as I get them developed when the fuel crisis in england is over! JN & JE were dressed in period costume, JE in a long green dress with green embroided hooded coat, she had difficulty keeping the hood on due to the high winds & rain in whitby! JN was in lightly coloured trousers with shirt & cravatte & waistcoat,with a cream coloured overcoat, brown leather satchel and a wide brimmed brown hat. (very dashing) he also held an umbrella which he loved to dance around!! He is a very friendly man, when a passer bye stood with his dog JN stopped to fuss the dog even though it jumped up at him and left paw prints all over his outfit!!. Well until later charlotte

(Charlotte)JN was in lightly coloured trousers with shirt & cravatte & waistcoat,with a cream coloured overcoat,.. Were they cream-coloredbreeches? *sigh* Thanks Charlotte...

Thank you, Charlotte. We're looking forward to hearing from you and, please, join in the discussion...once we get it going. Am very disappointed that they didn't see fit to dye Aaron Eckhart's hair because he really should be dark-haired as in the book. I suppose he won't be referred to as Mole either. Now am wondering if there will be a Val. If Roland is American, would he have a long-time girlfriend in England? Omigod, am now sweating bullets. Evelyn, start lighting candles! Speaking of hair, Charlotte, did you notice Jennifer's hair coloring? Was she blonde? More hair...how about Jeremy, any facial hair? A beard perhaps? For some reason, I always picture Ash with a beard even though I don't believe it says that in the book. Must be all the pics of Victorian poets I've seen.

Karen, I think Charlotte was referring to Aaron Eckhart's natural hair color, not necessarily how he appears in this. Charlotte, can you confirm? Eckhart wasn't filming at the site you mentioned, was he? Anyway, I think it's more important for Maud and Christabel to have the same coloring, and not that significant for Roland and Ash--or am I missing something? They're downplaying the hair anyway, it seems--no headscarf on Gwynnie in those pics. Hmmm . . . Re: Roland and Val--I'm wondering, since he's now American, if they will change the story so that Roland is working for Mortimer. Maybe a twist is that you're not sure until the end where Roland's loyalties lie (to Maud or to Mortimer). Just a thought.

AE wouldn't have been in that scene, but one of the newspapers had GP and AE filming on the 199 steps a few days prior. not that significant for Roland and Ash--or am I missing something? It does take away from his characterization as the Mole, all dark and furry, but as I suspect, most of the deeper meanings will be discarded for the movie. Just today, I caught a Bravo Profile of Saul Zaentz (was watching for any on location stuff from TEP) and they had segments with Milos Forman, where he talked about making One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Forman said that Ken Kesey was given the opportunity to write the first screenplay. Said it would've been 10 hours long and contained too much metaphor and imagery, etc. Not good for the screen. So I expect what makes this novel soooo good (at least for me) will be trashed. If you're wondering why I'm so distraught about Roland it's that he's the main character of the book for me...the protagonist, the hero, the catalyst, the most important character and the one who goes through the most significant transformation himself. AE may be a wonderful actor, but he's not the first nor the 10th actor to come to mind when casting this part. In fact, if his good friend from college was not directing, I really doubt anyone would've thought of him for the part. OK, now you understand my perspective. Am done.

In fact, if his good friend from college was not directing, I really doubt anyone would've thought of him for the part. Big interview with AE in October's "Movieline" Mag. Says .."to Hollywood insiders,he's one of the hottest actor's going".He went up against several brand-name stars for the boyfriend in ER. The studio didn't want him, but the director did and after he read with Julia Roberts, she gave him her blessing too.He just finished another cop film The Pledge with Jack Nicholson. So it sounds like he's a face everyone is watching. BTW I see that USA films who is distributing Nurse Betty will also distrib Possession. They do relentless publicity.

Several ways to start here (*am NOT experienced discussion leader*): 1) do people have questions they'd like answered? 2) as Julie Andrews would trill... "let's start at the very beginning, a v.g. place to start" The Title and its many meanings 3) the characters, what people think about them Other ideas?

I liked what you brought up before about the stones, Karen. It will be the fenestration of this discussion. ;-) Also, the fact that Christabel is not the only person with something to hide (but that goes along with the stones). And, the juxtaposition of the characters, who is who and why? (Karen), If you're wondering why I'm so distraught about Roland it's that he's the main character of the book for me...the protagonist, the hero, the catalyst, the most important character and the one who goes through the most significant transformation himself. AE may be a wonderful actor, but he's not the first nor the 10th actor to come to mind when casting this part. In fact, if his good friend from college was not directing, I really doubt anyone would've thought of him for the part. OK, now you understand my perspective. I agree! You and I will probably be very disappointed in the film. We look forward to seeing your pictures, Charlotte. It is always fun to hear how the actors goof-off on the set.

(Moon) It will be the fenestration of this discussion. ;-) *hee hee* You know, whenever I read this book, I always feel like I should have little notecards like Roland. Am truly a "Line by Line" kind of person. ;-D

(Moon)I agree! You and I will probably be very disappointed in the film. C'mon...don't write the obituary before it's even out...besides whatever happened to ..."let's judge the book and the film separately. Each one has to stand on its own;-)" That's what we have always done.... Good questions to start off the discussion...I shall ponder.But what about *spoilers*?

(Karen) ? For some reason, I always picture Ash with a beard even though I don't believe it says that in the book. Must be all the pics of Victorian poets I've seen. from page 298 (train scene) He was a handsome man, with a flowing head of very dark brown hair, almost black but with russet lights in its waves, and a glossy beard, a little browner, the color of horse-chestnuts. His brow was expansive, the organ of intellect well-developed, though he was equally well endowed with the bumps opf compassion and fellow-feeling. he had black brows, a little rough and craggy, under which very large dark eyes looked out at the world steadily enough, fearless but with something held in reserve. Darn that horse chestnut imagery always puts my mind onto other things. :-)) I doubt very much the film will be as good as the book. There is no way they can really do justice to all the characters in a two hour film. I do think that the film can be good if not compared to closely with the book. No matter, I will be determined to love it, if for no other reason than Jennifer is in it.

(Sue) Darn that horse chestnut imagery always puts my mind onto other things. :-)) Me too, Sue. And Byatt doesn't help things by putting organ and well endowed in the same sentence.;-) Yes folks, I will really raise the level of discourse around here.;-) I think I feel a double feature rent of Winslow Boy and Happy Texas coming on for a heavy dose of JN's repressed sexuality, which he does so well.

Thanks, Sue, for the book's description. Knew that image had to come from somewhere. Enough about my personal agony over casting (that's my problem and Moon's), let's talk book... ;-D And am very much looking forward to *your contributions* Mari ;-D I'll toss out this out for comment: "Is Roland a wimp or a hero?"

Just to answer one of the above questions Arron was on set with Gwyneth and his hair was not dark, i know this because i had my photo taken with him!. JE had red hair!

Wow, Charlotte, talk about being in the right place at the right time! We'll look forward to seeing your pics, and hearing who in the cast was naughty and who was nice.;-) Sounds like they decided on "come as you are" for the cast's hair. Karen, am still mulling your question.

JE had red hair! Uh ,oh....there must be a mistake.Christabel has blond/white hair... Maybe she didn't have enough time after Annie.... Karen....don't jump out that window!!!

Arron was on set with Gwyneth and his hair was not dark, i know this because i had my photo taken with him!. JE had red hair Thanks, Charlotte! So Maud is blond: yes. (Plus no head scarf) Christable is red: no. Roland is light brown: no. Ash is dark: yes. At least this should match! Evelyn, I agree we will discuss the book, but take note of the topic title. :-) And am very much looking forward to *your contributions* Mari ;-D Do keep those */* coming. ;-) "Is Roland a wimp or a hero?" His persona is a wimp. His suprapersona is a hero. :-D Why was Ash so understanding and supporting of his frigid wife?

Karen....don't jump out that window!!! No, have already bought my plane ticket to next year's LFF, where movie will undoubtedly be screened. Intend to lead audience in loud catcalls and booing much in manner of Mansfield Park's reception last year. *will keep mouth shut. Highly praised and respected director obviously knows what he is doing and has decided none of this means anything.*

(Karen)Highly praised and respected director obviously knows what he is doing and has decided none of this means anything.* Healthy attitude...keeps ulcers at bay...;-) (Moon)Evelyn, I agree we will discuss the book, but take note of the topic title. :-) I know....but I find I can't defend the film, since I haven't seen it yet... I probably will agree with you....but for now....hmmmmm.

Charlotte, does JE have long hair? We must not take anything for granted here. I hope she is wearing a wig. Christabel with short hair is definitely beyond my immagination.

I was thinking about a wig too, but Charlotte did see them filming, not just rehearsing.... One description of the style of her hair was lots of little curls around the face. Will get to your question, Moon, a little later...

*Spoilers* (Karen)"Is Roland a wimp or a hero?" (Moon)His persona is a wimp. His suprapersona is a hero. :-D ~~~~ I�m trying hard to like Roland, the author wants me to like him and because he obviously is the hero , after all without his discovery of the letters there wouldn�t be a book! .But I find his actions inconsistent with the traits in which the author describes him.... �He had done what was hoped of him, always�...He tried to please his mother, his boss, Blackadder....Val [surrogate mother IMO].Yet he thought himself a failure...had nothing to say. Yet, he took First at University with his dissertaion.But only took a job as a part-time research assistant in Blackadder�s Ash Factory. Did some tutoring, restaurant dishwashing ...�scraping a living�.You can say he was a wimp or a non-starter at best. Yet he discovers these letters in the British Library archives and surreptitously steals them. A shock to the reader! Where did he rev up the courage? For the rest of the book he sort of does dips and highs....On the one hand he is intimidated by Maud , yet takes the risk of losing his job by going off to Breton with her. He is supposed to be the believable character, isn�t he? I mean, Christabel and Ash are a little surreal [ not mean�t in a pejorative way...to me all poets are a little �out of this world�, ] That�s my take on this guy...but I don�t dislike him.Just find him a little disappointing .IMO

he is intimidated by Maud This is presented as a class thing. Will not work if Roland is an Am. Yet he discovers these letters in the British Library archives and surreptitously steals them. A shock to the reader! Where did he rev up the courage? This bothers him constantly, he feels that he should tell someone. He is a quiet type remember he even gets passed up for the promotion. But I was very happy to see that in the end he got three job offers and that came as a complete surprise.

Hi JE was had red long hair for definate, during filming she had it back,but with a hood for the outdoor shots. Arron as I said was definetely ash colouring and no way dark

Thanks Charlotte, definitely a wig then because when I saw her just 8 weeks ago her hair was quite blonde and very short. Why are they doing this though when the book describes her hair colour so differently. Charlotee, does she have curls round her face or is her hair pulled back off her face?

apologies for typo Charlotte.

(E.)he is intimidated by Maud (Moon)This is presented as a class thing Also because she is a full professor and he is at the low end of the academic latter... (Moon) But I was very happy tosee that in the end he got three job offers and that came as a complete surprise. I'll say...fast too. Contrived? (Charlotte)JE had red long hair for definite... Wig, or dyed with extensions for sure."Come as you are" would have been short blonde as Ann said. Thanks Charlotte.

.. latter. Ohgod...I mean't "ladder".. Quick before the ever-vigilant cop gets me...;-)

(Evelyn) Also because she is a full professor and he is at the low end of the academic ladder... Is she? I don't recall. Another possibility is that Roland is younger than Maud and just hasn't found a teaching position yet. Roland has his Ph.d, and might be in what would be called a crowded field of Ash scholars, whereas Maud is the burgeoning (but underfunded) field of women's studies and little-known fairy poets. Does tend to affect number of job openings available. ;-D Contrived? IMO, perfectly timed to coincide with his character's development. He had just learned who/what he was. Now he would be able to make a decision about his future. Prior to this, he didn't have the ability. If however you think the getting three job offers at the same time is not plausible, don't school operate pretty much according to set time schedules? They fill academic positions at certain times. No different than student applicants; mailbox can be full of acceptances/rejections. More later

I agree, Karen. It is very believable that Roland had applied for those jobs, he needed money and it was a way to escape Val. The reader did not have to know that he had applied. I was happy for him. BTW, I wish everyone did not feel the need to use up a post just because of a need to apologise for a typo. I think we can give you the benefit of the doubt. We are a friendly literate bunch.

(Moon) Why was Ash so understanding and supporting of his frigid wife? Cropper wrote that Ash's long courtship of Ellen showed his adoration to be on a par with Petrach's, i.e., a love that would withstand whatever obstacles. Also, Cropper surmised that Ash funneled his passions into his poetry during that period rather than find "other" outlets. Yet at the same time, Cropper does not believe Ask to Embla (Ash's great love poem) is written to Ellen. Seems a pretty obvious inconsistency to me. Could drive a truck through that one. I see Ash as a romantic. He put Ellen up on a pedestal and waited for her until her father deemed him "worthy" of her. He waited 15 years. On their honeymoon, they visited the place where Petrach lived in solitude contemplating his ideal (unconsummated) love. While Petrach loved an ideal, I don't think Ash was the type to be satisfied with just that. We finally get to see things through Ash's eyes in Yorkshire. He seems to have gotten most of his early education from reading books. In fact, while waiting downstairs for Christabel, he thought of certain passages from books ("He thought of Balzac, from whom he had learned much, some of it erroneous, some of it simply too French to be useful in the world he still lived in.") However, what could he do about his marriage? As the old saying goes, he made his bed now he would have to lie in it. He would look an absolute fool for having waited 15 years only to be rejected by his wife. He made the best of it, by accepting Ellen's slave-like devotion in lieu of physical love. Neither could discuss it. When he tells Christabel that he won't discuss Ellen (or vice versa) because it would be a betrayal, I think he is shielding himself rather than acting out of loyalty. He was complicit in their charade. It was also something that "could not be discussed." They built a life around a lie. In Yorkshire, Christabel says, "how can we bear it?" Ash's reply is "We can be quiet together, and pretend..." Ash has a history of pretending.

I too see Ash as a romantic and also Roland as a contemporary romantic (though i can't see him putting up with a frigid wife...). (Moon) It is very believable that Roland had applied for those jobs, he needed money and it was a way to escape Val. The reader did not have to know that he had applied. I was happy for him. Me too,me too...v. v. happy for everybody:-)) I was just replying to you "fast " comment. I have decided, however, that Ms. Byatt likes to catch the reader off-guard with surprises..instead of leading up to it.Clever. Makes for a faster read. BTW...what do other folks think of our main characters?

(Evelyn) I too see...Roland as a contemporary romantic Mmmmmmm yes.

(Evelyn) I too see...Roland as a contemporary romantic (Karen),Mmmmmmm yes. Definitely not my kind of romantic. (Karen), However, what could he do about his marriage? As the old saying goes, he made his bed now he would have to lie in it. He would look an absolute fool for having waited 15 years only to be rejected by his wife. He made the best of it, by accepting Ellen's slave-like devotion in lieu of physical love. Neither could discuss it. His love letters to her were a bit much. Beatrice who was studying Ellen, had no clue and she was an Ash scholar too. In fact, while waiting downstairs for Christabel, he thought of certain passages from books Ash says, "Le d�go�t, c'est voir juste. Apr�s la possession, l'amour voit juste chez les hommes." Why was disgust any clearer-eyed than desire? Ellen had disgust for his desire. Christabel in her "old maid", age did not. In fact she desired it. She had even brought a "wedding ring" to wear, as he had done. (I loved that scene in the train).

