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The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts
From the bestselling author of The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard, comes Atonement meets The Paris Wife, a brilliantly original, profoundly empathetic story about Oscar Wilde's wife Constance and their two sons in the aftermath of the famous playwright's imprisonment for homosexuality, told against the backdrop of Victorian England and World War I.
In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named 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 revolves around that fateful summer: what happened, and what might have been. When it was exposed, Oscar's affair with Lord Alfred Douglas—Bosie, as he was known—led to Wilde's imprisonment for homosexuality, and the financial and emotional ruin of his family. In Act Two, Bayard reveals Constance and their sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, in exile, forced to sell their possessions, leave England, and hide their identities. Act Three, from the perspective of Cyril, brings readers into the French trenches of World War I, where Cyril must grapple with the kind of man he wants to become, while Act Four reveals Vyvyan in London, years after the war, searching for answers from those who knew his parents. And in a brilliant act of the imagination, Act Five brings the entire cast back together in a surprising, poignant, and tremendously satisfying tableau.
With Louis Bayard's trademark sparkling dialogue, paired with his deep insight into the lives and longings of all his characters—and based on real events—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.
In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named 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 revolves around that fateful summer: what happened, and what might have been. When it was exposed, Oscar's affair with Lord Alfred Douglas—Bosie, as he was known—led to Wilde's imprisonment for homosexuality, and the financial and emotional ruin of his family. In Act Two, Bayard reveals Constance and their sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, in exile, forced to sell their possessions, leave England, and hide their identities. Act Three, from the perspective of Cyril, brings readers into the French trenches of World War I, where Cyril must grapple with the kind of man he wants to become, while Act Four reveals Vyvyan in London, years after the war, searching for answers from those who knew his parents. And in a brilliant act of the imagination, Act Five brings the entire cast back together in a surprising, poignant, and tremendously satisfying tableau.
With Louis Bayard's trademark sparkling dialogue, paired with his deep insight into the lives and longings of all his characters—and based on real events—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.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2024
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7888 people want to read
About the author
Louis Bayard
28 books710 followersA staff writer for Salon.com, Bayard has written articles and reviews for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Nerve.com, and Preservation, among others. Bayard lives in Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews
March 30, 2024
2.5 stars, rounding up to 3. Honestly, could as easily round down to 2. The structuring was just “off,” I felt. For example, a chapter would end and the next one basically would feel like a continuation of the previous one. But more importantly, fully half of the book was set several years before Wilde’s trial, at a fateful family holiday in Norfolk. This bothers me because the book is billed as being about the AFTERMATH of the scandal and trial, about the effects and aftershocks for Wilde’s family. In the end, we get comparatively little of that, which was a huge disappointment.
Some things I especially liked. Constance as much more than just the passive almost bit-player she ends up in so many of the bio-pics I’ve seen over the years. Lady Wilde written as a kind of Downton Abbey Dowager Countess, complete with great Maggie Smith zingers. Learning more about Wilde’s sons, and getting a little of their adult lives - though NOwhere near enough, nor as much as promised. Which brings me back to my original point, the many unfulfilled promises of this book, so as I close this review, I’m going to round down to a 2-star, “It was okay” review.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Some things I especially liked. Constance as much more than just the passive almost bit-player she ends up in so many of the bio-pics I’ve seen over the years. Lady Wilde written as a kind of Downton Abbey Dowager Countess, complete with great Maggie Smith zingers. Learning more about Wilde’s sons, and getting a little of their adult lives - though NOwhere near enough, nor as much as promised. Which brings me back to my original point, the many unfulfilled promises of this book, so as I close this review, I’m going to round down to a 2-star, “It was okay” review.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 24, 2025
This novel will delight any Oscar Wilde affectionado. It certainly did me. Very interesting to get a view of the life of Wilde family almost solely from the viewpoint of his wife Constance and their sons Cyril and Vyvyan. Oscar is only popping in now and then and, as was his nature, always the cheerful and overwhelming witty man and naturally absent when he would have been needed. I thought it was interesting to read how very open minded and forgiving Constance had always been towards Oscar and how she plainly realized there was absolutely nothing she could undertake to alter Oscar’s egotistical but always cheerful behavior, even under the most dark circumstances. It was also very interesting to read how Constance and their sons were faring after Oscar was imprisoned and during his short remaining life after that. I certainly felt that this novel was quite close to the reality of their life.
September 27, 2024
Written in five Acts, this is the story of the disastrous impact on his family of Oscar Wilde’s affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. Thoughtlessly, Oscar invited Alfred to his family’s holiday. I didn’t see Alfred’s appeal, but Oscar was certainly obsessed. His clueless wife Constance eventually discovered the affair and was distraught. But the even more severe disruption to the family was caused by Oscar’s subsequent imprisonment for homosexuality. The scandal destroyed each member of the family in different ways.
I didn’t really see the point of structuring the book in Acts, but I wasn’t bothered by the format. My favorite parts of the book were Acts 1, 2 and 5, probably because Constance was in them. The book was really more her story than it was Oscar’s. I empathized with her the most. I also enjoyed her acerbic mother-in-law. Acts 3 and 4 were about the two sons, who were very young when the family broke up. There wasn’t much depth to those Acts. Unfortunately, Alfred reappears in Act 4. Another character in the book describes him as “a rancorous bigot”. That was a really apt description, he was totally repellent. Act 5 is an alternative history that tells how things might have been, if Constance had been the most tolerant woman on Earth. I don’t know how much of the family’s story is accurate, but Act 5 was definitely fantasy.
