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Alban, Gillian M.E. Melusine the Serpent Goddess in A.S. Byatt’s Possession and in Mythology. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2003.
Davis PR6052.Y2 P6315 2003
In this feminist work, Alban uses Byatt’s Possession as a jumping-off point to explore the patriarchal revisions of the mythological figure of Melusine. Byatt’s character Christabel LaMotte’s major poem is entitled Melusine, and as Alban writes, “[t]he Melusine image is followed throughout the novel in relation to the female characters” (9). Alban began by attempting to write “a study of the writings of Byatt, delving into rich mythological sources where the connections became apparent” (9), but her topic broadened. Ultimately, she claims the book “follow[s] the story of the snake woman Melusine and her avatars, from her beginnings as conceived in the human mind in pre-patriarchal cultures, to views of her in contemporary literature” (279). Because of the specialized nature of this book, it will not be particularly suitable for general readers or for anyone interested in Byatt’s other works.
Campbell, Jane. A.S. Byatt and the Heliotropic Imagination. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z62 2004
Campbell’s book is both the most up to date and the most comprehensive of all of the book-length studies of Byatt’s work. Published in 2004, it includes chapters on each of the fiction books (i.e., the stories and novellas as well as the novels) through 2002’s A Whistling Woman. This means that some of the more neglected works get more attention than ever before. The book also includes a very helpful bibliography.
Franken, Christien. A.S. Byatt: Art, Authorship, Creativity. London: Palgrave, 2001.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z65 2001
This book focuses on three of Byatt's novels: The Shadow of the Sun, The Game, and Possession. As Franken notes, the first two novels (which are also Byatt’s first two novels) have been neglected by critics; Possession, of course, has received much critical attention. Franken disagrees with other critics’ assessment of Byatt as traditional and/or conservative. He attempts to reclaim her for feminism, arguing that her work expresses a greater ambivalence about the relationships between gender, art, authorship, and creativity than has been acknowledged (xv). The chapter on Possession discusses the myth of Melusine (see Alban above). The book includes a helpful bibliography, some of which is annotated.
Kelly, Kathleen Coyne. A.S. Byatt. New York: Twayne, 1996.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z73 1996
This book is part of Twayne’s English Authors Series, a line of relatively short monographs that Twayne declares aim to provide “concise critical introductions to great writers and their works” (Twayne Web site, last accessed 7 December 2004). Works in the series are, therefore, suitable for undergraduates as well as for graduate students and other adult readers who are not very familiar with the subject treated. In this volume, Kelly attempts to situate Byatt within the contexts of realism and postmodernism. She discusses five of the novels, some of the short stories (those from Sugar and Other Stories and The Matisse Stories), and the novellas. The bibliography containing all of Byatt’s own work (through 1996) and selected critical works is mostly annotated; the plots of Byatt’s works are helpfully summarized.
Todd, Richard. A.S. Byatt. Plymouth, UK: Northcote House, 1997.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z86 1997
Todd’s book, the first book-length study of Byatt’s work, is part of a series entitled Writers and Their Works. Organized thematically, it covers the fictional works, long and short, through Babel Tower. The connections drawn between the works are helpful, and the book’s short length (88 pages including back matter) makes it a useful introduction for undergraduates or those who do not have much time to devote to their research.
Wallhead, Celia M. The Old, the New and the Metaphor: A Critical Study of the Novels of A.S. Byatt. London: Minerva Press, 1999.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z92 1999
As its title declares, this highly complimentary book deals only with Byatt’s novels (through Babel Tower)—not with her literary criticism or short stories. The author announces that her “main objective is to determine exactly what material [Byatt] finds most fruitful in terms of content, and what factors are important to her on the formal plane in the writing of fiction” (ix). The title refers to something Byatt said in a lecture—that “her three constants were the old, the new, and the metaphor” (xi). Wallhead sees Byatt as a “metafictional writer” and “a chronicler of British post-war social history” (xiii).
Alfer, Alexa and Michael J. Noble, eds. Essays on the Fiction of A.S. Byatt: Imagining the Real. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Davis PR6052.Y2 Z64 2001
This book is part of a series entitled Contributions to the Study of World Literature. It includes essays by many noted Byatt critics, on subjects ranging from the novels in the Powerhouse Quartet to Possession to Angels and Insects to Byatt’s “textual inscription of paintings” (17) in her writing. The volume concludes with an essay by Byatt herself, “True Stories and the Facts in Fiction.” There is also a helpful bibliography.
Byatt, A.S. Passions of the Mind: Selected Writings. London: Chatto and Windus, 1991.
Davis PR6052.Y2 P3 1991
Byatt’s nonfiction collection includes her essays on writers ranging from George Eliot to William Golding to Toni Morrison. She also expresses many of her thoughts and feelings on literature and her own writing process.