Moon, is that the translation of those two sentences? I never tried to find out what it said or can't remember. (Moon) Ellen had disgust for his desire. I think she is terrified. (Moon) Christabel in her "old maid", age did not. In fact she desired it. Ah then, but she's half-French and she would. ;-D

From Variety, another cast member, perhaps Val? Lena Headey, most recently seen in "Gossip," has landed starring roles in two pics: the John Duigan-directed "The Parole Officer," and the Neil LaBute-directed "Possession." She's repped by CAA and U.K.-based Lou Coulson. ~~~~~ FYI, she was Olga in Onegin, if anyone saw it. v. pretty. Here's a website with lots of pics. http://www.geocities.com/lenaheadey/ Present day However, she could be Blanche. This is from Ballykissangel

Ash says, "Le d�go�t, c'est voir juste. Apr�s la possession, l'amour voit juste chez les hommes." (Moon)Why was disgust any clearer-eyed than desire? Is he using possession as a synonym for "desire"? (Don't like men who digress in a foreign tongue...makes me think they're trying to put something over on me!!)

"Le d�go�t, c'est voir juste. Apr�s la possession, l'amour voit juste chez les hommes." Altavista's translator came up with this: The dislike, it is to see right. After the possession, the love sees just at the men I have to go with possession meaning "to have."

Lena Headey is v. pretty...but a starring role as Val? Too pretty for Ellen. I remember her in Onegin she was Liv Tyler's sister,wasn't she?...Toby Stephen's fiancee.

I still can't believe Christabel will have red hair. I thought it was an important point in the book that C and M have similarities. Byatt drew more than one parallel between C and M's hair. Before Fergus, Maud wore her hair partically shaved and after Christabel has her baby she comes back with her hair standing up in short wisps. If Jennifer is wearing a wig anyway, why not make it blond. Roland, I never thought of him as a wimp or a hero really. He seemed to be unsure and lacking in confidence about his life. His relationship with Val was co-dependent at the best. I wonder if Val did not make a move to end the relationship,if he ever would have. Part of his problem was that he spent years in the self-contained world of academia. I don't think he ever had to deal with life situations. All of a sudden he had to deal with a bad relationship, finding a job and then his integrity is tested when he finds the letter. Why was Ellen frigid? I know it makes for a good story, but there must be a reason-chilhood trauma, abuse, rape. That she felt disgust with a man that she loved seems very strange.I don't think that Ash would have looked to another woman,regardless of her being a soulmate or muse, if he had a whole relationship with his wife. At first, I thought that it was noble of Ash to remain in his marriage despite the problems, but perhaps he was more selfish than noble especially after he compromised Christabel and knew he had a child with her.

(Karen) Lena Headey, most recently seen in "Gossip," has landed starring roles in two pics: the John Duigan-directed "The Parole Officer," Hmmm, a Stephen Dillane vehicle? Will post more at 132...

I may be off base here, but I'm not sure that Ash didn't find "comfort" outside the marriage prior to Christabel. I got the impression that he may have fathered the child of the pregnant maid (don't have the book here with me to reference). Roland--to me, he is the least clearly-drawn character in the book, to the point where I'm unable to label him hero or wimp. Also, I don't think the class difference between him and Maud was that big a deal in the book; it's mentioned, but that's about it. More to the point, she is his superior professionally, as others have noted here, which also enabled her to live a more comfortable lifestyle. Remember she had those nice white sheets that Roland liked, while he was living in that cat piss-stained dump. Ugh! Get a real job!;-);-) I have a question for the group: what is the significance of Maud always being in green, or among green things?

(Sue) I never thought of him as a wimp or a hero really He's probably both. His name tells me that he's a knight and we know he's on a Quest. He even has a talismen (the letter) to carry him through. He saves a damsel or two in distress: (1) Lady Bailey, literally, whose wheelchair is caught on a precipice and (2) Maud, figuratively, from her sterile life. Yes, he's unsure and lack confidence in himself, and I view Val as an albatross around his neck. When Val had left him before, he got out, started going places and being with people. Then she came back, and he was back in his molehole. Academically, he was recognized. At university, no one believed Val had written her paper and they thought it was Roland's work. As far the letter and his integrity, another way to view it is the letter stole him. It was alive and it took possession of him and everyone who touched it. (Sue) At first, I thought that it was noble of Ash to remain in his marriage despite the problems, but perhaps he was more selfish than noble especially after he compromised Christabel and knew he had a child with her. I've bounced around in my opinion of Ash and haven't quite settled on it. However, he thought the child was dead for some time. Also, I don't view it as Ash having "compromised" Christabel. She decided to go and knew precisely what she was doing. Moreover, it was Christabel who made the rules about their relationship. No way, was she going to be the one to break up his home/marriage. She said it was a summer lark and no more, they would never see each other again. She even tells him up front (as Mari quoted early on), "And you must not speak nonsense. Of course I shall regret. So will you, will you not? But that, too, is of no importance at this time." Christabel's final letter to Ash says, they agreed to leave each other and never look back. She didn't regret their time together, her having Maia, but the lie she perpetuated.

(Mari) I got the impression that he may have fathered the child of the pregnant maid. You are not alone. I know others who believe the same and it is a distinct possibility. Otherwise, he might also have been a virgin up in Yorkshire with Christabel, but is not. (Mari) I don't think the class difference between him and Maud was that big a deal in the book; it's mentioned, but that's about it. Roland does mention it a lot. He is very uncomfortable socially. Remember when Roland and Maud meet with Euan, Val and Toby? Maud can connect with those people, their backgrounds (not Val's of course) and Roland is a 5th wheel. (Mari) what is the significance of Maud always being in green, or among green things? Green has lots of meanings besides being specifically mentioned in the source poetry. What does green signify to you? ;-D

(Karen) He is very uncomfortable socially. Yes, and I chalked it up to his personality, not necessarily ascribing it to class. But then again, I'm such an egalitarian kinda gal.:-) (Karen) What does green signify to you? ;-D Er . . . St. Patty's Day?;-) Let's see . . .life, growth, envy, inexperience . . .tell me when I'm getting warm.:-)

Give the lady a kewpie doll!! In some places, I think it also takes on the same meaning of the "green" light in Gatsby - hope. And certainly refers back to the serpent in the source poem and Melusina, of course. The rich jewel colors are very Tennysonian.

p. 459 He thought of the Princess on her glass, of Maud's faintly contemptuous look at their first meeting. In the real world--that was, for one should not privilege on world above another, in the social world to which they must both reutrn from these white nights and sunny days--there was little real connection between them. Maud was a beautifulwoman such as he had no claim to possess. She had a secure job and an international reputation. Moreover, in some dark and outdated English social system of class, which he didnot believe in, but felt obscurely working and gripping him, Maud was Country, and he was urban lower-middle-class, in some places more, in some places less acceptable than Maud, but in almost all incompatible.

I view Val as an albatross around his neck. Yeah...but he credited Val and his mum for getting him through the Ph.D dissertation and getting that First.Also she was the breadwinner in that relationship...she had the "real job"! Happens in many university relationships...eventually they outgrow each other. Val realized that...the relationship was going nowhere [Hmmmm...Where have I heard that before?] She got out of it with Euan...(Way to go Val!)

(Evelyn) she was the breadwinner in that relationship...she had the "real job"! And she threw that in his face every chance she got. Val subordinated herself to Roland. Gave up--voluntarily--what she was really interested in (Robert Graves) to be with him. She stopped having opinions of her. Project a self-image of superfluousness, meniality, etc. How on earth was Roland going to have any confidence in himself and be asserted when he was being made to feel guilty for her demise? You only see yourself in the reflection of others. Happens in many university relationships Happens in more than just those, think about women putting their husbands through law school, med school, etc. (Sue) Why was Ellen frigid? ...but there must be a reason-chilhood trauma, abuse, rape. I always chalked it up to good old Victorianism, but there actually is something, a clue, perhaps. In Ellen Ash's journal, she makes a couple of comments. One about remembering that her mother beat a servant who was pregnant. "I remember one in particular, Thyrza Collit, running screaming from room to room and Mamma whirling after her with upraised arm. I shall never forget that screaming." Ellen also has a peculiar image of married women with all their ailments and continual "lyings-in." She notes that her sister Patience's looks had faded and her husband Barabas was a "most considerate husband." Ellen seems to be afraid of pregnancy, the result. Good insight, Sue.

Karen, where were you when I needed tutoring in English Lit (will you go over Gulliver's Travels with me???? :))!!! I never picked up on Ellen being afraid of pregnancy. I thought that she just didn't want the children. I did suspect that Ash fathered the housekeeper's child. I loaned out my book "Possession" to I hope is a worthy individual, I'm nervous. I gave her BJD I & II, and she loved it (she's a SATC addict), hoping I have a convert.... :) (told her they were making it into a movie...)

Lena Headey, could play Val and Blanche. I like the choice. (Karen), His name tells me that he's a knight and we know he's on a Quest. La Chanson de Roland! VG, Karen! With Maud he was a gentleman to the end. I don't view it as Ash having "compromised" Christabel. She decided to go and knew precisely what she was doing. Maud and Leonora viewed Christabel as a feminist. (A lesbian too, but that is anither subject). (Mari) I got the impression that he may have fathered the child of the pregnant maid. Sorry, no! He would never have done it under Ellen s nose or in his own house. The pregnant maid was just to show how understanding Ellen would be with her. It sets up a contrast to the pregnant Christabel. (Mari) I don't think the class difference between him and Maud was that big a deal in the book; it's mentioned, but that's about it. (Karen), Roland does mention it a lot. Definitely strongly felt by Roland. Green= innocense, Maud is the direct descendent.

Green-envy?

and at one time green meant horny (green m-m's anyone??) ;)

...and Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came by Browning. Moon, I hope you are brushing up on your Dante. I think the green means different things in different places. Besides, as I've learned, with Byatt, there's no correct answer, just lots of them.

Had forgotten this fun tidbit. While doing research ages ago on Rossetti and Dickinson, I noticed that many articles came from a journal entitled Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. Sounds like the real-life Tallahassee to me. If we go further, will we find our Leonora on the editorial staff? Wonder if anyone has asked them? http://www.utulsa.edu/tswl/default.asp

I noticed that many articles came from a journal entitled Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. Sounds like the real-life Tallahassee to me. If we go further, will we find our Leonora on the editorial staff? I don't know about Leonora, but Germaine Greer taught in their Women's Studies dept for many years; and is still on the advosory board of the journal. University of Tulsa has a vibrant Women's Studies dept. Leonora sounds like a "one-of-a-kind";-) Love the Leonora/Blackadder encounter!!

I wondered about what the names meant after I read the study question on the link that Karen provided. I really had no clue. So Roland comes from Sir Roland on his quest (which is very clever), how about the others? Isn't Maud, Queen of the Fairies (in Irish folklore?)? I don't even have a guess as to Christabel and Ash. Does anyone else have insight? (Karen)I've bounced around in my opinion of Ash and haven't quite settled on it. However, he thought the child was dead for some time. Also, I don't view it as Ash having "compromised" Christabel. She decided to go and knew precisely what she was doing. Moreover, it was Christabel who made the rules about their relationship. No way, was she going to be the one to break up his home/marriage. She said it was a summer lark and no more, they would never see each other again. She even tells him up front (as Mari quoted early on), "And you must not speak nonsense. Of course I shall regret. So will you, will you not? But that, too, is of no importance at this time." I totally agree that Christabel was more than willing to embark on a relationship with Ash even knowing that she would regret it. When I used the word compromise I really meant it as it pertained to women in the Victorian era. Unmarried women were meant to be virgins, if not they were thought to be "ruined" and unmarriageble. Christabel might be considered an early feminist and had no desire to marry at the time, but even Gloria Steinem changed her mind. Christabel must have not been happy in her exiled lifestyle with Blanche or else would the relationship with Ash have happened. Ash had more culpablity since he was the man. Men at the time had all the power and thought to have superior knowledge over women.(Of course, we know this is not true) Also, Ash was married and had nothing to offer C. if the outcome was what it was. Ash went back to his cozy life with his adoring wife. Christabel had to deal with being unmarried and pregnant. Yes, Ash was tortured for several years thinking his child was dead, but hen he found out the truth and had a certain peace. Christabel lived out her life seeing her daughter but also knowing that May did not really like her. Even in the end when C. tried to make it right with Ash, she was denied peace. Yes, I think she was compromised( even with her conent) and that she paid a much heavier price for it.

sorry I closed the italics incorrectly.

We do not really know what would have happened if Christabel had told Ash she was expecting. I think that Ash would have left Ellen to be with Christabel. It was Christabel who decided to run away and break it up. Ash searched for her. he eventually traced her to France. He tried to see her in London and she would not. He ended up in the seance just to be able to see her. He was tortured and madly in love. He would have done anything, including divorcing Ellen, IMO. She did not want the scandal. Had the child not come along, I think they would have continued the affair. Why didn't Ash confront Christabel when he met Maia?

Sue: Maud is the name of a poem by Tennyson and Christabel is another by Coleridge. There's no name-poem for Ash or at least I haven't discovered it. Ash does relate to Norse mythology. I can upload some info about them if you'd like. Possibly, the best parts of Maud/Christabel are Byatt's use of certain lines or descriptions. It's amazing. Re: compromised We are talking about the same thing (I think). With regard to their relationship, I don't like to lay blame on either party because C chose to go, knowing full well what might be the result. She could've kept their relationship above board and on paper, but didn't. In fact, she kind of liked being pursued. In Blanche's journal, in the description of the prowler/peeping Tom incident (p. 53): "This Peeping Tom has put his eye to the nick or cranny in our walls and peers shamelessly in. She laughs and says he means no harm...But it amuses her to hear him lolloping and panting round our solid walls, she thinks he will always be Tame, as he is now." Christabel liked the flirtation. This was "doing her own thing" and really got mad when Blanche interferred; she had no right to do so. (Sue) she paid a much heavier price for it. Yes, but it was her decision again. We'll never know what might have happened if she had told lover boy about the baby. (Moon) hy didn't Ash confront Christabel when he met Maia? He's finally respecting her space. ;-D

From Monday's Telegraph: Grim oop north GWYNETH PALTROW'S usual charm went astray during last week's filming in Yorkshire of Possession, a film based on A S Byatt's novel. Locals, unable to take the train from Pickering to Goathland because of the filming, had hoped to get a few words with the Hollywood star instead. No such luck. "You couldn't even get near her to ask for an autograph," says one. "When she wasn't filming she was surrounded by minders and looked so miserable." Another onlooker is even more scathing: "She didn't look happy and hated people taking pictures of her even though she should be used to it. Perrhaps she should come down to earth and not take herself so seriously." ~~~~~~~~~ OK, a little tourism... Here's Pickering train station: Interesting part, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a steam RR. So I would think they would be shooting with the Victorian couple?? Kind of liked this brochure:

Karen....are you sure you don't work for the CIA? Incredible intelligence report on Pickering!! "Perhaps she should come down to earth and not take herself so seriously." "Sorry Gwynnie, Renee is outta the country...now it's your turn" "Locals, unable to take the train from Pickering to Goathland because of the filming," 1-800-DONOVANQUICK

sorry for italics

LOL, Evelyn! Thanks, Karen! "She didn't look happy I wonder if Neil has done a script change she does not like or agree with

(Moon) hy didn't Ash confront Christabel when he met Maia? (Karen), He's finally respecting her space. ;-D At that point he understood that Christabel had her sister adopt Maia and that Maia was very happy in her situation. He was happy that he had seen his daughter which he thought dead. Christabel was also taking care of Maia, she was with her. He must have seen the reason for many things at that moment, and that was enough for him.

From the York Evening Press: Steamy scenes Westminster may ignore us, but Hollywood cannot get enough of North Yorkshire. Following in the footsteps of Cate Blanchett and Michael Caine, Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow was filming in our backyard today. For her new movie Possession, Ms Paltrow is shooting scenes on the North Yorkshire Moors railway. As the coal-driven locomotive involved is one of the only forms of transport still moving, this could lead to confusion. We must hope that she does not return to Los Angeles under the misapprehension that quaint Yorkshire folk are still living in the steam age.

We must hope that she does not return to Los Angeles under the misapprehension that quaint Yorkshire folk are still living in the steam age. That would not be so very bad.

Steamy scenes What a let-down.... He was happy that he had seen his daughter which he thought dead. How did he find out about Maia? Did the cousins in France tell him?

He knew nothing about Maia. He went there to see Christabel.