I generally like Bayard. This wasn’t my favorite book by him, but it was quite good. 4.5 stars
I didn’t really see the point of structuring the book in Acts, but I wasn’t bothered by the format. My favorite parts of the book were Acts 1, 2 and 5, probably because Constance was in them. The book was really more her story than it was Oscar’s. I empathized with her the most. I also enjoyed her acerbic mother-in-law. Acts 3 and 4 were about the two sons, who were very young when the family broke up. There wasn’t much depth to those Acts. Unfortunately, Alfred reappears in Act 4. Another character in the book describes him as “a rancorous bigot”. That was a really apt description, he was totally repellent. Act 5 is an alternative history that tells how things might have been, if Constance had been the most tolerant woman on Earth. I don’t know how much of the family’s story is accurate, but Act 5 was definitely fantasy.
I generally like Bayard. This wasn’t my favorite book by him, but it was quite good. 4.5 stars
January 7, 2025
The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts is a disjointed book about Oscar Wildes’ family. The word “Acts” in the title alerts the reader that this is not a straightforward narrative. Instead, it provides five individual episodes in their lives. The book starts strong but each Act becomes less interesting and by Act Five, it was all I could do to finish.
The first act deals with Constance’s eyes being opened to the truth about her husband and his proclivities. This is the strongest of the five acts because it gives you a sense of the individuals. The second is after the trial and Oscar’s bankruptcy, when Constance and her sons have changed their names and escaped to Italy in an attempt to escape the stigma of Oscar’s scandal. The first two sections tackle the question of whether sympathy is enough to engage the reader. I will give Bayard credit, he totally captures the formality of the early period - in language and comportment, even among spouses and friends. But this same formality meant I felt at a remove from Constance. I needed to be “in her head” more.
The third section is an episode from Cyril’s WWI experience. I’m sure Bayard’s intent was to show how the events of his youth led Cyril to become the man he was. But there’s scant evidence to hang your hat on that theory. I felt most of the episode could have been about any soldier.
Act Four gives us a glimpse of Vyvyan, the younger brother, and an encounter with Bosie, the other half of the scandal. And then five is a what if scenario - what if Constance had found a live and let live attitude. This just felt completely absurd to me.
The book told me so little about Constance, I found myself resorting to Wikipedia to learn more about her life. In that sense, the book failed one of my required tests for historical fiction - teach me something. In fact, the emphasis here is truly on the word fiction. These brief episodes appear to be completely made up (although the photo in Act I does exist).
I listened to this book and thought the two narrators both did good jobs. But the book itself did little to win me over.
The first act deals with Constance’s eyes being opened to the truth about her husband and his proclivities. This is the strongest of the five acts because it gives you a sense of the individuals. The second is after the trial and Oscar’s bankruptcy, when Constance and her sons have changed their names and escaped to Italy in an attempt to escape the stigma of Oscar’s scandal. The first two sections tackle the question of whether sympathy is enough to engage the reader. I will give Bayard credit, he totally captures the formality of the early period - in language and comportment, even among spouses and friends. But this same formality meant I felt at a remove from Constance. I needed to be “in her head” more.
The third section is an episode from Cyril’s WWI experience. I’m sure Bayard’s intent was to show how the events of his youth led Cyril to become the man he was. But there’s scant evidence to hang your hat on that theory. I felt most of the episode could have been about any soldier.
Act Four gives us a glimpse of Vyvyan, the younger brother, and an encounter with Bosie, the other half of the scandal. And then five is a what if scenario - what if Constance had found a live and let live attitude. This just felt completely absurd to me.
The book told me so little about Constance, I found myself resorting to Wikipedia to learn more about her life. In that sense, the book failed one of my required tests for historical fiction - teach me something. In fact, the emphasis here is truly on the word fiction. These brief episodes appear to be completely made up (although the photo in Act I does exist).
I listened to this book and thought the two narrators both did good jobs. But the book itself did little to win me over.
December 15, 2024
The Wildes by Louis Bayard
is a novel that examines the dynamics of family, self-discovery, and the magic of love. Is a tale of the Wilde family, each member dealing with their own hidden secrets and personal struggles. The novel blends wit and warmth with moments of self reflection. If you like family drama, this novel has lots for you. It was an okay book. Nothing that will stick with me.
is a novel that examines the dynamics of family, self-discovery, and the magic of love. Is a tale of the Wilde family, each member dealing with their own hidden secrets and personal struggles. The novel blends wit and warmth with moments of self reflection. If you like family drama, this novel has lots for you. It was an okay book. Nothing that will stick with me.
January 8, 2025
An immersive read. . .far more about Constance Lloyd and her sons than it is about Oscar and his determinedly egocentric journey (said with respect, I'm a fan, but his universe surely had a high price for those who played there). Constance, as she is here presented is admirable, brave and his equal in every way.
One wonders if those two strong-headed parents' bodies had been longer-lived would those sons have had happier, more peaceful lives or would it have just gone on with all the trauma? I'm torn with the pondering of it and the lives of those boys.
