The Fall of the House of Wilde

Download or read book The Fall of the House of Wilde written by Emer O'Sullivan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-02-23 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ________________'Emer O'Sullivan has made an indispensable contribution to Wildean literature ... Compelling, informative and fascinating' - Stephen Fry 'Vivid and meticulously researched ... The name of Wilde stands for "what is singular, independent-minded, and fearless". Words that also describe this splendid book *****' - Frances Wilson, Mail on Sunday'O'Sullivan vividly evokes the cultural vitalities Oscar inherited from the house he was born into ... Hugely readable' - John Sutherland, The Times________________Oscar Wilde's father - scientist, surgeon, archaeologist, writer - was one of the most eminent men of his generation. His mother - poet, journalist, translator - hosted an influential salon at 1 Merrion Square. Together they were one of Victorian Ireland's most dazzling and enlightened couples. When, in 1864, Sir William Wilde was accused of sexually assaulting a female patient, it sent shock waves through Dublin society. After his death some ten years later, Jane attempted to re-establish the family in London, where Oscar burst irrepressibly upon the scene, only to fall in a trial as public as his father's. A remarkable and perceptive account, The Fall of the House of Wilde is a major repositioning of our first modern celebrity, a man whose fall from grace marked the end of fin de siècle decadence.