Hard to believe a man can be confronted with his child and then just walk away. At least he had his questions answered. Thanks for enlightening me on the names. I still like the idea of Maud bing the Queen of the Faires since C. wrote fairy poetry. To take a slight turn in the discussion. Why was it assumed that Christabel and Blanche had a lesbian relationship? Was it in the poetry? I was surprised when Ash thought she might have had that kind of relationship with Blanche. They make love and just because she is passionate and sort of knows what she is doing (which could be instinctual), Ash wonders about her. Personally, it made me want to smack him. Blanche had an obsession about C., but was it sexual. I could never really tell.

I agree with you Sue. To me it was not clear if they did have a lesbian relationship. Blanche admired C for many reasons, but being herself an artist, I thought it was natural for her to feel close to C. Plus C had helped her economically as well. I was surprised when Ash thought she might have had that kind of relationship with Blanche. Ash was surprised to see she was still a virgin. I do not think he thought she was sleeping with Blanche. I hated that about him. How dare he think that she would not be a virgin! Is that why he asked her to come along with him? Did he think she was an easy lay? That part was out of character. (Got that (?) Evelyn?) ;-)

Laura, for one that claims this is her favourite book and has read it many times, you sure are quiet.

I absolutely had the impression that Christabel and Blanche were lovers. Yes, C's accomplished lovemaking could have been instinctive, but I don't think Byatt would have noted it if that's all there was to it. Also, recall how secretive C. was initially about Ash's letters (hiding them as if from a jealous lover), and remember how upset the household became once Blanche discovered them. Plus, Blanche runs straight to Ash's wife to spill the beans--doesn't sound like the actions of a platonic friend to me. And she kills herself over it! Definitely lesbian lovers, sorry.;-) Then again, I'm the person who is still certain that Ash fathered the maid's baby.:-)

I think Byatt is purposely trying to make the relationship ambiguous to the reader.This book is a multi-layered mystery..not just story-wise, but character-wise too.I'm reading it the second time...and now that I'm not conscentrating on the story, I see nuances that she sticks in to throw the reader off guard.

You *know* I will have something to say on that subject, but in the meantime, I've put up some pictures from the filming at the Lincoln train station that were in Hello! Magazine last week: http://www.spring.net/karenr/possession/possession.html

Thanks for the pictures Karen. Gwenyth really makes a good Maud. I just wish she were wearing those signiture head scarfs with the pin. If they do the scene where she lets her hair down for the first time, it would be more dramatic if it came out of the scarf first.IMHO

Great job, Karen! AHHH! Roland does not even stand up when she arrives!!! How ungentlemanly. Can NOT possibly see the attraction there. What a horrible choice for Roland. :-( (Mari), Also, recall how secretive C. was initially about Ash's letters (hiding them as if from a jealous lover), and remember how upset the household became once Blanche discovered them. Plus, Blanche runs straight to Ash's wife to spill the beans--doesn't sound like the actions of a platonic friend to me. And she kills herself over it! Blanche and her happy artistic enviornment is threatened by Ash. She is the closest person to C and Ash crashes in. She relies 100% on C so of course she resents him and hates him for it. It is also a moral issue. She thinks it is wrong because he is married and that is why she goes to Ellen. Blanche s life has not been easy, she has no money, no property and she is very sensitive and aware of this fact. C knows that B is hates Ash and goes away with him anyway. Blanche kills herself because her life would be over anyway if C left her for Ash. But by killing herself she would hurt C as C had hurt her with her relationship with Ash. The lesbian idea is Leonora s. It is modern and lacks Victorian sensibilities. And, as it is proven in the end, Leonora and Maud did not know much about the real C at all. And that, IMO, also includes her being a lesbian.

Great page , Karen, thank you. Aaron Eckhart , sadly, still looks like Erin Brockovitch's biker boyfriend with short hair...not Roland. Can't imagine a librarian in the British Museum handing an original manuscript to someone who looks like that.

Sorry, I've been ill with migraines. I do have a lot to say, but was told no spoilers. So I really don't know what is considered spoiler or not. The relationship btw Christabel and Blanche reminds me of Clive Durham and Maurice Hall in EM Forster's Maurice. You just never know how far they took the relationship. However, if love wasn't a factor, why did Blanche commit suicide? I believe they were intimate. Christabel was for all intents and purposes bi-sexual and enjoyed being so. Ash was a great poet who intrigued her. Blanche was home and hearth.

but was told no spoilers That was UNTIL a certain date. Then I posted to everyone to go ahead and discuss. That's what the dragon warning was all about. "Beyond this point, there be dragons."

Oh, see I thought the dragon was in regards to something esle:) silly me, cool, so I can now spoil, eh? Well when head gets back to normal I will do so. (have appt w/ doctor as migraines are getting worse, not better..)

When I was a teenager, I had a very close relationship with my best friend and we were definitely not lesbians. I need proof that I can not dispute to believe it. As I have said: The lesbian idea is Leonora s. It is modern and lacks Victorian sensibilities. And, as it is proven in the end, Leonora and Maud did not know much about the real C at all. And that, IMO, also includes her being a lesbian.

What is more disturbing is the fact that Ash did not think Christabel was a virgin. How and why would he think that?

(Sue) Why was it assumed that Christabel and Blanche had a lesbian relationship? Was it in the poetry? The poem that gets everyone all hot and bothered is Christabel's at the beginning of Chapter 18; it's about gloves and immediately precedes Maud's rereading of Blanche's suicide note. I'm on the nonlesbian relationship side and think Moon did an excellent job of stating many of the reasons AND she did if far more succinctly than I would have. ;-D In fact, three years ago, I was the only one in our discussion group who argued that point and I wrote up pages and pages of rationale. With Byatt, I always try to be cognizant of who is narrating. Unless Byatt's omniscient third party narrator jumps in, you can't take anything for granted. Everything is subject to interpretation. As Maud says to Roland, when they first meet and he shows her Ash's letter: "Well," she said, "the dates fit. You could make up a whole story. On no real evidence."As Maud and Roland often say: "It fits in beautifully. But it isn't proof." Remember Bea's comment as well: "she was not taught to do scholarship by studying primarily what was missing. That key piece of evidence is missing IMO. There are three sources of information provided about the C-B relationship: (1) Blanche's journal, (2) the letters of Christabel and Ash and (3) our narrator, Byatt, when she provides us with events and people's thoughts that our her and heroine will never know. (Actually, there is a fourth--Christabel's poetry--but its interpretation depends on how you interpret her life.) For whom is a journal written? The writer and for posterity, to create an image, an image that may or may not bear any resemblance to reality. Such were the journals kept by Ellen Ash and Blanche Glover. They created scenes of domestic tranquility in their respective households. Blanche had nothing in her life--oh, she had art, but even she characterized it as "thin" or "unlit stained glass." The real artist was Christabel and she worshipped her. She is the same type of "helpmeet" as Ellen Ash. They ran the household, dealt with the mundane, and adored their masters in their silent ways. Blanche's journal was for herself. It is natural that her intimate thoughts would reflect her love for Christabel, but it doesn't mean to me that the love was returned in the same fashion. Letters, on the other hand, are meant only for the personal addressed. No one else. So, I would tend to believe them more. I looked for references in Blanche's journal and Christabel's letters to the existence of "conversation" or "intercourse." For the most part, life at Bethany Cottage is silent; the two of them absorbed in their solitary pursuits. Painting and poetry are both solitary pursuits. Blanche states that she lacks the courage to talk/speak, which I interpret as she loves Christabel, but her love is one-sided. What Christabel feels for her is something else. There is Blanche's description of the "Peeping Tom" event, that begins with "Where is the frankness of intercourse? Where the small, unspeakable things that we used to shared in quiet harmony?" Are they lovers? No. This is all in Blanche's mind. It's unspeakable or nonactionable. Blanche has always lacked the courage to act on this aspect of her love for Christabel. She breaks down, goes to her room to pray, cries and is comforted by Christabel. "we were quiet together, in our special way..." is not a description of lesbian love, but of the helpmeet being acknowledged or appreciated by the master. (Mari) Then again, I'm the person who is still certain that Ash fathered the maid's baby.:-) It's a possibility and certainly fits into my more recent views of "Randy" Ash. ;-D (Moon) What a horrible choice for Roland. :-( You said it, girl!

For whom is a journal written? The writer and for posterity, to create an image, an image that may or may not bear any resemblance to reality. Such were the journals kept by Ellen Ash Too bad for Cs last letter to Ash which she decided to bury in the small box.It was the final proof that they all needed to confirm C's and Ash's affair, and it was all thanks to Ellen, who had tried so hard to ignore it in her journal. Blanche is the same type of "helpmeet" as Ellen Ash. They ran the household, dealt with the mundane, and adored their masters in their silent ways. Exactly. One does get to be possessive of one's "home" I'm on the nonlesbian relationship side and think Moon did an excellent job of stating many of the reasons AND she did if far more succinctly than I would have. ;-D *Blushing* You are too kind, girlfriend. :-D

Then why did Blanche kill herself??? It just doesn't add up that they didn't have a physical relationship... perhaps they were soul mates in the sense that they loved each other but in a non-physical way??

Then why did Blanche kill herself??? It just doesn't add up that they didn't have a physical relationship... Have you been reading the previous posts? I hope your migraine is better.

Spirited defense, Moon and Karen! I say: Picky, picky, picky ;-)

Just because Byatt doesn't come out and say that they had a lesbian affair... I am SO not going to win this argument. Anyone read EM Forster's Maurice? Same sitch. Waiting for doctor to call... gotta love drs...

(Mari) Spirited defense, Moon and Karen! I say: Picky, picky, picky *hee hee* You ain't seen nothing yet! ;-D (Laura) Then why did Blanche kill herself??? It just doesn't add up that they didn't have a physical relationship... (Moon) Have you been reading the previous posts? I hope your migraine is better. Pffft! LOL! ;-) As my soul sister said, way up there on message 228, Blanche had nothing and feared losing Christabel. B and C were brave women, striking out on their own, making a life dedicated to good works (blah blah), without men. Brave for that time. However, C was the breadwinner; they mainly subsisted on C's money. She had nothing but pride and wouldn't live on charity. Goodness knows, she couldn't revert to being something like a governess, which in her view was a nonentity. Blanche committed suicide while Christabel was away in France. Not hardly likely that Christabel told her much about what was going on. That was her secret, her private space. Christabel only told her sister. Blanche may well have thought that Christabel was running away with Ash, another reason to end her life. BTW, haven't forgotten about Ash's next morning reaction...

(Moon) How dare he think that she would not be a virgin! Is that why he asked her to come along with him? Did he think she was an easy lay? Perhaps that's why LaBute is making Christabel a redhead? Cheap henna, anyone? ;-D

Ok, time to roll out *my* heavy artillery.;-) 1. Ash is not Maia's father. David Crosby is. 2. Blanche did not commit suicide. She was, however, found wandering half-dressed and incoherent in the desert outside Fresno. 3. The salutation on Christabel's note to Blanche is "Dear Cutie-Patootie." 4. Their every move is chronicled in Liz Smith's column. 5. Doesn't Christabel wear a dress with lavendar trim? Or maybe she smelled like lavendar. Or maybe that was Maud. Or was that orchids? Sheesh, all the clues are right there, folks.;-)

LOL! You have been reading too many People magazines.

Since we're on Chrissy and Blanche, can anyone enlighten me on the significance of their home, Bethany Cottage. The name does refer to the New Testament, of which I have little knowledge. Most likely, it is ironic, just as Cropper's place in New Mexico is totally ironic.

It would appear (or not) that Ellen Ash shares some of your same suspicions, Mari, about Randy. ;-D From her diary on June 10th: "I do not believe my dearest Randolph would ever consider applying his hand--or anything else to any young person in our employment. Or anything else? What could she have in mind? *shocked*

Maybe this is what blocked Bea too. ;-) I prefer to believe that he would not be involved with someone in the same house as Ellen. It would be truly stereotyping Ash and I do not think his poetic sensibilities would approve of being stereotyped at all. :-) Why would he care so much about his child with Christabel if he already had one? He was a man possessed, he needed to know.

Karen, re: your question on Bethany Cottage. In the New Testament, Bethany was the hometown of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha. Not sure how that might fit in, but Mary and Martha are sometimes cited by contemporary theologists as evidence of Jesus's belief in the essential equality of men and women, as they had access to Him and to places that women absolutely did not in those days. RE: Randy (I like that--have we finally discovered Byatt's intended meaning of his name?;-) I don't have the book with me here, but there are lines I can quote later which IMO point to Ash's fathering the maid's child.

Hey , Yesterday I went by 30 Russell Square where Crabb Robinson had the now famous breakfast. The building now houses the Univ. of London offices for the English Lit Dept.!Don't know the # of Randy's house...I know it's on Great Russell street. So he probably walked over to Crabb's . Wonder why Crabb didn't invite Ellen? He invited Blanche. OhGod....I'm getting like Cropper and Leonora.

Pssst, Evelyn . . .Sloane Gardens. From the Mirror: SPACED-OUT SLOANES CUT GWYNETH DEAD.. GWYNETH Paltrow has many fans. Just not in the exclusive London street where she's shooting her new movie. The fragile beauty is filming scenes for Possession in a house in Sloane Gardens, a small street just off snooty Sloane Square. But locals were fuming into their muesli when seven trucks suddenly showed up and parked in resident spaces, before suspending all the parking on the rest of the road. "I called up the local council to complain and all they said was: 'Well, it is Gwyneth Paltrow, after all,'" says local resident and socialite Cindy Jackson. "I can't believe it. They have taken over the entire street. I told the council I hope they deduct two days' council tax from my next bill because of the inconvenience. "I don't care who Gwyneth is." That's told her.

*hee hee* I've felt exactly like that numerous times. Thanks for the location update, Mari. Can stop looking in the northern papers for info. (Moon) Why would he care so much about his child with Christabel if he already had one? Ah, supposing that he was the father, Ash didn't know about the maid's situation. She ran off while he was in Yorkshire. (Mari) the essential equality of men and women, as they had access to Him and to places that women absolutely did not in those days. I think that fits in v.v. nicely. Both Christabel and Blanche were attempting to live independent lives showing their equality with men of that period. Perhaps the irony is that they failed. Christabel became the witch in the turret and Blanche went into the river. BTW, there's no question in my mind that it must relate to the Lazurus story, as his name is mentioned a number of times. Christabel and Ash debate it in the letters??? However, I was trying to make a case for the hospitality aspect of M&M. One was an exemplary homemaker/host and the other was all devotion. Couldn't make heads or tails of that one. Like what you've related, Mari. (Mari) but there are lines I can quote later which IMO point to Ash's fathering the maid's child. Do tell!! What else have I missed? I've always gone on Ellen Ash's journal (which I love) and the many ways you can read into it. My favs have to be the "cross-outs." ;-D (Evelyn) Wonder why Crabb didn't invite Ellen? She was straining her jam. ;-D

Evelyn, I hope you can match Karen here. Get to Sloane Sq. ;-) (Evelyn) Wonder why Crabb didn't invite Ellen? Victorian Ellen could not possibly think there would be ladies there. (Mari) but there are lines I can quote later which IMO point to Ash's fathering the maid's child. (Karen), Do tell!! What else have I missed? Do not keep us in suspense too long. :-)

The part about Randy that bothers me comes toward the end, when Byatt is relating what happened when Randy tells Ellen about the affair. First off, Ash told Christabel he wouldn't talk about Ellen because it was a betrayal and vice versa. Then, what, a couple of months after Yorkshire and Christabel's disappearance, he blurts it out??? IMO, he betrayed Christabel. Then it gets worse...Ellen says she's known. He said, "How long?" his proud crest fallen." his proud crest!!! Ash was proud he had an affair and wanted to show his wife that what??? he was desirable to other women??? Is he trying to goad her into jealousy??? Didn't like that description one bit. Not one bit. Definitely made me wonder about him. But then again, we'll never know because we're not supposed to know. As Byatt would put it, these are private things and no one should know.

so angry I forgot to close my tag. done now. ;-D

"How long?" his proud crest fallen." his proud crest!!! Ash was proud he had an affair and wanted to show his wife that what??? Maybe he was proud of himself by not telling Ellen of his affair. He was proud that he had not hurt her intentionally by admitting it to her and even expecting her to accept it. His crest had fallen when he realized that it was not so, and that his dear Ellen had known about it. His proud crest fallen, he was ashamed.