As for the writing of this bittersweet peek into the lives of famous people, it is superb, edgy, and very smart. The author leads the reader around a "what if" bend that creates room for a little doubt - maybe there is more to the story after all. I've read a few others of Louis Bayard's, and this reminds me I need to seek out the rest.
*A sincere thank you to Louis Bayard, Algonquin Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #TheWildes #NetGalley 25|52:44
One wonders if those two strong-headed parents' bodies had been longer-lived would those sons have had happier, more peaceful lives or would it have just gone on with all the trauma? I'm torn with the pondering of it and the lives of those boys.
As for the writing of this bittersweet peek into the lives of famous people, it is superb, edgy, and very smart. The author leads the reader around a "what if" bend that creates room for a little doubt - maybe there is more to the story after all. I've read a few others of Louis Bayard's, and this reminds me I need to seek out the rest.
*A sincere thank you to Louis Bayard, Algonquin Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #TheWildes #NetGalley 25|52:44
August 30, 2024
hmmm I respect the IDEA of wanting to depict Constance Wilde/Holland's rich inner life as a human aside from Oscar but I also feel like this didn't really....do that....
I feel like maybe it should have shown more of her pre-Oscar life or something IDK. Like it hints at her feminist work but doesn't go into it? Maybe it assumes that the reader has more knowledge of her life than I do. But I think like...that most people don't know a lot about her which is sort of why this book sounded intriguing??
And I didn't really love the five act structure. IDK I think this book spread itself too thin. I think I'd be better served by reading a good biography.
I did like everyone's very bitchy dare I say Wilde-ian dialogue though.
I feel like maybe it should have shown more of her pre-Oscar life or something IDK. Like it hints at her feminist work but doesn't go into it? Maybe it assumes that the reader has more knowledge of her life than I do. But I think like...that most people don't know a lot about her which is sort of why this book sounded intriguing??
And I didn't really love the five act structure. IDK I think this book spread itself too thin. I think I'd be better served by reading a good biography.
I did like everyone's very bitchy dare I say Wilde-ian dialogue though.
December 9, 2024
Historical fiction about the family of Oscar Wilde and the impact of his conviction on their lives. It is told in five “acts” (but written in prose). The first two acts follow Constance and are told from her perspective. The first takes place in 1892, before the scandal, and the second five years later. The third follows his elder son, Cyril, during his service in the Great War. The fourth centers on his younger son, Vyvyan, as he interacts with Lord Alfred years later. The fifth returns to the start and suggests an alternative string of events that might have led to a more positive outcome.
It is well-written, and I think the first two parts are very well done. They show the family dynamics at work and paint a picture of their life together. These characters are easy to envision. Even though this story is not focused on Oscar, once he leaves the scene, it gets more tedious and unfocused. I do not think what eventually happened to Constance and Cyril can directly be traced to the scandal in terms of cause and effect, which takes away from the point of the novel.
It is well-written, and I think the first two parts are very well done. They show the family dynamics at work and paint a picture of their life together. These characters are easy to envision. Even though this story is not focused on Oscar, once he leaves the scene, it gets more tedious and unfocused. I do not think what eventually happened to Constance and Cyril can directly be traced to the scandal in terms of cause and effect, which takes away from the point of the novel.
August 24, 2024
THE WILDES
by Louis Bayard
It was very interesting to get a glimpse of the famous Oscar Wilde, whose name I know of well but whose life I know so little of. I thought the story was well imagined - and didn’t realize how scandalous his life was. I also appreciated getting to know about his wife Constance and their two boys. Told in five acts, the story was well imagined.
by Louis Bayard
It was very interesting to get a glimpse of the famous Oscar Wilde, whose name I know of well but whose life I know so little of. I thought the story was well imagined - and didn’t realize how scandalous his life was. I also appreciated getting to know about his wife Constance and their two boys. Told in five acts, the story was well imagined.
October 28, 2024
3.5 ☆
May 2, 2025
A refreshingly different take on the story of Oscar Wilde. This novel focuses not on Oscar himself, but on his wife and two sons, looking especially at their lives after the scandal that put him in prison.
I enjoyed reading about the perspectives of his wife Constance and his two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. As well as a good fictional portrayal of Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie).
I enjoyed reading about the perspectives of his wife Constance and his two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. As well as a good fictional portrayal of Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie).
November 24, 2024
Bayard takes the unconventional approach of keeping the usually attention-sucking Oscar Wilde in the background, and focusing on how his actions hurt his wife and sons. Not everyone could pull this off, but Bayard is a good enough writer to manage it, making Constance Wilde in particular a three-dimensional and truly fascinating character. (Also, her friend and mentor Lady Margaret Brooke is lots of fun!)
The one thing that really didn't sit right with me was the ending.
(Vaguely spoilerish)
Bayard envisions an alternate reality in which Constance is able to snap out of her shock and pain and make things all nice and tidy for the man who betrayed her. Though I'm sure he didn't mean it this way, this episode carried the faint unsavory whiff of victim-blaming (e.g., she could have saved the situation if only she'd been quick-thinking and open-minded enough) and left an unfortunate last impression of what was otherwise a very good book.
The one thing that really didn't sit right with me was the ending.
(Vaguely spoilerish)
Bayard envisions an alternate reality in which Constance is able to snap out of her shock and pain and make things all nice and tidy for the man who betrayed her. Though I'm sure he didn't mean it this way, this episode carried the faint unsavory whiff of victim-blaming (e.g., she could have saved the situation if only she'd been quick-thinking and open-minded enough) and left an unfortunate last impression of what was otherwise a very good book.
