An exhilarating novel of wit and romance, an intellectual mystery, and a triumphant love story. This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom.

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, DBE (Born Antonia Susan Drabble 24 August 1936, Sheffield, England) is an English novelist and poet. She is the daughter of His Honour John Frederick Drabble, QC and late Kathleen Marie Bloor, and married to Peter Duffy. She is usually known as A. S. Byatt.