Right after Maud and Beatrice have read Ellen's journal, they discuss it, starting with Maud: "What happened to Bertha?" "We never find out. She doesn't tell. Or even if she went after her." "It must have been terrible for Bertha. She--Ellen--doesn't seem to see . . ." "Doesn't she?" "Oh, I don't know. She describes her clearly. Poor Bertha." "Dust and ashes," Beatrice surprisingly said. "Long ago. and the child, if it was born." Clearly, IMO, Maud and Beatrice strongly suspect that Ash is the father. Then a bit earlier, from Ellen's journal, we read: "She (Bertha) expressed no penitence, but also no defiance, asking me only over and over 'What can I do?' to which I have no sufficent answer. 'It all continues on whatever I will, ' she strangely said." I interpret this to mean that Bertha feels that her course of action (i.e., whether to reveal Ash as the father) will pretty much decide the fate of Ellen and Ash's marriage.

Right after Maud and Beatrice have read Ellen's journal, they discuss it, starting with Maud: And we know they have been wrong about other things too. "She (Bertha) expressed no penitence, but also no defiance, asking me only over and over 'What can I do?' to which I have no sufficent answer. 'It all continues on whatever I will, ' she strangely said." The Victorian Ellen was thinking that no matter how much I help her, she will do it again (have sex), since she has expressed no penitence. There is no proof that she suspects her husband. Byatt once again is showing the difference between Ellen (and her Victorian beliefs), and another woman. It alienates Ellen even further from Ash. Ironically it sets the reader up to be more sympathetic with Ash when he desperately wants to know about his child with Christabel.

I am very partial to Ash, can you tell? ;-)

(Moon) And we know they have been wrong about other things too. Ah, but there's no evidence that they're wrong about this thing.:-) (Moon) There is no proof that she suspects her husband. I didn't say she did. My point is that the passage gives us an insight into what *Bertha* is thinking, as Bertha is the only one who knows the truth. Her thoughts are revealed by Byatt through Ellen's words--not Ellen's thoughts. Will be interesting to see how the film handles this!

Thanks for the quotes, Mari. Will have to think about it some more. Yes, both Beatrice and Maud have come to that conclusion, and I especially trust Beatrice's instincts. She *knows* and *understands* Maud only became a reliable interpreter of events a few pages prior, during her discussion with Bea, the part about how to interpret omissions and sexual metaphors. (p. 241) "I agree, Dr Nest. In fact I do agree. The whole of our scholarship--the whole of our thought--we question everything except the centrality of sexuality..." "Dust and ashes," Beatrice surprisingly said. "Long ago. and the child, if it was born." If Bea thinks the child is relevant, then it is. I stand behind Bea. (Bertha) 'It all continues on whatever I will, ' she strangely said." (Mari) I interpret this to mean that Bertha feels that her course of action (i.e., whether to reveal Ash as the father) will pretty much decide the fate of Ellen and Ash's marriage. I don't follow how, am dense. ;-) (Moon) There is no proof that she suspects her husband. It's always in the interpretation. I think what she wrote about Randolph never applying his hand--or anything else--says it all. Anything else? Whatever could she mean? A foot? I think not. Ellen wrote those journals with an aim to baffle us, as Bea says. There is truth hidden amongst the boring details and glossed-over accounts of significant events. (Moon) I am very partial to Ash, can you tell? ;-) Really? ;-D (Moon) Will be interesting to see how the film handles this! Have probably tossed this out, as unnecessary in manner of hair color and brightly colored headscarf. ;-D

(Karen) The part about Randy that bothers me comes toward the end, when Byatt is relating what happened when Randy tells Ellen about the affair. First off, Ash told Christabel he wouldn't talk about Ellen because it was a betrayal and vice versa. Then, what, a couple of months after Yorkshire and Christabel's disappearance, he blurts it out??? IMO, he betrayed Christabel. This bothered me too. Ash told Ellen to relieve his own guilt. Whether Ellen knew or ot really does not matter. I wonder how they handled the knowledge on a day-to-day basis with the harsh reality of his infidelity intruding into their pretend lives. As to whether Ash was the father of Bertha's baby, only Bertha knew so we never will. If I were Ellen, living in a chaste marriage, I would have some doubts as to the paternity. Even if Ellen never consciously faced the possibility that the baby belonged to her husband, she must have had some unexpressed fears about it.

I still have a hard time believing that Ash would do such a thing in his own house with his most Victorian wife there. Remember the letters he sent Ellen when he was at the seaside with Christabel? How could he be guilt-ridden when having an affair far from home and simply be non-chalant about doing it with Bertha in the same house with Ellen? It does not make any sense at all.

(Moon) How could he be guilt-ridden when having an affair far from home and simply be non-chalant about doing it with Bertha in the same house with Ellen? Good point! However, what went on with Bertha was physical, whereas his relationship with Christabel was far more. He loved her or was possessed by her. Spiritual vs. physical Ash would feel guilt over loving another woman since he was pledged to love Ellen. Bertha was more convenient than going to a pro. (Moon) Remember the letters he sent Ellen when he was at the seaside with Christabel? I felt the same way about them as Maud did. Supreme indignation that he was writing as if nothing was going on, while he was with another woman. Then that brooch he sent her with the poem with this line: So may our love, safe in your heart from harm Your heart? Not--our hearts! But Ellen knew things were bad. Just before the poem is one of her crossouts. They add soooo much. They tell you what she really felt. Despite all [crossed out] We have been so happy in our life together, even our separations contribute to the trust and deep affection that is between us. "Despite all" Despite all the what??? And this is before Blanche shows up and Ellen's migraines start.

"Despite all" Despite all the what??? Despite all the failed attempts at... sleeping together. :-( So may our love, safe in your heart from harm He might have been using the third person plural with our love. Which is how I read it. what went on with Bertha was physical, whereas his relationship with Christabel was far more. He loved her or was possessed by her. Spiritual vs. physical Ash would feel guilt over loving another woman since he was pledged to love Ellen. Bertha was more convenient than going to a pro. I too think he loved Christabel. She was his anima gemella. But he was possessed by Ellen, because she was his wife. I still say that he would not have gone with Bertha in the same house as Ellen. Bertha, IMO, had a boyfriend she became pregnant with. Her pleading for help from Ellen was typical behaviour of servant/master back then. Bordellos were quite common then too, and more convenient for Ash who would not want to hurt Ellen feelings. We have had ample proof that he did not want to hurt her feelings.

Fascinating discussion...pardon the interruption.. Thanks Mari for the location tip....Yesterday aft on the way to the Byatt Lecture I stopped off at Sloane Sq and checked out Sloane Gardens.Lovely spot ...all the houses made of a brick (Cotswold bricks?). Identical architecture, three storey, porches...all flats..very elegant. Sadly all the trailers were gone.I don't remember Maud going back to London BTW. The Byatt Lecture: Cerebral to say the least.Raining buckets outside and the Royal College of Music is not easy to find...still, I persevered.(Americans are tough!!) About 50 people in a med size theatre.The lecture centered on "What do artists and scientists have in common and what do they do for one another". Scintillating, uh? The audience was divided between artists and scientists (hands went up..)Hey, mine went up with the artists! Book lover 'n all that stuff.There was an art historian and scientist from Oxford, Byatt (who repped textual creativity) and an artist. At the end I asked Ms. Byatt to autograph her latest book for Karen[Happy Birthday,K].I commented something about being in a Possession discussion online. Then asked her about the film...her face dropped. Clearly she is not happy . The script was sent to her , she did make some corrections.I told her we had apprehensions about the director and asked if she knew about him. She said she has checked out some of his films...I told her to go see Nurse Betty or she would be devastated. I did not have a chance to ask about Bertha's baby or Christabel's trans-gender possiblity.I was the only one asking for an autograph , but others were behind with questions.Sorry. Oh...she did not think Roland being an American would make any difference...but she wants Cropper to be an American. Another one of her books is slated to be a film..(one about Tennyson???) with a "British director and British cast and not as big a budget". At that point, my face dropped:-))

Thanks, Evelyn, artiste! It seems she did not seem happy with the script. What does she look like?

(Moon)What does she look like? Nice smile...gray hair...matronly.It was raining...we all looked like hell. You'd never guess she was one of "Britains's most famous authors".

oops

Byatt will NOT answer the trans-gender questions at all. Its for the reader to make up his/her mind. She's said that in previous lectures. I'm jealous, my favorite author and you met her (what new book??) is it the fourth in the Frederica Potter series???? K-you lucky duck! Tennyson??? What book could that be??? (I thought Possession was based on Tennyson just the poetry aspect, not the whole story...)

The new book...just published is called:The Biographer's Tale. Glad I didn't ask the questions...but affirms what I've been saying about her...she likes to tease the reader...gives them enough to get ambiguous answers. Tennyson??? What book could that be??? I dunno. I've only read Possession....and didn't want her to think I was a complete clunk.So I just smiled and said "Really? Wonderful". Though I have a little chance of seeing a small budget film with an obscure British director and cast .

(Moon) Despite all the failed attempts at... sleeping together. :-( Oh, I doubt Randy every tried again with Ellen. Probably never laid a hand on her. I think the "despite all" refers to the fact that they weren't really married in a true sense. Their life together was a sham. Remember, Ellen considered Christabel his true wife after she found out many years later they had had a child together from that scrap of note Ash had left in his desk. (Moon) He might have been using the third person plural with our love. Nice try, but no cigar. ;-D The Ash-Bertha thing is a possibility in my mind and Byatt has given several hints but nothing definite. (Ellen could be a v. heavy sleeper. Besides, they probably had separate bedrooms) Thanks for the report on meeting Byatt, Evelyn. Horrible weather that night. What a trooper! (Laura) Tennyson??? What book could that be??? That's the second story in the Angels & Insects book. It is entitled "The Conjugal Angel." The film that was made (with KST) is actually from the first story called Morpho Eugenia. Hence, Angels and Insects (Morpho) (Laura) Byatt will NOT answer the trans-gender questions at all. Its for the reader to make up his/her mind. She's said that in previous lectures. And what previous lectures might those be? I agree that many things are purposely kept secret from the reader, but Byatt has answered questions on this before and has even written about it. In my piles of stuff related to this book, I had this but had forgotten it. Wish I could've referred to it when I was defending my position three years ago. This from an essay Byatt wrote on her inspirations for writing Possession:I made a decision: there should be two couples, man and woman, one alive and one dead. The novel would concern the complex relations between these two pairs....I was teaching that great novel, The Bostonians, with its world of "witches, wizards, mediums, and spirit-rappers and roaring radicals" to a generation of students involved in the politics of gender, who disliked Henry James's tragi-comic treatment of lesbian passion. It occurred to me that in the world of nineteenth-century spiritualism and feminism, possession had both its meanings at once. So there was a need for the nineteenth-century woman to be a lesbian, or b>thought to be a lesbian, and the twentieth-century woman scholar to be a feminist.To read the whole thing, go here: http://www.asbyatt.com/Posses.htm

From the Sep 30 Irish Times (by Michael Dwyer): IRISH actor Tom Hickey has joined the cast of the new Neil LaBute film, Possession, adapted by Laura Jones and LaBute himself from A.S. Byatt's Booker Prize-winning novel, Possession. The story deals with the relationship between two Victorian poets, played by Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle, and the romance that ensues when two contemporary academics (Aaron Echhart and Gwyneth Paltrow) study them. The film, which is shooting on Yorkshire locations and at Shepperton Studios outside London, also features Toby Stephens, Anna Massey, Graham Crowden, Trevor Eve and Tom Hollander. Shame, doesn't say what part he plays :-(

Apart from TS, I have a hard time matching faces to these actors. I might recognize them if I see them but can not match the name. Thanks for the link, Karen. Byatt is not too ambiguous. ;-)

Tom Hickey was the one you said would play Blackadder when I posted those pics.

When she was touring with Babel Tower, Karen and Kate (from Australia) asked when Byatt was in NYC (during Babel Tower tour again). Cheryl K also asked in London about a year ago. She is very mum about it.

Kate (who met up with Jane Elizabeth, another of my discussion group people) went to the NYC booksigning. She asked Byatt: "Were Christabel and Blanche lovers?" Kate said Byatt was "quite happy to answer." And said the following: "Oh I think so" and went on to talk about the poetry. I maintain, however, that Byatt is playing with us because as an author she should "know so"; they are her characters. Also, why would she write that essay? I remember CherylK's report on meeting Byatt. Don't think she even asked her.

...and, correction, Byatt was touring for The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

Have finally finished Possession. Whew. I found the writing a bit too...flowery? colorful? for my taste; however, I realize there was a point to all that imagery. I suppose I got too caught up trying to figure out the literary references, a small fraction of which I used to know. Therefore, I felt the genious of the book went right over my head. Having said that, I found the story fascinating--really made me think, stop, go back and reassess what was going on. At one point Ash tells Christabel that she likes to tease with riddles, which is precisely what Byatt is doing. Evelyn summed it up nicely: I think Byatt is purposely trying to make the relationship ambiguous to the reader.This book is a multi-layered mystery..not just story-wise, but character-wise too.I'm reading it the second time...and now that I'm not conscentrating on the story, I see nuances that she sticks in to throw the reader off guard. Byatt starts her last chapter (when she knows the reader is hopelessly hooked) with an Ash poem: "In certain moods we eat our lives away In fast successive greed; we must have more Although that more depletes our little stock Of time and peace remaining. We are driven By endings as by hunger. We must know How it comes out, the shape o' the whole..." My impression of Blanche and Christabel's relationship: it strikes me as one-sided love, with Blanche being the pursuer. If they had been truly lovers, I would think Christabel would have taken more steps to keep the entire Ash relationship a secret. She had Ash redirect his letters not at the start but only after it became known that Blanche was stealing them. As it was, she realized Blanche's feelings were hurt but I never got the impression Christabel was cheating on Blanche with Ash. (BTW, loved your 'rationale', Mari--LOL!). However, I have to admit I thought twice when I got to Ash's morning-after ponderings. My impression of Ash and Bertha's 'relationship': must admit this, too, flew over my head. It hadn't even occurred to me as a possibility. At that point, Ellen's journal revealed to me how generally nonconfrontational and in denial she was (though I knew one had to read between the lines). I thought this characterization would eventually be applied to Ellen's discovery of Ash and Christabel's relationship, which turned out to be non-climactic. But the possibility of Ash having a sexual relationship with a servant, right under his wife's nose...very intriguing. We see he has the capacity for duplicity--he sends those loving letters to Ellen while he's sleeping with Christabel. We know he's not a virgin though he's never had sex with his wife (which could be explained in other ways, though). Hmmm. This could change my impression of Ash, of whom I thought as being very noble (by that I mean trying to do good by everyone). My thoughts about Ash finding his daughter: *sniff* This caught me off guard. I don't think he was looking for Christabel, though. I think he went expressly to see Maia, having found her using the same means he employed to determine that Christabel disappeared to Brittany. All in all, the scene really punches up the tragedy that was Ash and Christabel's relationship. As for the movie: still can't fathom AE as Roland (and I've seen Erin Brockovich). It's not a commentary on his acting ability but the way the character is drawn in the book--smaller, darker, etc. AE's physicality doesn't immediately lend itself to a meek and passive character, IMO. However, I must keep resisting the urge to think of the movie in terms of the book, which will likely resemble eachother in basic plot lines only. Lastly (for now ;-)), your timing is something, Ev! Thanks for going to the lecture, asking those questions of Byatt and for sharing everything so quickly.