August 24, 2024
So I know nothing about Oscar Wilde but he wrote one of my favorite short stories, The Canterville Ghost. As a child I was obsessed with the movie from the 1980s. Oscar Wilde was jailed for homosexuality and this book is about right before he is jailed and then what happens to his wife and children after. I enjoyed very much the humor in the book as it is not exactly a joyful story. The book is told through his wife's POV and then his sons' POVs. I found it an interesting read. I have no idea how much is factual but the author did talk to Oscar Wilde's grandson which is cool.
-"Isn't it queer the things that grown-ups never tell their children. In my experience, they are precisely what children most want and need to hear."
-"Isn't it queer the things that grown-ups never tell their children. In my experience, they are precisely what children most want and need to hear."
January 11, 2025
I had the pleasure of moderating a talk with Louis Bayard recently and he is a fabulous speaker, making me appreciate his new novel even more! Will definitely be going back to read his previous works.
February 16, 2025
4,5
відчуття, що я подивилась фільм: в уяві на фоні чіткий саундтрек, а цілу долю сімʼї розповідають всього декілька ключових епізодів, з якими 50 років пролітають менш ніж за 2 години.
мені було дуже цікаво побачити цю історію з нового ракурсу. я багато разів читала твори оскара, його de profundis та інші листи, дивилась екранізації. але ніхто не згадував про його сімʼю, яка опинилась в епіцентрі бурі. на цих сторінках вони такі справжні, такі реальні, і дуже-дуже трагічні. їх образи полюбились мені більше за оскара, бо, як сказала одна героїня: «немає нічого жалюгіднішого за чоловіче мучеництво». пожертвувавши всім, оскар повівся на маневри бозі не раз, а двічі, і після другої помилки мені було жаль його менше, ніж його сімʼю, чиє життя назавжди змінило траєкторію.
кожен з вайльдів по-своєму закохав мене у себе. як і закохала ця історія — не драматизмом чи сентиментальністю, а щирими сценами життя та наслідків людського вибору. за це я і люблю історії «на межі століть», де фоном виступають світові зміни. старі ідеали розпадаються і рух майбутнього віддаляє людей від минулого життя. лише спогади - справжнє паливо душі і останній скарб людини, завжди будуть поруч. особливо для тих, хто втратив усе.
було приємно і водночас надзвичайно сумно наприкінці поглянути на ці спогади з питанням «а що як?..» і насолодитись щасливим фіналом, якого ніколи не було.
відчуття, що я подивилась фільм: в уяві на фоні чіткий саундтрек, а цілу долю сімʼї розповідають всього декілька ключових епізодів, з якими 50 років пролітають менш ніж за 2 години.
мені було дуже цікаво побачити цю історію з нового ракурсу. я багато разів читала твори оскара, його de profundis та інші листи, дивилась екранізації. але ніхто не згадував про його сімʼю, яка опинилась в епіцентрі бурі. на цих сторінках вони такі справжні, такі реальні, і дуже-дуже трагічні. їх образи полюбились мені більше за оскара, бо, як сказала одна героїня: «немає нічого жалюгіднішого за чоловіче мучеництво». пожертвувавши всім, оскар повівся на маневри бозі не раз, а двічі, і після другої помилки мені було жаль його менше, ніж його сімʼю, чиє життя назавжди змінило траєкторію.
кожен з вайльдів по-своєму закохав мене у себе. як і закохала ця історія — не драматизмом чи сентиментальністю, а щирими сценами життя та наслідків людського вибору. за це я і люблю історії «на межі століть», де фоном виступають світові зміни. старі ідеали розпадаються і рух майбутнього віддаляє людей від минулого життя. лише спогади - справжнє паливо душі і останній скарб людини, завжди будуть поруч. особливо для тих, хто втратив усе.
було приємно і водночас надзвичайно сумно наприкінці поглянути на ці спогади з питанням «а що як?..» і насолодитись щасливим фіналом, якого ніколи не було.
August 25, 2024
This book will remain on my mind for quite a while, I can tell. It was meticulously researched, calling real-life events with ease and blending them with fiction, and it didn't feel forced. It made me see all of the characters — all of these real people who lived and died a hundred years ago — as just that. People. Not martyrs or tragic heroes or flat words on a page. I saw their faults and their wins, their laughter and their pain. I felt the keenness of their loss even though they have been dead for so long. I felt uncomfortable with some actions and aggrieved at others.
Basically, this book taught me a lot and I appreciate the compassion it showed to these figures in history while also not sugar coating some of the unpleasant aspects. My only critique is that after a pretty (seemingly) factually-accurate depiction of these people's lives, to suddenly have the Fifth Act be a speculative fiction of what their life could've been had they made slightly different choices felt -- jarring? It was certainly cathartic, but it kind of took me out of the trance that the rest of the novel had me in.
Basically, this book taught me a lot and I appreciate the compassion it showed to these figures in history while also not sugar coating some of the unpleasant aspects. My only critique is that after a pretty (seemingly) factually-accurate depiction of these people's lives, to suddenly have the Fifth Act be a speculative fiction of what their life could've been had they made slightly different choices felt -- jarring? It was certainly cathartic, but it kind of took me out of the trance that the rest of the novel had me in.
March 20, 2025
Genius. Pure genius.
