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THE DEFINITIVE STUDY OF OSCAR WILDE’S POSTHUMOUS REPUTATION, WRITTEN BY WILDE’S ONLY GRANDSON

“A fascinating sweep through a hundred years from Wilde’s death to now.”-Stephen Fry

Oscar Wilde died in November 1900, exiled in Paris and exhausted by scandal and prison life. The details of his life in the limelight are well known; what have regularly been ignored are the reverberations of the scandal for decades after his death.

With pathos, humour, and his grandfather’s signature wit, Holland charts the extraordinary afterlife of the legendary writer and thinker, and traces the dramatic fluctuations in Wilde’s posthumous reputation over the past 125 years. A true feat of storytelling and scholarship, After Oscar tells the story of Oscar’s wife Constance and his sons Cyril and Vyvyan; his lovers, friends, and enemies; the afterlife of De Profundis; sightings from beyond the grave; the fate of the Wilde estate; and Oscar’s contemporary status as a gay icon.

One of the most important works on Wilde in over fifty years, After Oscar exposes decades of sensationalist conjecture surrounding the Wilde family, and documents a century of homophobia within the British establishment. Illuminating and heartbreaking, Holland has written a book that will amuse, infuriate, fascinate, and shock. Readers beware-you’re in for a Wilde ride.

Publisher Review

“As gripping as a thriller and as full of human drama as one of Wilde’s plays.” * The Times * “A magnificent blend of scholarship and memoir and a vital contribution to Wildeana.” * Stephen Fry * “We know the dangers of calling anything definitive but no one touches Merlin Holland in his reach, his knowledge and his authority. He manages the balance between the historical, the literary and the personal with tremendous skill. A wonderful achievement.” * David Hare, playwright and screenwriter * “A labour of love recounting the ways in which Oscar Wilde’s unique legacy has affected the lives of his family members.” * Literary Review * “As good as being in the gallery. Enthralling.” * Peter Ackroyd, The Times (On Irish Peacock) * “Holland has produced a gripping and fascinating volume that entirely supersedes previous accounts of the Queensberry trial… with a number of unfamiliar biographical details and intriguing glimpses into [Wilde’s] private life.” * Daily Telegraph (On Irish Peacock) * “Oscar Wilde deserves a work of genius. Now he has one.” * Gyles Brandreth, broadcaster and writer *