(Karen) She asked Byatt: "Were Christabel and Blanche lovers?" Kate said Byatt was "quite happy to answer." And said the following: "Oh I think so" AHA! I am vindicated! (Why did you hold back on us, hmmm?;-) (Eileen) We see he has the capacity for duplicity--he sends those loving letters to Ellen while he's sleeping with Christabel. Exactly. I never saw Ash as particularly noble or honest.

...because she wrote the exact opposite in her essay! Besides, with my convoluted way of thinking, it was TOO obvious and therefore not true. Did you follow? ;-D (Mari) I never saw Ash as particularly noble or honest. Me neither. When you reread the correspondence, he starts by professing to only want her brain but then he makes the great leap to her person and her home. Don't forget, he's the Prowler, the Peeping Tom, and the Wolf at the door. (Eileen) he sends those loving letters fungus in petri dishes - loving??? ;-D

There is a picture of GP kissing Ben Affleck in today's Daily Mail. They are taking a stroll in Paris. No mention of Possession but it is possible they are now filming in France.

The Mirror has an article about GP and BA too. Made it sound as though it were a weekend getaway. But funniest thing was this line: "Gwyneth, who is filming in London with Joseph Fiennes..." Ya see, if the Mirror thinks Joe would be a better Roland! ;-D (Eileen) don't think he was looking for Christabel, though. I think he went expressly to see Maia What led you to believe that? Any line in particular?

(Karen) But funniest thing was this line: "Gwyneth, who is filming in London with Joseph Fiennes..." Ya see, if the Mirror thinks Joe would be a better Roland! ;-D Agreed! Too bad Joe didn't go to school with NLB. Besides, with my convoluted way of thinking, it was TOO obvious and therefore not true. Did you follow? ;-D I follow. But good arguments can be made for both points of view, which is just what Byatt wanted. Put the "were Blanche and Christabel lovers" question next to "how far did Edward go with Heloise in the moss loft?". ;-) (Karen) fungus in petri dishes - loving??? ;-D Kinda boring, I thought. But there was also that 'hold my love in your heart' or whatever. Can't say I blame Ash for falling for Christabel. They were soulmates, and he wasn't getting any (sorry, crude) at home. I found him sympathetic. Wonder how he'll be portrayed in the film. (Moi) don't think he was looking for Christabel, though. I think he went expressly to see Maia (Karen) What led you to believe that? Any line in particular? I think it was the date--1868, 9 years after their affair. Out of the blue he shows up for Christabel, after all this time? It seemed more natural to me that he came to see Maia. We're never told how he found out that Christabel went to Brittany. However, true to Byatt's ambiguious form, I can see your point of view, supported by the line "Tell your aunt," he said, "that you met a poet, who was looking for the Belle Dame Sans Merci, and who met you instead, and who sends her his compliments, and will not disturb her, and is on his way to fresh woods and pastures new." How the script interprets all the ambiguity (which IMO makes the book so fascinating) will be interesting to see.

Inasmuch as I told Ms. Byatt that we are discussing her book online, I wonder if we sent her a list of questions, if she would answer...

I wonder if we sent her a list of questions, if she would answer... Yeah, right, Gill will make sure she gets them in, say, 20 years if we're lucky. I've got breezeblocks (love that word!!) that'd make better and more responsive secretaries than she. ;-D

Evelyn, what was her reaction to hearing that it was being discussed online? BTW, thanks for your on-the-scene report. Good stuff. Was interesting to hear that she got a look-see at the screenplay. Most times, once the rights are sold, the author's next look at it is in the movie theater. Don't know why, but had been picturing her as younger than you described.

(Mari)Evelyn, what was her reaction to hearing that it was being discussed online? She smiled and seemed pleased and surprised.Really wants us to discuss that Tennyson one that Karen says is the other half of Angels and Insects.... uh, uh...sounds boring. I think the questions are worth a shot.

Hold onto your seats... Charlotte has scanned in about 10 pictures and sent them to me. Unfortunately, Yahoo mail is misbehaving this morning. Two have Jennifer in them, although you can't see her face in one. The second, with Jennifer and Jeremy standing near the top of the 199 steps and Whitby Abbey in the background, is worthy of any studio's publicity stills! Need to shrink the pics as are huge. Hopefully will have up later today.

*clap clap* Goody! Thanks in advance to Charlotte for sharing and Karen for posting. Have been to Whitby. Excellent setting.

Looking forward to seeing them. Thank you Charlotte and Karen!

So glad you are all still here! I'm slowly "listening" to the book, and am now at the point where he takes her little gloved hand in his on the train and asks her if she wants to be "his wife" for their time away. I can see Jennifer so clearly in this scene. Charlotte is described as having a strong face, and Jennifer certainly has that too. When I get time, I want to write about the sensations listening to the book bring to me. I particularly loved the part about the old couple at Seal Court. I could see the snow, and feel the cold in that ancient house, and see the wheelchair, and, just today, the description of the cave and the light...So wonderful.

I know you're all eagerly awaiting the pics, but Yahoo was not cooperating yesterday. Will try to finish up later today. This is the best one of Jennifer. There's another one (which I hadn't received before) that has Jeremy close up on the street, but Jennifer's back is to the camera. We do get however a good shot of Neil. ;-D More later

Lovely. Thanks Charlotte and Karen.

They do not seem happy, too much apart, so pensive. It will be intersting to see the sequence in the film. Lovely!

Thanks for these, Charlotte and Karen. I love her cloak! Looking forward to seeing the others. Murph, that scene on the train is so vivid, isn't it? Is it an abridged reading, or the entire book? Would love to hear more about it when you finish.

Mari: It is unabridged. I useRecorded Books. Have for years. They have the best readers and selection, IMO. They also give you plenty of time to keep it.

WOW, it has been awhile since I have been on these boards. I was so excited to see the pictures of Jennifer in Possession already. Well, I think its her under all those clothes. Thanks to everyone involved in getting them and posting them. I just saw the Winslow Boy and I think JN and JE are going to me soooooo good as Ash and Christabel. I had only seen him in Emma but after seeing TWB I think he is perfect for the role. Of course JE being right for the role goes without saying. Michelle

Thanks Karen and Charlotte for the photos. I love the cloak also Mari but the crinoline is enormous, no wonder they are not standing very close together.Also what a lovely setting, can't wait for this movie, although the performances will be great I am sure, I am also looking forward to seeing all the wonderful locations especially the ones in Yorkshire.

More from the Charlotte exclusive collection: Jeremy, Neil (in yellow) and probably JE's standin alongside fence toward top, as is both red-headed and wearing same cape...but is definitely not Jennifer: Ash in closeup: Jennifer with head down and Jeremy walk off. The white is a balcony wall in case you're wondering ;-)

And who is the guy behind Jennifer? Adrian perhaps? Only kidding, don't throw a (chic) cow. ;-)))) JN looks great! You are right about the stand in. Thanks for posting.

Actually it is funny that you should say that you thought JN looks great Moon, and you know him better than me, but I thought it didn't look a bit like him especially in the middle close-up, his nose seems longer, or is it the angle of the camera. Also I don't dislike JE's hair colour, it is not bright red as it was at times on Broadway. Also it looks as if the chap with the dog will have a nice photo of them both.Thanks Karen and Charlotte, this is great fun, azren't we lucky to get a preview.

WOW !!! great pics Charlotte..you are a great photographer..can we use them for the JE website?....first ones of P.What a coup! Thanks Karen for scanning... I think that's Jennifer's stand-in by the fence or an extra...face doesn't look like her...JN looks fabulous in that great coat...like Mr.Bennett's. (Moon)They do not seem happy, too much apart, so pensive. Poets are never happy people.It's part of their DNA;-)

Stand-ins don't have to look like the actors, just be same height and coloring, so they can stand there for hours while the lighting guys do stuff. That one looks close enough like Jennifer. Moon, that other guy is an extra. He's in another shot as well.

Moon, that other guy is an extra. I've guessed that! Really, Karen! ;-) The stand-ins also get the heads in the shot when they do the other actor's close ups.

Sorry, have headache. *must take aspirin and off to see George Washington at FF* ;-)

(Moon) They do not seem happy, too much apart, so pensive. (AnnW) but the crinoline is enormous, no wonder they are not standing very close together. But that is correct. Christabel is very independent, doesn't act wifely; she doesn't cling to her man. "They walked to the sea. He watched their footprints, his in a straight line by the water's edge, hers snaking away and back, meeting his, wandering, meeting again. She did not take his arm, though once or twice, when they coincided, she took hold of it, and stepped along beside him rapidly for a time. They both walked very quickly...."

Christabel is very independent, doesn't act wifely; she doesn't cling to her man. It figures Neil would not change this part. ;-)

I've put all the pics up, although I should go back and adjust the AE ones, which are too dark... another day. http://www.geocities.com/nomdedrool/possession2.html And here's the lady who made it all possible, Charlotte with AE:

After closely perusing these pictures, have come to the following conclusions: AARON ECKHART IS A MAJOR BABE! The mole is a hunk! Oooh, Charlotte, more details please. You seem to fit *very* nicely under his arm. Was he sweet? He sure looks sweet.;-) Check out the cleft, ladies. Looks like the public had unusually good access to the filming. Any pics with you and Jeremy and if so, was he also sweet?:-) Sorry, seems Bridget Jones has taken temporary control of my keyboard here and she is about to ask what their favorite colors and desserts are, and if Possession will spore a confessional gender.;-) ;-)

LOL, Mari! I admit that AE has never looked better. How was he Charlotte? Do tell. :-) The site looks great, Karen.

Thanks Charlotte and Karen. The pictures are wonderful. It's great not to have to wonder for months what the characters will look like. I never imagined Christabel in such volumous clothes or Ash in such wild-west looking clothes. He'll be whipping out his twelve-shooter any time. I agree with Mari-AE is a babe. I think all of my objections to him being Roland have just flown out the window. Lucky Charlotte got to have a little snuggle with him. :-))

Karen, shouldn't JN as RA be sporting a beard, or have I misread it.

After closely perusing these pictures, have come to the following conclusions: AARON ECKHART IS A MAJOR BABE! Earth to Mari, earth to Mari....where've you been, dearie? ;-D ;-D The mole is a hunk! Real moles don't sell movie tickets...otherwise NLB would be starring as Roland. ;-) Thanks again for the pics, Charlotte and Karen. Is that Jen with her back to the camera (in the pic where you point out the probable extra)? She's behind the man in the baseball-style cap, who is behind Jeremy (apologies if this was previously noted).

(Eileen)Is that Jen with her back to the camera? Sleuth-Eileen...I think you're right...looks like the same cape and hood as the picture on the steps. Pic #1 with JN and JE on the steps with the Whitby Abbey above is a beauty.Charlotte, you should enter that one in a contest...

Just to say thankyou for all your kind comments, I am really glad that you all enjoyed looking at them, I must say at first Arron looked quite stressed, (probably working with Gwyneth!!). But when I asked for a photo he was lovely, it was fantastic to have such great access to the stars, but I had to sneak past bodyguards etc to get that sneaky photo. He is so handsome in real life I almost had a heart attack!

Had to stop in when I saw this... the IMDB has lots of names and their roles. Aside from the ones we already know: Trevor Eve....Prof. Morton Cropper (s/b Mortimer and s/b an American!) Toby Stephens....Fergus (right, since there's no Val, why would there be a Euan) Anna Massey.... Lady Bailey Holly Aird....Ellen Ash Felicity Brangan....Lucy Craig Crosby....Hildebrand Graham Crowden....Sir George Bailey Holly Earl....May Elodie Frenck....Sabine Tom Hickey....Blackadder Tom Hollander ???? Alexi Kaye Campbell....Auction Director Barbara Pierson....Mrs. Cammish Jonty Stephens....Shop Owner Natalie Stevenson....Kate's Assistant ~~~~~~~ There's no Blanche, no Leonora, no Bea... so far (I hope)

Holly Aird was Jo, Sarah's flatmate in Fever Pitch. My candidate for Bridget! Trevor Eve....Prof. Morton Cropper (s/b Mortimer and s/b an American!) ASByatt told me that the script originally had Cropper a Brit...and she said "ridiculous, no Englishman would have the money to make those purchases" [I doubt that]. She added..."there's no reason why British actors can play Americans!They can do American accents". [Aren't you proud of me for not getting into British/American accents fracas!] Who is Lucy?...who is Hildebrand? Thanks Karen.

Karen, wasn't Lena Headey reported to be in Possession, perhaps she plays Blanche.

Also I can't see Holly Aird as Ellen, she is too feisty, I sort of imagine Ellen as being a bit timid.

IMDb also gives locations; Leighton Hall in Lancashire...can't find a pic. also.. Stonor Park in Buckinghamshire.. Historic home of Lord and Lady Camoys and the Stonor family for over 800 years. The house is surrounded by a wooded deer park in a valley in the Chiltern Hills. With its origins in the 12th century the house has architectural features of medieval Tudor and Georgian periods now with a warm red brick facade. The ancient family catholic chapel is situated alongside near the site of a pre-historic stone circle. To the rear of the house a hillside walled garden affords commanding views of the deer park. Think this could be Seal Court?But isn't it too far south?

Actually, one could be used for the exterior of Seal Court and another could be the interiors? Don't think being in Buckinghamshire means anything. The house can be anywhere. Here's Leighton Hall: The original fortified manor house was built on the site in 1246, but was largely destroyed in the Jacobite rising of 1715. Very little of the original house now remains and a classical house was built on the ruins of the original house in 1760. It was refaced in the "Gothic" style in 1820 by the present owner's ancestor, Richard Gillow and further enlarged in 1870 by the addition of the Victorian wing and conservatory. More details here: http://www.uehha.org/en/North_West/leighton.htm

Trevor Eve with a southern accent! That is something to look forward too. I want to know if we are going to find out what his particular "narrow" sexual preferences are....... Such a good cast. This is going to be something to see. Thanks to you Charlotte, and Karen, for such treats.

Oh, I like Leighton Hall...looks cold and eerie like Seal Court. Trevor Eve with a southern accent! Cropper is from New Mexico...they don't speak with a southern accent.Although the Coppers were from Mississippi originally. Actually, that scenario is the one I find most unreal. Why did the author pick New Mexico? Such a desperately poor state...they don't even have a med school.Why would the Robert Dale Owen Uni have a wing devoted to an obscure British poet on the strength of an insipid letter.

Irony. All that European architecture and formal landscaping; perfectly harmonious with the desert. Remember it was in Harmony City!

Uhm, don't hit me if I'm wrong, but wasn't New Harmony in Indiana?

(Ann) shouldn't JN as RA be sporting a beard, or have I misread it. You have not misread it. Ash definitely has a beard. This is mentioned several times in the book. On page 19, we read a description of three images of Ash that Roland possesses. Apparently someone must have shaved him after he died, but they don't know who or when. I can't remember if there's an answer for it in the book. Who do you think shaved him? Also, as someone else pointed out on this board, on p298 the beard is mentioned again.

Thanks Tineke, I think I would prefer him with a beard.

...he would look more distinguished.

Yes, there is a New Harmony, Indiana, which was founded by Robert Owen. It was a utopian, socialist community. *hitting Tineke with a wet noodle* The p. 298 beard reference is precisely when then Whitby action takes place. Maybe after the first night, Christabel said, "that beard has to go!" ;-D

(Evelyn), I like Leighton Hall...looks cold and eerie like Seal Court. I like the choice too. Why did the author pick New Mexico? I like NM. The people that gravitate there are rather interesting. It made sense to me. Of course, in the film the Uni could be in the South. It is still all a mystery. (Tineke), Apparently someone must have shaved him after he died, but they don't know who or when. I can't remember if there's an answer for it in the book. Who do you think shaved him? Maybe Ellen thought he should be buried without it. There is symbolism there. Will have to think more about it.

Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that Cropper will speak with a Southern accent?