Written by Louis Bayard, this is a novel about one extraordinarily scandalous event in the life of renowned playwright Oscar Wilde and the effect the intense public notoriety and scorn had on his wife and two sons. Not only is the story riveting, but the style is so creative in that it is written—exactly as you would expect a novel to be—but within the shadow of a stage play.
Each of the novel's five "acts" is set (basically) in one place, making it easy to imagine it taking place on a stage. I could even see stage directions carefully disguised in the prose.
It is August 1892, and the Wilde family—Oscar, Constance, and 7-year-old Cyril—are vacationing in a rented house at Grove Farm in Norfolk, England. Their younger son, Vyvyan, is staying with friends in London as he recovers from whopping cough. Accompanying the family are their close friends Arthur and Florence Clifton, newlyweds who are on their honeymoon. One day, Oscar tells Constance that a new friend named Lord Alfred Douglas will be joining them. The aristocratic and flamboyant Lord Alfred, nicknamed Bosie, is years younger than Oscar, but the two seem incredibly close. Very, very close. For quite some time, Constance has wondered if Oscar truly loves her, and while it takes a while for her to figure it out, she finally does: Oscar is having a sexual relationship with Bosie. Her husband is gay! Constance angrily leaves Oscar, taking the boys with her. At this point, Oscar Wilde exits stage right and doesn't appear in the novel again—until the fantastical last chapter.
A pause for a bit of history: Lord Alfred's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, highly disapproved of the relationship between his son and Wilde. He publicly confronted Wilde. That led Wilde to sue Queensberry for libel, but his plan backfired—big time. Because homosexual sex was illegal in those days, Wilde was arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for two years. His career was destroyed, and he died in 1900, two years after Constance died in 1898.
The book focuses first on Constance and her shocked and deeply hurtful reaction to the scandal and then later to their tormented grown sons, who continued to live in their father's shameful shadow.
And then, somehow, it gets even better in Act 5 when Bayard creates an alternative account of their lives that is wonderfully creative and possibly believable—if only Constance could have done in real life what she did in this final section of the book.
Ingeniously plotted with an exceptional eye for detail, this is a harrowing story and emotionally devastating tale that is brilliantly written.
Reading this book is a lot like ending up on stage in an Oscar Wilde play!
Written by Louis Bayard, this is a novel about one extraordinarily scandalous event in the life of renowned playwright Oscar Wilde and the effect the intense public notoriety and scorn had on his wife and two sons. Not only is the story riveting, but the style is so creative in that it is written—exactly as you would expect a novel to be—but within the shadow of a stage play.
Each of the novel's five "acts" is set (basically) in one place, making it easy to imagine it taking place on a stage. I could even see stage directions carefully disguised in the prose.
It is August 1892, and the Wilde family—Oscar, Constance, and 7-year-old Cyril—are vacationing in a rented house at Grove Farm in Norfolk, England. Their younger son, Vyvyan, is staying with friends in London as he recovers from whopping cough. Accompanying the family are their close friends Arthur and Florence Clifton, newlyweds who are on their honeymoon. One day, Oscar tells Constance that a new friend named Lord Alfred Douglas will be joining them. The aristocratic and flamboyant Lord Alfred, nicknamed Bosie, is years younger than Oscar, but the two seem incredibly close. Very, very close. For quite some time, Constance has wondered if Oscar truly loves her, and while it takes a while for her to figure it out, she finally does: Oscar is having a sexual relationship with Bosie. Her husband is gay! Constance angrily leaves Oscar, taking the boys with her. At this point, Oscar Wilde exits stage right and doesn't appear in the novel again—until the fantastical last chapter.
A pause for a bit of history: Lord Alfred's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, highly disapproved of the relationship between his son and Wilde. He publicly confronted Wilde. That led Wilde to sue Queensberry for libel, but his plan backfired—big time. Because homosexual sex was illegal in those days, Wilde was arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for two years. His career was destroyed, and he died in 1900, two years after Constance died in 1898.
The book focuses first on Constance and her shocked and deeply hurtful reaction to the scandal and then later to their tormented grown sons, who continued to live in their father's shameful shadow.
And then, somehow, it gets even better in Act 5 when Bayard creates an alternative account of their lives that is wonderfully creative and possibly believable—if only Constance could have done in real life what she did in this final section of the book.
Ingeniously plotted with an exceptional eye for detail, this is a harrowing story and emotionally devastating tale that is brilliantly written.
Reading this book is a lot like ending up on stage in an Oscar Wilde play!
April 12, 2025
The Wildes seems at first blush to promise a very intimate tale of a very public man, something along the lines of Louis Bayard's earlier novel Courting Mr. Lincoln. until we realize at what point we've been dropped into this tale.
The story begins just before what most people would consider The End of Oscar Wilde: not his death, but his death-in-life, the accusations, the trial for slander, and the consequences. This story could be called the aftermath of Oscar. Oscar, in life always at center stage, must give up the spotlight on this occasion. This time, the walk-ons speak.
The story begins with an idyll, a brief time snatched from time in an Edenic inglenook of Norfolk where the Wildes, along with sundry supporting characters, have decamped, ostensibly to give Oscar the peace necessary to finish his latest play, although other motives are at play. And the novel keeps returning to that time, those events, that last weekend in particular, trying to make sense of it all, of how the family was cast out of Eden forever, when they might have stayed.
