By Carmen Lebar
Content warning: suicidal ideation, mentions of rape, physical violence
Possessed by Jowita Bydlowska is a character-driven novel that centres around Josephine, a woman navigating her thirties, and all the issues she’s being consumed by. The novel is in four parts, divided into the different facets of Josephine’s life and the lessons she learns along the way. I found the novel a very interesting exploration into the “unhinged woman” trope that is popular in novels at the moment. But it’s more than just that. It takes this trope and expands on it by centralizing the novel’s theme on possession and the uncertainty of one’s life. Josephine is possessed in multiple ways that in turn ultimately guide her decision-making in her relationships and life.
In the first part of the novel, we meet Josephine, who works at a travel agency. She is taking care of her mentally ill and disabled mother, while also dating a man who is 10 years her junior. Possession is used metaphorically in Josephine’s daily routines, and also with the man she’s seeing, Sebastian. She can only make decisions based on her mother’s condition at home, or if Sebastian is available for a date or hookup. Josephine’s absolute enthrallment with Sebastian was groundbreaking to me. I haven’t read many novels that have a female protagonist so enraptured by a man that don’t focus on self-pitying behaviour—the focus here, instead, is on her spiraling mental health. Josephine is hungry, audacious, and completely out of sync with her love interests. She is not fragile, or weak, but rather going through her own mental health issues.
Along with this possessive mentality, she is also possessed in the literal form by a ghost. Early in the novel, Josephine’s mother mentions seeing people in their house, a statement Josephine usually brushes off—until she sees one herself. This creates a huge shift in her life, which becomes a catalyst for her future life decisions. Halfway through the novel, Josephine decides to write a travel story for work. Unbeknownst to her, travelling will produce more unexpected encounters and revelations. The second half of the novel felt quite different to me than the first. While the first was about being possessed in her relationships, the second half focuses on the supernatural and Josephine’s need for her life to change. It may appear as a stark contrast while reading, but it shows great character development for Josephine. She goes from being quite lost and unlikeable to someone who attempts to make a better life for herself.
Possessed is a great novel for those who want to read a supernatural novel that contains elements of contemporary literary fiction. It’s a novel that questions the current dating culture, and what it means to be possessed by someone who does not feel the same way. It critiques how and why people date, but also how boundaries are important in all relationships. Josephine’s character is unapologetically going through a difficult mental health episode in her life. Her decision making and her inner life are thought provoking, and will produce a lot of great discussion. Possessed is a great novel to pick up this fall, and I would recommend it to anyone in a book club looking for a unique supernatural read.
Thank you to Dundurn Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.