Oh I feel so sorry for Christabel, and I am only 3/4 through the book, she has lost her companion, her lover and now her baby, and she seems so lonely and distant, is she punishing herself in some way, not accepting gestures of affection or help from anyone.

Karen: The Southern accent is my fault. The female reader of my recorded books tape does Cropper's lines with a slight southern lilt. I like it. Maybe he came from extreme southern New Mexico.

Have finished at last, did not want it to finish but oh what a lovely book. The ending is so sad and I am with Beatrice, tears in my eyes, as she says "...She wrote all that for no one. She must have waited for an answer-and none can have come" I wonder how they will do the letter read by Maud (GP) or as a voice-over by C (JE). One other thing I wish we had known a little bit of what became of Bertha after she left the Ash home.

Also can someone explain to me how Ash knew there was a child if they never saw or spoke to each other after they separated!

Ash only found about the potential child when he went to France in search of Christabel. He was told she had been pregnant by the family but no one knew what had happened to it. If you go back and check the "unsent" letter that Ellen reads after his death, Ash begs Christabel's "forgiveness for my rashness and precipitance in hurrying to Kernemet, on the suppositious chance that you might be there." Then later in the letter he says this:There is something I must know and you know what that is. I say "I must know" and sound peremptory. But I am in your hands and must beg you to tell me. What became of my child? Did he live? How can I ask, not knowing? How can I not ask, not knowing? I spoke at length to your cousin Sabine who told me what all at Kernemet knew--which was the fact only--no certainty of outcome-- You must know I went there, to Brittany, in love, and care, and anxiety, for you, for your health--I went eager to care for you, to make all well as far as could be--Why did you turn from me? Out of pride, out of fear, out of independent, out of sudden hatred, at the injustice of the different fates of men and women? Yet a man who knows he has or had a child and does not know more deserves a little pity. How can I say this? Whatever became of that child, I say in advance, whatever that is, I shall understand, if I may only know, the worst is already imagined and put behind me--so to speak-- [...] How can I ever forget that terrible sentence cried out at the ghastly spirit-summoning. "You have made a murderess of me," was said, blaming me, and cannot be unsaid; I hear it daily. "There is no child" came through that silly woman's mouth, in a great groan, in what mixture of cunning, involuntary exclamation, genuine telepathy, how can I tell?Of course, he never sent the letter as he never sent all the others. Ash went to France looking for Christabel, was told she was pregnant but no one knew what happened to the child. Ash learned that Christabel had gotten into all the seance/spirit stuff, which was popular then, and bluffed his way into a private session at which he knew Christabel would be there. When Ash heard the cry about being a murderer, he assumed it referred to the child rather than Blanche. At the end, when Ash stumbles on Maia, he once again was going to see Christabel. He still didn't know the fate of the child, but leaves her alone because it was apparent that this was what Christabel wanted and he would respect it and that Maia was being well taken care of.

Thankyou Karen, yes I see now. Christabel is the real tragic one here, at least Ash found out about his daughter but Christable never heard from Ash never had his forgiveness for not telling him about May. Also she watched her daughter grow up loving others but not her, her real mother. It is so sad.

Can someone please help me, I have read and re-read and cannot decide where Christable was at the time Blanche committed suicde, any ideas anyone, was she in France or back in England, have I missed something or am I being particularly thick, don't answer that!! Thanks in anticipation.

I think she was back in England, as the baby was born in early May and Blanche took her dive at the end of June. The book says that Christabel was found for the inquest. Don't think that would be the case if she had been in France still. But she could've been at her sister's. Maybe C told Blanche that she was moving out to live with Sophie and that was the real impetus. What do you all think? Good question, Ann. :-)

Good question Ann. I never thought about where Christabel was when B. took her life. I just knew that once she got together with Ash, that was pretty much the end for Blanche. If Christabel did indeed go directly to Sophie's which would make sense,then that could have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Until then perhaps Blanche had some hope of Christabel coming to her senses and wanting to resume their old life.

Remember Blanche filled her pockets with the Stones that C had brought back after her escapade with Ash. C probably knew this from the police. C was definitely not living with Blanche at the time. I also think she was with Sophie.

(Moon) C was definitely not living with Blanche at the time. Yes, definitely. Though Karen's dates make sense, I thought C was still in France because Sabine's journal mentions a letter C received at or near the end of her stay which made her turn very pale after she read it. I assumed this letter concerned Blanche (can't check because book is back in library).

Oh actually Eileen, I thought the letter was from Ash, don't really know why, it's just what I thought. What do you think Karen?

If you remember she didn't open the letter immediately, if it was official I am sure she would have opened it straight away.

Have rechecked my dates on the baby's birth. Christabel disappeared from the house on April 29. On May 1st, Raoul went to the convent. Christabel returned on May 8th. My guess is the letter was from Ash because of her reaction to it and the fact that he later went to France in search of her. Sabine records the letter having been received on May 10:She took it composedly enough, as though she had been expecting it, and then when she saw it properly, caught her breath and and put it aside, unopened. My Father says that M. Michelet writes that is is sent by a friend, upon a hope rather than a certainty that Miss LaMotte might be with us.So first off, Christabel was expecting or wasn't terribly surprised to be receiving a letter via M. Michelet, probably from Sophie. (I think Michelet is mentioned elsewhere. Maybe that will clarify.) When she saw it, she was surprised. Would a letter from Blanche be that startling? And wouldn't she open it? Not opening it would be consistent with her decisions re: Ash. The relationship was over, ended, kaput.

Agreed.

Would a letter from Blanche be that startling? Whatever. You folks have studied this book more seriously than I have.

From Empire Online - pics of AE filming. They had pics of Neil baby, but frankly my dear... fill in the blank.

Thanks, Donna, for sparing us... ;-D This was at the British Museum, and AE is wearing Colin clothes, except they're not black.

Would that include the bag? ;-)

No, he usually had a gym bag. :-)

Thanks Donna....wonder who the hairdresser is behind AE....won't get many clients with that "do"..

AE has huge feet. (or is he wearing clown shoes)

Charlotte's pic of Aaron was *much* much nicer, and more representative of how he really looks. Movieline had some cute pics of him last month..

Agree that AE is better looking than these photos...and didn't Charlotte tell us he is v. handsome in person...:-)) I just wonder why they make Roland look so scruffy...he looks like one of those homeless types one sees in the underground stations...the outfit looks straight out of Oxfam. Fastidious Maud never would have gone for a guy like this...IMO

Evelyn, I agree with you. It is a sad state of affairs. :-(

(Evelyn) the outfit looks straight out of Oxfam. Didn't I say those were Colin clothes? ;-D (Moon) It is a sad state of affairs. :-( You can say that again, sister. The only thing they've demonstrated thus far is a complete lack of understanding of the book's main appeal.

The only thing they've demonstrated thus far is a complete lack of understanding of the book's main appeal. What did you expect? Poetry? ;-P

(EileenG) What did you expect? Poetry? ;-P Silly us, huh? :) I think it's a tough book to duplicate on the screen because of it grandeur. There is so many different things going on and so many different characters and emotions, that it's impossible to get it all in. Especially for a 2 hours or so movie. Mini-series would work because you have few days and more hours (plus commercials except PBS (not huge audience). They will cut the book to half. Like in English Patient, they focused on the a different love story. In that book, the love story was between Kip and Hana (which was MUCH more exciting).

and just realized the last part made no sense whatsoever. I meant in English Patient was too cut in half.... sorry for the confusion if I confused!

(Eileen) What did you expect? Poetry? ;-P Naw...but I would hardly describe the story as about "two !@#$%$ up couples" as NLB has said. ;-D I might have had some hope if he'd remained true to certain small but important details but, alas and alack, he's probably concentrating on Ash's rape of Ellen scene. Crucial and pivotal to *his* plot. ;-D

As they say on SNL, "Simma down now, just you simma down now!" ;-) Let's see the movie first before we declare it a catastrophe. You've got 4 of the best and most watchable young actors in filmdom in the cast. None of whom do crap. And NLB will do fine at the helm (but I don't even wanna go there;-) On the down side, however, you have the Laura Jones school of screenwriting at work, and she tends not to get it. This is the person who, in ATA, brought us Ginnie and Rose serving tabbouleh (sp?) at the picnic. Everyone knows that no self-respecting Iowa farm wife would serve her guests tabbouleh in lieu of potato salad unless she wanted to be ridden out of town on a rail.;-) But it will be fine. Now simma!:-)

But Neil has rewritten Laura Jones' script. She performed the crucial "breaking the spine of the book" job, and he's *improved* it. will be on Prozac for the next year or so, heavier doses once it's released. ;-D

You have heard of those flashback sequences showing Maud in her relationship with the abusive Fergus. He's gonna slap her around some and she takes refuge in shelter for abused women. She meets Roland there. He mistakes it for a soup kitchen. ;-D

he's probably concentrating on Ash's rape of Ellen scene. Crucial and pivotal to *his* plot. ;-D ROTF! Karen and Mari, too funny! And, dare I say too true?

(Mari)Let's see the movie first before we declare it a catastrophe. Agree, Mari...*some of us* have the review of this film already written;-)...reminiscent of the Brit press with BJD..... (Mari)Everyone knows that no self-respecting Iowa farm wife would serve her guests tabbouleh in lieu of potato salad Maybe she was trying to impress Jess with her sophistication.... (actually they do serve it in Ok for picnics...no refrigeration needed. (Laura)I think it's a tough book to duplicate on the screen because of it grandeur. Mini-series would work Mini -series?? Televisiion???Wash you mouth,girl;-)

(Karen) But Neil has rewritten Laura Jones' script. See? No worries.:-) (Karen) He's gonna slap her around some and she takes refuge in shelter for abused women. She meets Roland there. He mistakes it for a soup kitchen. ;-D Hee, hee. Is that before or after Mortimer goes back to New Mexico and gets scalped? ;-)

(Mari) Is that before or after Mortimer goes back to New Mexico and gets scalped? ;-) I didn't want to give away all the tantalizing tidbits of sadistic violence...but there will be a big shootout in Brittany during the chase. Leonora takes a bullet for Blackadder and lots of cars crash and burn. ;-D

...and Ash never loved Christabel. He had a bet with Blanche that they could both win her affection. ;-D

Hi everyone, Heard a snippet on Radio 4 on Friday night ( I was being driven along the motorway in an alcoholic stupor!) A.S. Byatt was on and said among many things related to the world of literature, criticism, teaching etc that she had been to the set last Sunday and had been " impressed" with what she had seen. It was tantalisingly brief and irritating that she went straight on to something else. sorry if this has been posted before.

Hi Lizza, thanks for that snippet, shame she didn't say more but I am glad the "author" was impressed. BTW how are you getting on with Possession?I have finished it but keep going to back to bits I think I missed or am not sure about. Think I shall have to read it again.

Thanks Lizza...it's good to hear encouraging words from Ms. Byatt. In September, at the lecture, she was not happy with the script. But perhaps seeing it taking shape....and by her report, they are still filming.

Yes, they are, according to Empire online they were shooting at the British Museum on Monday, with AE.

I am not reading it as yet Ann, to my shame I think you especially know my current reading matter!! Hope the LD was glorious in its Autumn splendour for you.

Gwyneth has an article in EW that promotes Bounce but mentions Possession since the interview took place on the set of Possession. EW calls it "Neil Labute's time travel romance". (Time-travel? like Back to the Future kind of thing.)It's a very bad description of Possession. Anyway, Gwenyth was wearing light blue pajamas because she was about to film a bedtime scene with AE. They are at Shepperton studio on the same soundstage where SIL and Sliding Doors were filmed. Not much more except she had her yoga teacher with her. I guess she does yoga 1 1/2 hours a day and eats organic,macrobiotic food and past made with spelt instead of wheat. It all sounded very strange, very Hollywood.

Thanks, Sue. Will have to look for it. It does sound very Hollywood. GP was at the Madonna party at Roseland in NYC on Sat. I wonder if they have finished filming P.

Anyway, Gwenyth was wearing light blue pajamas because she was about to film a bedtime scene with AE. At Seal Court? Pajamas? What...no silk kimono with a Chinese dragon?

Could be on the boat going across the Channel or at the Inn at the end. NLB will probably leave out the Seal Court bathroom scene as it parallels the Melusina story, which won't be addressed anyway. ;-D Hmmm, really like those time travel stories... Maybe there will be Morlocks. ;-0

Thanks Sue, any publicity is good publicity! BTW Evelyn, am still here, re your telephone message, I have emailed you can't understand why you have not got them, will try again. (sorry if this is OT)

NLB will probably leave out the Seal Court bathroom scene I loved that scene. The electric current. It must be too subtle for NLB. I truly despair and will try to keep an open mind when I see it.

Poor Jeremy Northam, I think it is a good thing for Possession that he plays an English Poet, as he personally is getting terrible reviews for his portrayal of an Italian Aristocrat, and for his accent!! in the British press, the film The Golden Bow, is getting mixed reviews.

Hmm... was afraid of that. I had heard of one or two bad reviews of JN's accent, but apparently, it's worse than I had anticipated. Has anyone seen it? Is it really THAT bad?

Has anyone seen it? Is it really THAT bad? .. or rather, has anyone heard it?

I saw the previews months ago and recall it was not good. An Italian aristocrat with an English nanny would have spoken with a British accent. The producers should have known this.

TGB reviews seem to be all over the place - some mentioning JN's accent, others praising his performance, others questioning his sex appeal? ;-D Back to Byatt...she has a new nonfiction book, "ON HISTORIES AND STORIES," essays about the narrative form, storytelling, historical fiction, etc. Read the review at The Times here: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,31650,00.html Mentions Possession in what seems to me a contradictory way, as Byatt is criticizing modern fiction for messing about with an easily understood storyline.

Mentions Possession in what seems to me a contradictory way, as Byatt is criticizing modern fiction for messing about with an easily understood storyline Thanks for the review. IMO I read it as flashbacks in individual characterizations confused the storyline...not flashbacks in the story. (ie Possession) She�s dismissive of modernist literature with its �flashbacks, epiphanies, streams of consciousness�, its fluttery disregard for beginnings, middles and ends.

She�s dismissive of modernist literature with its �flashbacks, epiphanies, streams of consciousness�, its fluttery disregard for beginnings, middles and ends. She sounds just like my husband. They are quite right, of course.

Article about Gwynnie in The Telegraph, which mentions Possession frequently, as well as SIL and all her time in England. Says "he full version of this article appears in the latest issue of ELLE magazine out now." Here are some relevant things: Gwyneth Paltrow, who loves working in Britain and is in town to shoot Possession, talks to Sarah Bailey She chats about her Possession co-star Aaron Lockhart ("huge heart, very sensitive beats himself up a lot") and the challenge of playing literary sleuth Maud Bailey, on account of Maud's "super English" phlegm and glacier reserve. Ironic, I say, as this is precisely what people are inclined to think of a private school-educated uptown girl like herself. "Oh, yeah," she says, resignedly. "I always hear that people's perception of me is that I'm cool or aloof or standoffish and I always think, 'Who are they talking about?' That's totally opposite to me." She considers a moment. "I used to be far more open, but obviously the life that I live and the level of scrutiny make me kind of slower to really open myself up. But I still don't think I'm a chilly person at all." For all her sojourns in dear old Blighty, Gwyneth Paltrow has never been to a football match. "Why hasn't anyone taken me?" she says, sounding for a moment like Dame Judi Dench in Elizabeth Regina mode. "There must be some English boy who wants to take me to a soccer game, for God's sake. I'll just have to cry and hope someone will take me. And get me some beer afterwards," she adds, clearly warming to the idea. "Joe Fiennes used to teach me soccer songs, he was such a doll. The costume guy on Shakespeare In Love would teach me Arsenal songs. I'd sing them for Joe and really rile him up and then let him teach me Chelsea songs." She sighs. She hasn't had much time for gallivanting while on the Possession shoot. http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000576481449931&rtmo=qx9KsJX9&atmo=qx9KsJX9&pg=/et/00/11/10/tlgwyn10.html

Ah go on, Gwynnie, I'll take you to the footie. OK if I bring my wife?