The style of Wilde himself seeps through the prose in a pleasing manner: epigram and paradox are the novel's shield maidens.Yet at the same time there's an elegiac quality to this novel, as though it were all epilogue. The wake of the good ship Oscar Wilde, upsets all the little boats of those he loves, his wife, his two sons, and even the snake in the garden, Lord Alfred Douglas, the catamite. We bear witness as a forgiving wife and loving sons are helplessly dragged away by an inexorable pitiless tide from Wilde's rocky shores and from each other.
There's a reason the book is subtitled A Novel in Five Acts. There's a self-conscious theatricality to all the characters, as if Wilde's personality is so powerful that even those closest to them reduced to supernumeraries in the tragicomedy of his life. Oscar's mother, Lady Wilde, takes on the role of Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest, lobbing paradoxical bon mots like live grenades wherever she goes. Constance Wilde is cast in the titular role of A Woman of No Importance. And the denouement is carried out in exclusively theatrical terms.
There's a sense in all of Oscar Wilde's comedies that their characters are so enmeshed in society's mores and expectations that they have no choice but to follow the script to its inevitable conclusion. That is, paradoxically, the definition of tragedy. Life always begins as comedy and ends as tragedy. So it is in this delicate, superbly wrought tale. You'll leave the theatre quietly, but wanting to cheer.
The story begins just before what most people would consider The End of Oscar Wilde: not his death, but his death-in-life, the accusations, the trial for slander, and the consequences. This story could be called the aftermath of Oscar. Oscar, in life always at center stage, must give up the spotlight on this occasion. This time, the walk-ons speak.
The story begins with an idyll, a brief time snatched from time in an Edenic inglenook of Norfolk where the Wildes, along with sundry supporting characters, have decamped, ostensibly to give Oscar the peace necessary to finish his latest play, although other motives are at play. And the novel keeps returning to that time, those events, that last weekend in particular, trying to make sense of it all, of how the family was cast out of Eden forever, when they might have stayed.
The style of Wilde himself seeps through the prose in a pleasing manner: epigram and paradox are the novel's shield maidens.Yet at the same time there's an elegiac quality to this novel, as though it were all epilogue. The wake of the good ship Oscar Wilde, upsets all the little boats of those he loves, his wife, his two sons, and even the snake in the garden, Lord Alfred Douglas, the catamite. We bear witness as a forgiving wife and loving sons are helplessly dragged away by an inexorable pitiless tide from Wilde's rocky shores and from each other.
There's a reason the book is subtitled A Novel in Five Acts. There's a self-conscious theatricality to all the characters, as if Wilde's personality is so powerful that even those closest to them reduced to supernumeraries in the tragicomedy of his life. Oscar's mother, Lady Wilde, takes on the role of Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest, lobbing paradoxical bon mots like live grenades wherever she goes. Constance Wilde is cast in the titular role of A Woman of No Importance. And the denouement is carried out in exclusively theatrical terms.
There's a sense in all of Oscar Wilde's comedies that their characters are so enmeshed in society's mores and expectations that they have no choice but to follow the script to its inevitable conclusion. That is, paradoxically, the definition of tragedy. Life always begins as comedy and ends as tragedy. So it is in this delicate, superbly wrought tale. You'll leave the theatre quietly, but wanting to cheer.
November 28, 2024
Not sure how I feel about this. Lots of potential and I love the theme of acceptance, but the structure is confusing and frustrating. I wish I had more of Constance’s closure. Worth resting, but somewhat disappointing.
December 20, 2024
Always love good and engaging historical fiction and Bayard brings it here. An imagining of the life of Oscar Wilde, his wife Constance, and an assorted cast of characters. A great and fun read.
October 3, 2024
Proof that there are historical fiction books I don’t love. To add a bit more of an oddity, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by the author. This one isn’t bad but it’s twisty and more complex than it needed to be and not on a good way. It just didn’t work well for me.
January 18, 2025
This book falls so short of the mark. Read Ellman’s biography.
September 10, 2024
Review to come! 🖋️
(FINAL REVIEW:)
This was a wonderful historical fiction and reimagining of the life of Oscar Wilde’s family: Constance, Cyril, and Vyvyan. I thought Bayard did a wonderful job of portraying the tragedy that was the Wildes’ shattering both privately and in the public eye in a way that felt understandable but still raw. 😢
The story is split up into five parts, with the first two focusing on Constance, the third on Cyril, the fourth on Vyvyan, and the last a reimagining of what could have happened if events had gone differently. Constance is portrayed as not only the perfect wife, but also a woman who feels like her best is sometimes lacking, even with the love of her family. I honestly loved the dynamic that she had with Oscar and Cyril during and after the events that forever changed the family. Cyril is a tragic figure in and of himself due to his section of being on the front lines of WWI. He’s scarred by the upheaval of his life and family, and out both survival after that trauma and the horrors he’s facing on the battlefield, he’s hardened himself into a shell of the man he could have been. Vyvyan is also tragic in his own way. He’s got survivor’s guilt due to the fact that he is the last of his family and struggling to find meaning in his life post deaths. Honestly, the four acts just felt like a study in tragedy which I thought Bayard did a great job depicting. 💔
The last part is something that I honestly loved seeing in this book that could have been a complete downer (but in the best way). It reimagines what might have happened had the family not split and found a way to work with Oscar’s gayness and Constance’s need for sexual release. 🔥
This book just reminds me of how much I enjoy reading the lives of the spouses of famous Irish writers. If you are interested in reading about these often overlooked women, I would suggest this book and Nora by Nuala O’Connor who does a fantastic job of depicting the life of Nora Joyce, wife of James Joyce. 🎩
The things that I did find myself wishing more for were an earlier start of the book where we could have seen more of Oscar and Constance in their married life and the dynamic they had. I also found myself wishing that this was longer so that I could wallow in grief with the characters who are really, real life figures. 📝
Big thank you goes out to Algoquin Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Bayard, for writing a wonderful depiction of the Wildes. 💚
Publication date: September 17!
Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️
(FINAL REVIEW:)
This was a wonderful historical fiction and reimagining of the life of Oscar Wilde’s family: Constance, Cyril, and Vyvyan. I thought Bayard did a wonderful job of portraying the tragedy that was the Wildes’ shattering both privately and in the public eye in a way that felt understandable but still raw. 😢
The story is split up into five parts, with the first two focusing on Constance, the third on Cyril, the fourth on Vyvyan, and the last a reimagining of what could have happened if events had gone differently. Constance is portrayed as not only the perfect wife, but also a woman who feels like her best is sometimes lacking, even with the love of her family. I honestly loved the dynamic that she had with Oscar and Cyril during and after the events that forever changed the family. Cyril is a tragic figure in and of himself due to his section of being on the front lines of WWI. He’s scarred by the upheaval of his life and family, and out both survival after that trauma and the horrors he’s facing on the battlefield, he’s hardened himself into a shell of the man he could have been. Vyvyan is also tragic in his own way. He’s got survivor’s guilt due to the fact that he is the last of his family and struggling to find meaning in his life post deaths. Honestly, the four acts just felt like a study in tragedy which I thought Bayard did a great job depicting. 💔
The last part is something that I honestly loved seeing in this book that could have been a complete downer (but in the best way). It reimagines what might have happened had the family not split and found a way to work with Oscar’s gayness and Constance’s need for sexual release. 🔥
This book just reminds me of how much I enjoy reading the lives of the spouses of famous Irish writers. If you are interested in reading about these often overlooked women, I would suggest this book and Nora by Nuala O’Connor who does a fantastic job of depicting the life of Nora Joyce, wife of James Joyce. 🎩
The things that I did find myself wishing more for were an earlier start of the book where we could have seen more of Oscar and Constance in their married life and the dynamic they had. I also found myself wishing that this was longer so that I could wallow in grief with the characters who are really, real life figures. 📝
Big thank you goes out to Algoquin Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Bayard, for writing a wonderful depiction of the Wildes. 💚
Publication date: September 17!
Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️
April 8, 2025
Що ж, я повірила. Дещо в сюжеті сховано між рядками, інколи навпаки кинуто, як дуельну рукавичку, виклично і нахабно, прямісінько в обличчя. Історія склалась.
September 24, 2024
In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named 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 gives us a view into the lives of Oscar Wilde, his wife Constance, and their sons- before, during, and after the scandal that changed their family life forever. It’s an interesting if uneven look at a personal history I was previously unfamiliar with. So much ground was covered that it felt like we never really got the depth I was hoping for, but it was still a worthwhile read- as well as a reminder of how much progress we have and haven’t made since.
Thank you Louis Bayard, Algonquin Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Wildes gives us a view into the lives of Oscar Wilde, his wife Constance, and their sons- before, during, and after the scandal that changed their family life forever. It’s an interesting if uneven look at a personal history I was previously unfamiliar with. So much ground was covered that it felt like we never really got the depth I was hoping for, but it was still a worthwhile read- as well as a reminder of how much progress we have and haven’t made since.
Thank you Louis Bayard, Algonquin Books, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 28, 2024
beautiful, agonising, the last act gutted me
December 19, 2024
I listened to this book at 10 hours and I enjoyed the first half of this book very much where we are take to September 1892 to Norfolk, England where Oscar Wilde and his wife Constance have rented a home with their family and Oscar’s mother. But when Lord Alfred Douglas arrives as a guest, Constance begins to see more clearly signs she has ignored since the beginning of her marriage which is that her husband who is very loving towards her and a wonderful husband keeps a separate bedroom because he has been having affairs with the men who have been coming in and out of her home for years.
The reason I gave this book just three stars is for one, this story is told in five acts and I loved the narrator for the first scene in Norfolk and then the second act where Lady Constance has gone into self imposed exiled and changed her last name and sent her boys off to boarding school all to escape the scandal of the Oscar Wilde trials where he was tried for homosexuality and imprisoned. She filed for a divorce before the trails and left heart broken. These two scenes were interesting. The third scene was also interested which fast forwards many years and has her eldest son Cyril at the center of the story as a sniper in the First World War and we hear about he damage the break up of his family and the shame of his fathers fall from grace had on him all whilst being in the trenches in a war.
The fourth act was the least enjoyable and that was mostly because the narrator put on the voice of Lord Douglas who has run into Vyvyan, the second and youngest son of Oscar Wilde. The posh accent put on by the actor was just so overdone and I found it so irritating to listen to that it ruined this act for me. I also found the setting, a men’s club to be just kind of confusing and the fact that Vyvyan would give one minute to a man who he knows clearly ruined the idyllic family life he had, seems just so improbable.
