The Wildes : a novel in five acts / Louis Bayard.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this singularly powerful novel, bestselling author Louis Bayard brings Oscar Wilde's wife Constance and two sons out from the shadows of history and creates a vivid and poignant story of secrets, loss, and love.



"Wonderfully researched, beautifully crafted, movingly told, The Wildes is a treasure to read."

--Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less and Less Is Lost



" The Wildes is a marvel of tenderness, irony, heartbreak, and reclamation that demonstrates why Bayard is among the most essential--and most entertaining--interrogators of the past."

--Anthony Marra, author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena



In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family have retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, her own work as an advocate for feminist causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father to her children, who also happens to be the most sought-after author in England. But with the arrival of an unexpected houseguest, the aristocratic young poet Lord Alfred Douglas, Constance gradually--and then all at once--comes to see that her husband's heart is elsewhere and that the growing intensity between the two men threatens the whole foundation of their lives.



The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts takes readers on the emotional journey of this family, moving from the Italian countryside, where Constance Wilde flees from the aftermath of Oscar's imprisonment for homosexuality, to the trenches of World War I and an underground bar in London's Soho, where Oscar's sons Cyril and Vyvyan must both grapple with their father's legacy. And in a brilliant feat of the imagination, act 5 reunites the entire cast in a surprising, poignant, and tremendously satisfying tableau.



With Louis Bayard's trademark sparkling dialogue and deep insight into the lives and longings of all his characters, The Wildes could almost have been created by Oscar Wilde himself. Lightly told but with hidden depths, it is an entertaining and dramatic story about the human condition.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this inspired outing, Bayard (Jackie & Me) explores the effects of Oscar Wilde's gay affair and 1895--1897 imprisonment on his family. The story begins in 1892 Norfolk, England, a period Bayard dubs "the before times," where the Wildes have rented a house for the summer. Oscar's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie, arrives for an extended stay. Oscar's wife, Constance, is initially oblivious to the true nature of his and Bosie's friendship. Throughout her own relationship with Oscar, she has grown accustomed to him being the focus of others' attention, but has remained convinced he only has eyes for her. That illusion evaporates as the two men spend increasing amounts of time together and she learns Oscar is giving Bosie money. After Bosie's father puts a stop to the affair by accusing Oscar of being a "sodomite," leading to his conviction for gross indecency, Constance attempts a fresh start in Italy. Later sections follow the couple's elder son, Cyril, who fights in the trenches during WWI; and his brother, Vyvyan, who has an awkward reunion with Bosie in 1925. In a moving conclusion, Constance speculates on how she might have protected Oscar from the authorities back in 1892. Bayard's superior gifts at evoking the past are on full display, and he makes it easy for readers to sympathize with his characters. Historical fiction fans will love this poignant tale. (Sept.)

Booklist Review

As befits a novel about one of literature's most astute, witty, and persecuted playwrights, Bayard structures his poignant portrayal of Oscar Wilde as a drama in five acts, complete with interludes. In the prelude to and aftermath of the sexual scandal that sent Wilde to prison, his wife, Constance, and sons Cyril and Vyvyan walk the tightrope of loving a genius while turning a blind eye to the flaws that inform and inspire his work. When the family escapes London for a farm cottage in rural Norfolk, Constance believes her marriage to be solid if unconventional. The appearance of Lord Alfred Douglas slowly alerts her to the reality of her husband's sexuality. When Wilde is jailed, the family, disgraced and impoverished, lives in exile. WWI ensnares Cyril who, as a child, witnessed his family's dissolution. Vyvyan, as the sole survivor, struggles to understand and accept his family's fate. Scandal knows no century nor season; historically, its villains and victims remain tragically entwined. Bayard considers these themes through dialogue as crackling as any Wilde himself would write and unfolds the Wilde family's story with the same attention to conflict and resolution as Wilde's legendary plays.