Gallant Mark to the rescue again. ;-D

co-star Aaron Lockhart Heehee! Oops...

Is there a release date yet? Thanks

Lizza, according to the website Pearlandean, the release date for Possession is given as 30th March, 2001 and also according to them the relase date for BJD is now the 30th March, 2001.

Don't put too much emphasis on those dates, Ann, especially for Possession. Is way too soon for something that only just finished filming, if it has done so. Seems that Maud must meet Roland in the library. Wonder who finds the letter? Adapted from A S Byatt's prize-winning novel, about a brilliant English academic (Gwyneth Paltrow) who is researching the life and work of poet, Christabel LeMotte (Jennifer Ehle) in the British Library. She finds more than she bargained for, however, in the shape of an upstart American scholar (Aaron Eckhart) who is studying the works of romantic poet, Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northam).

As you say Karen, Ack!! I agree it sounds too early for a film that has only just finished filming.

Just finished. Thought the last 100 pages were the most riveting. Can't wait to see the graveyard scene; especially when Prof.Cropper(Trevor Eve) gets caught. TE and his wife own a television production company, Projector Productions, and have produced recent versions of Alice in Wonderland (1998) and Cinderella (1999).They've been married for 20 years. Check out www.halcyon.com/mulder/trevoreve.html for more info. Has there been any info on how much this film will cost?

Welcome Aturia (Is it OK to use lower case?)!! (Aturia)Has there been any info on how much this film will cost? Is it $15. Mil or is that what Gwynnie is getting paid?

I think I read that she's getting paid $5 million; so it's like the star athlete; she gets a third, and everybody else (the other 139 cast-crew?) gets the remaining 2/3. Yes --ok on the lower case; my e-mail is upper case just force of habit. What does the abbreviations IRL and s/b stand for? Excuse my ignorance. You folks have a great dialogue going.

Welcome, Ataria! I agree about the last 100 pages. This is when the book became hard to put down. It will be interesting to see if they do indeed film the graveyard scene. It seems much has changed in the script form.

I am welcoming you Aturia.

Welcome Aturia. I've checked out the Trevor Eve page and saw that you're a contributor to it. Nice pics. Don't think I've ever seen his earlier works; funny that he sort of looks like Bruce Boxleitner when he was younger. Have seen Heat of the Sun. IRL = in real life s/b = should be Somehow I can't imagine that they'd mess with the climatic graveyard scene. It is dramatic enough.

Imagine Heat of the Sun on the big screen! I thought it was terrific - I wish Carlton/PBS would do additional episodes. He's done many of these tormented, sinister, ruthless characters. Heat of the Sun is a change; he plays a decent man; he was excellent as Tyburn. Can't place Bruce Boxleitner; what sort of roles has he done?

Just a quick hello from a new member! I have long been a Possession fan, though it's been a while since I read the book and need to go back and read it again. Found you through Aturia and am glad to be here! Also huge JN and GP fan, also sorry to say, a fan of Robson Green. But I'll forgive you all:)! Anyway, great discussion and I look forward to putting my two cents worth in now and again. Yours, Bess

Should have done this before... Aturia and Bess!! Always glad to have more people talk about Possession. We'll forgive your lapse of good judgment about RG, Bess, so long as you don't talk about him. ;-D (Although Drool does have a RG topic if you so desire.) (Aturia) He's done many of these tormented, sinister, ruthless characters. I'm glad you mentioned this since Cropper is really an evil character. Byatt makes no bones about casting him in a Satanic light (always dressed in black, the black sedan with license plates of 666...there's probably lots more). BTW, Bruce Boxleitner was Scarecrow in Scarecrow and Mrs King in the 1980s and it's still showing in syndication on various channels. If you go here, you will see all sorts of images from the show. I'd link, but the real images are biggies. http://www.bruceboxleitner.co.uk/screen2.html

Welcome Bess! I imagine this topic will get very busy again when we see the film.

Thanks for the welcome! Bruce is also the stalwart Captain Sheridan on the wonderful sci-fi TV show, Babylon 5. They couldn't have picked a better guy! I've been a Bruce fan too, for many years, first having seen him, ages ago, on a show called How the West Was Won. We're talking 1970's here, I'm afraid, but it wasn't a bad show. Anyway, that's way off topic, sorry Karen :) ! Bess

Something I'd like to share with you. On Monday, the Dark Horizons website had a little item about Charlotte's Possession pictures. It linked to my webpage. Imagine my surprise on Tuesday morning, when Neil LaBute emailed Charlotte (via me) to compliment her on her pics and then expressed a hope that she enjoyed her time "on set." I have forwarded the email onto Charlotte, but thought you guys might like to know that people from the industry do check out those websites and that he was kind enough to take the time to write.

Shows a courteous side to NLB...thoughtful of him. Thanks Karen and Charlotte.

(Karen) ...thought you guys might like to know that people from the industry do check out those websites and that he was kind enough to take the time to write. A really nice gesture on NLB's part. Glad you let us know, his stock has gone up in my book. :-) It reminds me of a story that Steven Spielberg told on TV, I'm not sure if anyone ever heard this. But Steven was telling a true story of how he was monitoring a chat group that was talking about one of his films. He thought one of the posters had some particularly insightful remarks, and Steven decided to write to him. Well shortly thereafter, Steven was notified by AOL that if he continued to impersonate Steven Spielberg, he would be prosecuted. :-)

Cute story, Donna. Karen, how nice of him. There are some people that have many sites dedicated to them and ... sorry off topic. ;-) I hope you will start a line of communication with him and link him here. ;-) We dish it out but can he take it? ;-) He will have lots of questions to answer. Congrats, Charlotte!

Actually, he has answered me already re: the red hair! But no way will I steer him here...even though the worst abuse is over at BJD. Let me know what other burning questions you have, as he's indicated he doesn't mind a bit. Now about that red hair...purely a practical matter to differentiate between the two and, with blonde hair, JE looked way too much like Meryl Streep in the French Lieutenant's Woman. However, you betta believe I plan to follow-up on this. ;-)

And loved the story, Donna. If you're not Donna, I'm going to let AOL know and they may prosecute you! ;-)

Few quick questions for NLB: 1) Will we see a balance between both stories, or did he concentrate more on Maud and Roland? 2) Does he think that Roland's character adds more to the story being played as an American and why? 3) How long will the film be? 4) Have they finished filming?

But no way will I steer him here... Thank you....that would be the end of the communication ;-) Good questions Moon.

If Neil searched hard enough he could find us. I did a search on Possession the other day and this conference came up. I hope NL does not change his e-mail before Possession comes out. I am sure Karen might have a few words to say to him about it. :-)) I would have loved the Meryl Streep comparsions. Both MS and JE are actresses of immense talent.

v.g. questions, Moon. Will keep them handy. I expect they are finished with all the filming. The IMDB says "post-production." So, our place came up in a search, huh? Maybe I better do some tidying up. ;-) I feel like Rick in Casablanca. Of all the gin joints... ;-)

(Karen) So, our place came up in a search, huh? This place came up in a search for Stephen Dillane on Yahoo, too. (#4 on the hit parade.)

I know the CC comes up in searches for CF and others. Guess I didn't think too much of it. Anyhow, look what I found that came up: http://www.contentville.com/expert/e_contributing.asp?ExpertID={E2F80D25-2CEF-11D4-ABFA-00C0F037C0E1} At the end it says his favorite web link is the IMDB, so maybe he submitted all the info. ;-)

"Now about that red hair...purely a practical matter to differentiate between the two and, with blonde hair, JE looked way too much like Meryl Streep in the French Lieutenant's Woman." I don't want to nit-pick, especially since this is my first time posting, but Meryl Streep *was* a readhead in French Lieutenant's Woman. I really enjoy this conference. Thank you.

Or a redhead, for that matter.

LOL Shug! That is priceless, so right (am looking at the video cover right now) and I think I'll use it. Welcome to the conference (I'll put up the official sign tomorrow; it's too late) *yawn* BTW, nit-picking IS the official pastime here. ;-)

Welcome, Shug! BTW, nit-picking IS the official pastime here. ;-) Here, there, everywhere. ;-)

See some comments on Possession's Gwenyth Paltow in the (gasp) babes conferecnce.

Thanks, Terry, but have seen the article. Nothing new about the movie.

Correction: Have gone back and reread what he wrote. They are fully aware that JE will look just like Meryl Streep in TFW. Phew! Caught myself before made total fool out of self.

(Karen)They are fully aware that JE will look just like Meryl Streep in TFW. I *wish* Jennifer could pick up Meryl Streep's mantle:-))That comparison has been made before even without the red hair.

(Evelyn)I *wish* Jennifer could pick up Meryl Streep's mantle:-)) They are different in many ways, of course, but I certainly think that they are both equally talented so there is no reason JE couldn't be the next Meryl Streep. Wouldn't it be interesting if she were to star in a remake of FLW? She'd make a very different Sarah, wouldn't she? And who would we get for Charles? CF?

Hello, I've only just found this forum, but I've been looking for one similar for ages. I can't believe it's so specific to my interests - I'll explain. Possession has been a favourite novel of mine since it was published because I live in Lincoln (getting all the Tennyson references) and I've been a fan of Byatt for longer. I applied to be an extra for the film when the set came to Lincoln (being a student) but I wasn't quick enough, but I did go down to the set for a few days. I spoke to a few of the crew (including the man in the funny hat in the British Museum snaps) because my dissertation is on filming locations & heritage properties etc. I have loads of articles on the filming (most are posted here) as I intend to use it as a case study. It's also just so exciting for me for something that has been so much an interest of mine, to come to my home town, which I suppose is only right. I even attend to college which is the model for Lincoln University in the novel (by coincidence)! I hope you don't mind me popping in and out, and I'll post what I have too when I get it all in order including my photos I took at at Lincoln uni set. Cheers, Lucinda.

WELCOME LUCINDA I am so glad you found us.Had we known you were out there, we would have gone after you What luck to have your overriding interest right in your own backyard!! We are v. eager to hear about your experiences on the Possession set, chats with any of the crew and oh pictures. Thanks for sharing...

Shug* and Lucinda!! How nice that you've found us and we'd love to hear anything you've learned about the movie from talking with the crew. Or if you'd like to discuss the book, there are many who are always agreeable to a Possession discussion of any type. Aside from the university and the train station, were there other locations used in Lincoln? The newspapers talked about an inn possibly being a site, but I never saw anymore on it. Aside from a couple of exterior shots, it would seem to me that if they were shooting the scene where Maud and Roland meet up with Euan and Toby the lawyer (no Val as we've heard she's been dropped) to discuss the quasi-will Toby has in his possession, then that could all be done at the studio. BTW, did you see Tom Hollander in Lincoln? We've been wondering what part he plays. *See, I told you I'd get around to it ;-)

Welcome, Lucinda! I second everything that Evelyn and Karen have said.

Thank you for such a warm welcome - it is so refreshing to find a nice forum. It was more luck than judgement that I was at the railway set as that is how I get into Lincoln, I was actually on the way to the university to have a look around! So I bypassed the station as most of the work seemed to have been done, but when we (my best bud & I) arrived at the uni, so did GP. People kept asking us what was going on and the man of local news asked us if we wanted to be on tv, but we politely declined! I did see a large dark lady going into make-up, but I wasn't sure whether Leonora Stern would appear in the film (?). That night I was in Lincoln and most of the crew were in my favourite, but rather expensive pub. In the local paper the next day it said GP had been in there too, but we didn't see her. They also filmed at the White Hart (the hotel in the book which does exist, I know because I walk past it everyday and to be honest inside isn't up to much!) which is where most of them were staying. Unfortunately, no I didn't see Tom Hollander, but then I wasn't looking for him because when they were filming at Lincoln only a few cast members had been announced. Plus I'm not the most perceptive person in the world! I did find some lovely pics in an article in the Lincs Echo which I had missed while on holiday, but my html skills aren't up to much and I'm not quite sure how to post them here. My pics are mostly of the set, though one does have GP's back as she got something out of her car, and I was too slow! My Aunt was in Whitby while they were filming, but didn't make the connection for which she was severely told off! As an aside, while researching my dissertation (I'm in my second year, but I'm enthusiastic!) I went on Leighton Hall's website and found an article on the filming. It's a shame they decided on Lancashire for that part of the filming, as a friend of mine works at Grimesthorpe Castle, Lincs who told me they had been seriously considering using it instead! Grimesthorpe has been used quite a bit for Middlemarch, The Buccaneers etc, but it how I imagined Seal Court. I'm just biased I suppose!

Very interesting, Lucinda. We had all the articles from the Lincolnshire Echo, plus one pic (as I recall) posted here. Were there more? To answer your question about posting pics, it is very easy to do but the pic must already be on the Internet someplace. They can't be posted from your hard drive as you do for attaching pics to an email. If you don't have that ability, you can always email them to me and I'll post them. However, they have been uploaded, this is the HTML string: img src="http://www.mypersonalwebspace.com/picname.jpg" Then you put the pointy brackets around the whole thing. The file must be a jpg or a gif to be posted. Hope this helps. Everyone here has acquired some very fundamental and even advanced html knowledge which adds to our fun on other topics (especially parties).

I noticed this article in particular as it had quite a number of lovely pics esp of AE! I will hunt out my digital pics and attempt to scan the Echo (papers don't scan well though) and with my simple brain, it might be easier to post them to someone who knows what they're doing! I also found something from a Yorkshire paper about how it hoped the crew and actors from Hollywood didn't think people in England still relied on steam powered trains!

Just email them to me at nomdedrool@yahoo.com

Hi Lucinda, oh you are so lucky to have been on the set of Possession, do you know what scene they were filming when you wee there and did you see any other actors, AE, Jeremy Northam or Jennifer Ehle. One question as you are an admirer of the book, what do you think about the fact that they have changed the colour of Christabel's hair to red when they are so specific about it in the book. I know they say they have to differentiate between the two Christabel and Maud, but that sounds a bit weak to me as they look completely different GP and Jennifer Ehle and anyway will be dressed completely differently. I hope they don't make too many changes like this and I am also sorry that Valere is not to be in the film. Any little stories you might have about your experience on set will be most welcome.

A warm welcome from me too. Thanks for all your interesting comments, Lucinda. how it hoped the crew and actors from Hollywood didn't think people in England still relied on steam powered trains! LOL! I hope people in America don't think that -after seeing Mission Impossible- the Eurostar and other high speed trains are dieseltrains that somehow manage to go 300km/h. Incredible, isn't it;-)

(Lucinda) I noticed this article in particular as it had quite a number of lovely pics esp of AE! Wot? Where? When? Can we see them???:-) Welcome, Lucinda, and all our other newcomers!

Thanks again for the welcome! I will try and e-mail the pics sometime this week. Ann W - it might lose some of the edge if JE's hair isn't blonde, visually it would make it easier to understand how Maud & Christabel were related. Does that mean the little girl who is playing May/Maia will have blonde or red hair? If she was RHA's daughter she'd probably be a bit darker as it was?!?

Good point, Lucinda, thanks.

However, in the book, RHA gets a plait of her hair and it is as white blonde as Christabel's, remember? Everyone thinks the woven bit of hair in the watch is hers, as no one knows that he has met Maia.

Does that mean that Maia's hair will be red in the film also in order for people to make the same assumption?

Maia's hair color: Good question to ask NLB... Lucinda...we are awaiting the pics...thanks.

(Lucinda) Does that mean that Maia's hair will be red in the film also in order for people to make the same assumption? But it should be so obvious, even without the hair color...if you knew this: ;-) http://www.castlewales.com/motte.html

Oh you sly cat, Karen....I bet NLB doesn't know this;-)

Didn't I say from the very beginning, the names meant something? ;-)

LOL Karen - I study Castles as part of my degree and that is one of the first things I picked up on. I am at the moment scanning the lovely AE pic I found (I hope it's not here already), but you all seem to have a few of the Lincoln shots here and I haven't scanned all the GP ones - there can be too many! I am also working on a map that I will e-mail of Lincoln locations (if I can find a street map on the net).

