The Children's Book, by A.S. Byatt

A. S. Byatt's sumptuous language and wide-ranging scholarship make this long, complex novel of late Victorian and Edwardian England a delight for lovers of her award-winning earlier novel, Possession. She follows the intricately interwoven lives of the children of several interrelated (in all senses) families to the heartbreaking climax of World War I, all the while informing the reader of Fabian politics, women’s suffrage, museum building, German puppetry, fin de siecle art, fairytales, and pottery glazes, amongst other subjects. Real historical figures intermingle with her fictional characters. Some may find its 675 pages daunting; I couldn’t put it down. As in Possession, there are selections from the “writings” of her characters throughout and the World War I poetry from the trenches is worthy of the best of the real poets of the era.