Overview

‘Emer O’Sullivan has made an indispensable contribution to Wildean literature … Compelling, informative and fascinating’ - Stephen Fry The Fall of the House of Wilde identifies Oscar Wilde as a member of one of the most dazzling Anglo-Irish families of Victorian times and shows us how he was utterly his parents' child. ________________ 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 in Dublin's 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 ten years later, Jane attempted to re-establish the family in London, where Oscar burst irrepressibly upon the scene, only subsequently to fall in a trial as public as his father’s. A brilliantly perceptive family biography, The Fall of the House of Wilde is a major repositioning of our first modern celebrity, placing Wilde in the context of his own remarkable family and more broadly within Anglo-Irish society.

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9781408863169

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Reviews

'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 'A valuable addition to the scholarly reclamation of the Wilde name ... The Fall of the House of Wilde does justice to the name' Irish Times 'O'Sullivan vividly evokes the cultural vitalities Oscar inherited from the house he was born into ... Hugely readable' John Sutherland, The Times 'Every era has the biography writer is deserves. The Fall of the House of Wilde presents its subject for the age of Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Gene' Times Literary Supplement

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 * The Mail on Sunday * A valuable addition to the scholarly reclamation of the Wilde name ... The Fall of the House of Wilde does justice to the name * Irish Times * O'Sullivan vividly evokes the cultural vitalities Oscar inherited from the house he was born into ... Hugely readable -- John Sutherland * The Times * Emer O'Sullivan has made an indispensable contribution to Wildean literature. She goes back to the beginning and finds out where Oscar came from. Where he really came from. O'Sullivan's detailed portraits of Wilde's father, mother, and brother are, at every page, compelling, informative, and fascinating-especially to one who made the vain mistake of thinking he just about knew it all. The meticulous scholarship and insight she brings are fantastically valuable . . . This is a book that reminds us how very unlikely it is that a genius will be born in a vacuum: Oscar was, O'Sullivan demonstrates, every inch his parents' child. -- Stephen Fry Every era has the biography writer it deserves. The Fall of the House of Wilde presents its subject for the age of Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Gene * Times Literary Supplement * Elegantly articulated * Spectator * Engaging * Sunday Telegraph *

Author Information

Emer O’Sullivan graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, and has completed an MA in Life Writing and a PhD in Virginia Woolf’s literature at UEA, where she also lectured in English Literature. The Fall of the House of Wilde is her first book. She lives in London.

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