I agree about the hair. Why does such an obvious thing have to be changed. In my mind, M&R and C&A were similar types. This is not what NLB has done. Loved the castles. Thank, Karen!

(Lucinda) I study Castles as part of my degree What a fun degree! Looking forward to your pics. I contacted several people where they did the steam locomotive thing and none came through.

(Karen) What a fun degree! It is, I also get to study Country Houses, Museums and Archaeology within it! I've sent the pics to the nomdedrool address didn't you get them? The train thing is another freaky coincidence of this whole thing, because I was on it for a whole day in the summer. A week later or so they were filming. But then it was the same with Alnwick Castle and the Harry Potter film!

I'll go check, as I don't use it all the time.

These are Lucinda's: The locations at which they shot in Lincoln Trailers at the university:

Gwynnie arriving at uni From the Lincolnshire Echo, taken at the train station: As you can see, it's the same as the one that was up before, but we didn't get the inset with AE (and he's even taller than her...argh!) http://www.spring.net/karenr/possession/paltrow_lincoln.gif

Am I getting sloppy, here it is...

Great pics, Lucinda. Thank you and to Karen for posting them. Is that Gwynnie's stand-in arriving with her in the Mercedes? Too thin to be the bodyguard;-) I don't remember AS Byatt saying anything about Roland's undershirt hanging out of his sweater...do you? *;-)*

I don't remember AS Byatt saying anything about Roland's undershirt hanging out of his sweater...do you? *;-)* Or hugging Maud at the train station. Thanks for the pics.

Thanks ever so much Karen, I really appreciate you putting them here. Evelyn, I'm not sure if she was her stand in or her PA, but I saw her in Lincoln that evening. I couldn't get over how scruffy GP was - the trials of being an actress I suppose! ;-)

My guess is PA. A stand-in doesn't hang around with the star nor arrive with them. They are fairly low in the pecking order. Never saw Minnie or David's stand-ins anywhere near them.

I found some more piccies in old Lincs Echos, may I e-mail them to you again Karen? They're only small, but they're of filming inside the uni.

Of course, we'd love to see them. Thanks, Lucinda, I'll be on the lookout at the other email address.

Bless you Lucinda and Charlotte for looking out for us. [Hey, boss..I bet NLB would like to see them:-)]

Have you heard from NLB yet?

No, I think I scared him away. :-(

I am e-mailing the pics now. I will hang around for a while to see if you can upload them at the moment. If not I'll come back tomorrow and explain them!

Gotcha! Here are Lucinda's latest: The first two are inside the University's atrium taken from 01/09 This last one was GP in Lincoln, I was sat in the pub to the left (The Wig & Mitre) while she was next door scoffing pies! Tell us more, when you get back online. :-)

I'm sorry about the quality, but scanners don't like newspapers! I only found them recently also, they were in an article about being an extra for the day (rubbing in the fact that I wasn't!). The first two are within the Atrium at Lincoln uni, which anyone can walk into, they have a nice cafe! I'm guessing that they were going up to the LaMotte Research centre, like in the novel. There is a very similar Tennyson Research centre at Lincoln Central library! The third was taken near the White Hart (where they were staying) and I was in the pub to the left while GP was in Browns. In the article with it, it said the release date was October 2001 in the US and January 2002 in the UK. However, at the moment they are building a new Multiplex Odeon in Lincoln, near the uni, and on the news they said they wanted to show Possession as their opening film (as the cinema will probably be in the background!) that will be autumn 2001.

I was sat in the pub to the left (The Wig & Mitre) while she was next door scoffing pies! Fuzzy or not..we love seeing these pictures. How come GP can look like that gorging on Brown's pies and I can't!! In the pic with Roland she is wearing the same outfit as the one meeting him at the train station...so they must be going to the La Motte Library as you said. I hope Lincoln gets the first shot at "Possession"! (Castaway with Tom Hanks was premiered at a small Texas town near here where they had filmed some of the movie. The whole cast attended) Thanks again...

It would be really nice to open the new cinema with 'Possession'. I would be there with bells on! I'll keep on the look out for more piccies!

Interesting article in The Telegraph about Margaret Drabble, AS's sister, and about the book she's written that is based on their mother. Always wondered about those two and their relationship. If you take The Game as semiautobiographical, the thought of their relationship gives chills. Have a pile of Margaret's books here that I picked up at used book store's going out of business sale. Must read them some day. :-) http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000576481449931&rtmo=kCqZeZop&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/00/12/30/badrab30.html

"my mother was very protective about me when I was little, perhaps because I was an intense and neurotic child" Operative word here"neurotic". Sounds as if she never got over it. I don't think sibling rivalry esp. in the same field is not unusual. And all mothers are hard to please.But as we grow -up we realize they did it with the best of intentions.I'm not apologizing for her behavior, but have to agree with AS .."'I would rather people didn't read someone else's version of my mother", she said. "That is her [Drabble's] experience. Mine belongs to me.'" BTW Antonia (AS)and Margaret look v. much alike.

Also from today's Observer-included in the Review for 2001 "MY FILM HIGHLIGHT OF THE COMING YEAR" Philip French Possession:The Movie A.S. Byatt is no stranger to having her work adapted for the screen, but 2001 will be a bumper year for the Booker prize winner. Next year will be an interesting one for ASB and her fans, with foreign directors taking a lively interest in her work. The American Director Philip Haas, whose Angels & Insects (an adaption of Dame Antonia's novella, Morpho Eugenia) was shown in competition at Cannes five years ago, is prepareing a version of its companion novella of Victorian cultural life. The Conjugal Angel, will possibly star Helen Mirren as Emily Tennyson, the Poet Laureate's wife. Meanwhfile, the Australfian filmmaker George Miller, who was pleased and astonished to hear that Byatt was a great admirer of his Mad Max movies, is working on an adaptation of her adult fairy story, The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye. But the movie I'm really looking is NLaB's Possession, based on Bytat's 1990 Booker Prize-winning nove. This marvelous novel, deceptively subtitled "A Romance" but the kind of thing that gives post-modernism a good name has parallel plots and is about two late twentieth-century academics who live through and fight over the lives of a pair of Victorian poets, CLaM & RHA. It's a fiendishly difficult book to adapt, mainly because it's very literary (letters and poems, some 10 pages long, are part of its texture), but partly because for the past decade it's been taught in universities around the world, and a very discerning audience will bre awaiting it.

cont. The film has been on the stocks for some fyears, and there have been rumours of unsuccessful scripts, of Jane Campion being a possible director, and Sean Connery playing the Browningesque Ash. Now it's in post-production after location shooting in England and France, with GQ (sporting another English accent) and LaB's regular AE as the present-day writers, and JN and JE as the Victorians. LaB's three previous filsm, In the Company of Men, Your Freidns and Neighbours and Nuirse Betty - show him to be aman of literary bent with a strong interest in language, early in his career, he had a graduagte fellowship to stdy at the Royal Court in London, so he's not stranger to this country. Dame Antonia, though not involved in the scripting or production, has apparenly taken a lively interest in the movie, and has from time to time tendered advice. On a visit to the set she was very impressed by the look of the film and the work of the production designer, and is pleased that the ending remains that of the novel. "You get the feeling of people working on something they're excited about, she told me. "You never know, of course, how things will turn out, but the auguries are good and I'm looking forward to seeing Possession in the summer". Do you think we are going to see Possession in the UK before the US? I am really looking forward to 2001, Possession, BJD and now possibly Hamlet. apologies for typing errors, kept expecting to be cut off.

is pleased that the ending remains that of the novel. Oh goodie! I do hope that means it ends with that lovely scene. Ann, just a hint. With longer articles or any for that matter, try typing them up offline, in a word processing document. Then cut and paste them here when on line. Much better to do that, especially is connection time is a problem.

What lovely scene Karen, I have forgotten, do you mean when they are reading Christabel's letter in the hotel room? Also thanks for the advice.

I meant the Ash/Maia encounter, but who knows as to what Byatt was referring. She may only have meant that the movie didn't change the overall ending of the book or the resolution of the big mysteries. But we'll just have to see. Summer? I just checked the upcomingfilms site, which is usually pretty current on release dates. Says Fall 2001. Also says that filming was completed in early December. But who knows?? ;-)

We are v. grateful to you Ann for taking the time to type the long article.Means a lot to all of us.:-)) ..and is pleased that the ending remains that of the novel. I think she means the meeting with Ash and Maia. (Bring a box of tissues!!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glad ASB has changed her tune; she wasn't with Possession when I saw her in September, but was thrilled with these other two films that are mentioned: The Conjugal Angel and the adult fairy story that probably no one will ever see! But Possession was shooting then and I wonder if she adamantly insisted on the ending.

That's really nice that they are (hopefully) keeping the ending, because the audio version I have cuts that (and a lot of the pivotal bits) out. Tissues will definately be out then! It's a lovely article Ann. I was also wondering whether they would keep the France bit in, if they were going to make changes I thought it would be there. Also, I don't know if anyone's discussed it here and if you have tell me, but what sort of music will they have as the soundtrack. Will they half and half it with modern and incidental (which would be nice and complimentary to the entire theme of the novel) or will they just have incidental?

Thanks, Ann. A very interesting article. The Conjugal Angel and the adult fairy story that probably no one will ever see! I will and so will my DH.

Thanks for the wonderful article, Ann, and to Lucinda for the latest pics. So glad to hear that Byatt is feeling good about the film so far. You very well may get this one in the UK first; here, they'll hold it back until later in the year, to maximize awards exposure. It's the type of classy film that gets lots of attention come the end of year honors. Possession, Design for Living, BJD, Hamlet, Conspiracy--whew! What a year we have ahead of us!:-)

(evelyn)The Conjugal Angel and the adult fairy story that probably no one will ever see! (Moon)I will and so will my DH. What I mean't was that films like that only play on the two coasts,with luck. Sometimes Chicago.Whereas a NLB film will play all over the world.

The Buzz is starting... Apparently,"Possession" is featured as one of the films to look out for in 2001 in the current issue of Newsweek. The article reports how difficult it must have been to adapt the book for the screen and mentions all four leads, Paltrow, Eckhart, JN and JE. Has anybody seen the article?

Thanks for the heads up, Evelyn. Here it is. http://www.msnbc.com/news/507940.asp#BODY

This was in the Lincolnshire Echo tonight (I cheated and found the web version instead of transcribing!) Author adds new twist to pub fight by Jason Hippisley Prize-winning author A S Byatt has lent her support to the fight to save an historic city pub. As the sale of the Adam and Eve pub to Lincoln Minster School was due to be completed today, Dame Antonia has waded in to the controversy, saying the 400-year-old inn should be left alone. Campaigners fighting the closure of the pub under the school's �5m redevelopment plans have been given hope by the author's intervention a week ahead of a public meeting in the city. The pub was used as a location for the film Possession, the novel for which Dame Antonia won the Booker Prize in 1990, the year she was made a CBE. The movie, which stars Gwyneth Paltrow, was shot in and around Lincoln in September and is due for release later this year. Possession involves a moving scene in the snug of the Adam and Eve where Aaron Eckhart, Miss Paltrow's opposite number challenges his feelings for the star, who plays a colleague at a Lincoln university, which was filmed in parts of the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside. Dame Antonia (64) said: "I would be very upset if the pub closed. "I have known it since I was a child. "In places like Lincoln where there isn't much left, it really ought to be left alone." She visited the pub on a tour of the set as the film was being made. Her opinion echoes that of more than 4,000 people who have signed a petition against the closure and campaigned for a successful U-turn from the Church School Foundation. The foundation that runs the school is now trying to attract a brewery to sub-let the pub and keep it open. For the foreseeable future Scottish and Newcastle, which has sold the Adam and Eve for an undisclosed sum, will continue to manage the pub. The Save the Adam Campaign has even involved in its fight the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, who are patrons of the schools company. Jim Cowan, a farmer who has led the campaign to save the pub with teacher Mike Miller and archaeologist Naomi Field, said: "We have achieved an enormous amount and I think it shows the true strength of feeling for the pub that A S Byatt has now got involved. "We are very pleased she has come forward with her support, particularly at this stage as a public meeting looms," said Mr Cowan. Pub Regular Steve Crawford said: "It's great that A S Byatt has come on board, but we still need people to turn out to the public meeting." Called by the city council as part of its consultation on the school's change of use application, the meeting at the Lawn on Monday, January 22, starts at 7.30pm. I completely forgot the pub had been used as a location in Lincoln. I should have put it on my map, it is south-east of the White Hart on the eastern side of Wragby road where it meets Pottergate & Lindum Road. There's a trip up to the Adam & Eve for me this weekend!

There's a trip up to the Adam & Eve for me this weekend! Way to go, Lucinda! Pl. give us a report . Thanks:-)

February's Movieline article "Directors on Sex" by Stephen Farber briefly interviews NLB and others. There's also mention of GP.

Thanks Aturia.The article is interesting ...interviews different directors re: how they shoot sex scenes.Including Anthony Minghella on TEP which I'll post on #136. �NLB has established himself as one of the most daring provocateurs on the contemporary scene. Referring to his second feature, �Your Friends & Neighbors, he says�I tried to do a whole film saturated in sexuality, even though I knew tht the American audience is wary of discussing it or seeing it. Actually, you only see one sexual act, in the first scene. Ben Stiller and Catherine Keener had qualms about it, as they should have. I told them I wanted them to remain covered at every moment, and that gave them a technical challenge and helped to relieve the pressure. It also helped a great deal that we had a female cinematographer. It made the actors feel safer to have a woman�s voice included� �I hope to return to the sexual arena in other films�, LB continues. � In my view, sex should be considered like a controlled substance. The less you control it, the less dangerous and less mysterious it becomes, and the less people are obsessing it into something darker that it needs to be.� �

More on article: �Filming sex scenes can make the challenge of elaborate action sequences or high-tech special effects seem easy by comparison...the weirdness of getting actors to do ultraprivte things under ultrapublic circumstances.� More on NLB: �The question all directors face in doing a sex scene is whether audiences will go along with them. �We all go through life in a modified state of high school,�saysNLB...�No one wants to be an outsider. So when people see a film, they think, �What�s the norm?� If it seems outside the norm, they feel uncomfortable watching. We�re all too desperate for normality.� ~~~~~~~~~``` [Well, his films haven't been exactly normal...One wonders what he'll do with P.]

Everything you always wanted to know about NLB. Too bad the writer kept getting the name of the movie wrong. ;-) http://metromix.com/top/1,1419,M-Metromix-Stage-0!ArticleDetail-10461,00.html

"I'm still fascinated by the duality of people," LaBute says. "Just because someone is a beautiful person, that does not mean that they are a good person. And yet we all get so invested in that." I keep getting the feeling that he's gonna make Randolph Ash a baddie.... IMO AS Byatt, at best, makes him a little disingenuous.

LaBute is nuanced and complex, but with a hard-egded, dare it be stated "modern" sensibility, which is a good counterpoint to the archaic, rarefied aura the novel's contemporary characters possess. I thought a curious devise in the book that the 19th Century characters were more "modern", if you will, than the late 20th Century ones.

Didn't get a chance to go to the Adam & Eve this weekend, but A.S's plight was not in vain, because they've decided to keep it open as a pub - hoorah!

From a Sunday Times article about Toby Stephens: First there was a part in Stephen Poliakoff's Family Tree, the follow-up to Shooting the Past, then the role of Fergus, a self-serving academic in Neil LaBute's adaptation of AS Byatt's literary mystery Possession. "He's a shit. It's rent-a-turd time again," chuckles Stephens, referring to his impressive list of sneering upper-class nasties. "He'll do anything to get what he wants - the money and the glamour." http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/01/28/sticulthr02003.html

I absolutely loved Shooting the Past, but that's an aside. How can we ever forgive poor Toby for his silly hair in Onegin? Nice article cheers.