Possession

by A.S. Byatt

avarice

Extreme greed for wealth

wolds

Piece of high, open, uncultivated land

homogeneous,

Of the same kind

it’s a lost village, more or less – there are a lot of lost villages scattered

This is interesting

They say it really came from Croissant, meaning crescent,

How did i not already know this?!

dun

Dull, grey/brown colour

sinuous

Has many curves or turns. So the water left a curvy, meandering trail

tussocks

A small area of grass that is thicker or longer than the rest of the grass around it.

toadflax.

Type of Euroasian plant

‘Leonora would be very shocked at the state of this graveyard,’ said Maud. ‘She would not find it romantic. I think it’s all right. A slow return to nature and oblivion.’

I like this description

loden

Thick waterproof woolen cloth

patrician.

Aristocrat/nobleman. So basically... She was posh

He had a many-pocketed shooting jacket, brown, with a flat brown tweed cap.

So stereotypical that i had to have a little chuckle

‘You’re never content, are you?’ he said. ‘I push you up the hill and then you’re not content to take it steady on the track, oh no.

Wow. He sounds like a bastard

demurred,

Raise doubts, show reluctance

fettle,

Condition

obsequious

Obediant/attentive to an excessive degree

inured

Accustomed

Spode

Fine pottery

three rigid figures, semi-recumbent under a dusty counterpane, in a substantial if miniature four-poster bed. They had china faces, and little kid-leather arms. One had fine gold silken hair, faded and grey with the dust. One had a kind of bunched white nightcap, in white dimity edged with lace. One had black hair, pulled back in a circular bun. They all stared with blue glassy eyes, filled with dust, but still glittering.

Because that isnt creepy or anything. God, i hate dolls

Schleiermacher’s Veil of Illusion, or the Milk of Paradise, or What you Will. Yours to command in some things Christabel LaMotte

Bloody hell. She's tapped.

dilettantism,

A person who cultivates an area of interest without any commitment

lionising,

To give a lot of public attention and approval to somebody

I must tell you – ever since that first meeting, l have known you were my fate, however from time to time I may have disguised that knowledge from myself.

for I most certainly love you and in all ways possible to man and most fiercely. It is a love for which there is no place in this world – a love my diminished reason tells me can and will do neither of us any good, a love I tried to hide cunningly from, to protect you from, with all the ingenuity at my command.

Magdalen Home

research this

He

Capitalisation. Why? Does she think of him as a God?

I've got no idea what the fuck is going on