The fifth act was an interesting approach where the author reimagines, what would it have been like if Constance Wilde had found out about her husbands homosexuality but where she didn’t leave him but for the sake of keeping her family together, she chose to be the one who rewrote the rules of her home and created a very unorthodox for the time arrangement to keep her boys spared from a life of shame and to give them and her stability.
The reason I gave this book just three stars is for one, this story is told in five acts and I loved the narrator for the first scene in Norfolk and then the second act where Lady Constance has gone into self imposed exiled and changed her last name and sent her boys off to boarding school all to escape the scandal of the Oscar Wilde trials where he was tried for homosexuality and imprisoned. She filed for a divorce before the trails and left heart broken. These two scenes were interesting. The third scene was also interested which fast forwards many years and has her eldest son Cyril at the center of the story as a sniper in the First World War and we hear about he damage the break up of his family and the shame of his fathers fall from grace had on him all whilst being in the trenches in a war.
The fourth act was the least enjoyable and that was mostly because the narrator put on the voice of Lord Douglas who has run into Vyvyan, the second and youngest son of Oscar Wilde. The posh accent put on by the actor was just so overdone and I found it so irritating to listen to that it ruined this act for me. I also found the setting, a men’s club to be just kind of confusing and the fact that Vyvyan would give one minute to a man who he knows clearly ruined the idyllic family life he had, seems just so improbable.
The fifth act was an interesting approach where the author reimagines, what would it have been like if Constance Wilde had found out about her husbands homosexuality but where she didn’t leave him but for the sake of keeping her family together, she chose to be the one who rewrote the rules of her home and created a very unorthodox for the time arrangement to keep her boys spared from a life of shame and to give them and her stability.
September 21, 2024
THE WILDES from Louis Bayard opens with a beautiful love letter sent from Oscar Wilde to his wife Constance. Most readers will be puzzled by this and ask questions like: “I thought Oscar Wilde was a homosexual?” and “Wasn’t he imprisoned for indecency?.” While the answers to these questions may be well-known bits of historical fact it is just the starting point for a novel that delves so much deeper into what this man and his relationship with Constance was all about.
This novel could have only been released and fully appreciated in the present day, where most recognize that a person cannot allow themselves to let a label categorize and define who they truly are. The novel is told in five acts, like a play Wilde may have written, and the opening act features a setting and cast of characters you might have seen in one of his plays like The Importance Of Being Earnest or A Woman Of No Importance. In addition to Oscar and Constance we have Lady Wilde – Oscar’s Mother, Cyril – their oldest of two sons, Arthur and Florence Clifton, the hired help, and of course the unexpected guest who arrives and impacts everyone in the story --- young royal Lord Alfred Douglas.
The setting is a summer get away in the Norfolk countryside in the year 1892. Their youngest son, Vyvyan, had to stay behind due to a bout with whooping cough. The language is as witty as you would expect from a Wilde play or novel, which makes it ironic when he states: “Books and plays are not truth, my love. They are exercises in sensation.” All is happy and innocent banter until Oscar announces that a guest he had extended an invitation to had accepted and would be spending a couple of days with them. He is none other than Lord Alfred Douglas of the Queensbury’s. Upon his arrival, everything changes within the demeanor of the group as it is obvious to all that Alfred is infatuated with Oscar and that their relationship seems to be more than mere friendship.
Constance bears up, as she knows the visit is a short one, until Oscar tells the group that Lord Alfred is staying on longer to translate his French work Salome into English. No one really buys this excuse and Arthur even suggests that Constance would be more qualified to handle such a translation. In a very telling conversation that leads to the subject of art and morality, Oscar professes that a book is neither moral or immoral, it is only well written or badly written. When at point young Cyril points out to his mother the hidden extra attic room, referred to as a priest’s hole it contains a thin mattress that Constance immediately recognizes as her husband’s rendezvous spot with their young male guest.
This leads to perhaps the best moment of the novel when Oscar and Constance lay everything out in the open in a stunning and awkward conversation. It will lead to Constance, Cyril, and Lady Wilde deciding to take their leave of Norfolk while Oscar and Lord Alfred stay behind. Their immoral relationship is called into question publicly by Lord Alfred’s father, the Marquess Of Queensbury, and Wilde sues him for slander. The infamous court case does not go well for Oscar as judge and jury find him guilty of indecency and sentence him to two years term at Gaol prison.
The remaining acts give us a much deeper understanding of the rest of the Wilde family in Oscar’s absence. We see Constance and her two sons spending a brief exile in Italy and learning of Oscar’s eventual release from prison. We then leap forward in time for acts featuring Cyril as a sniper in World War I and another with Vyvyan as a young man who gets to confront both Arthur Clifton and Lord Alfred about what occurred when they were young in 1892. In both of those acts, Oscar and Constance have already passed on. Every act in this wonderous novel carries its own bit of sorrow and pain and makes the total work play out like a Shakespearean tragedy.
The final act brings us back once again to 1892 in the moments not before seen that feature Constance confronting both Oscar and Lord Alfred about their relationship and to discuss how they are to get one from there in some guise of marriage. THE WILDES is eye-opening and heart-breaking and provides so much detail and surprise testimony in the form of historical fiction that it will make you rethink what you thought you knew about the legend Oscar Wilde.
I cannot conceive of many authors outside of Louis Bayard who could have so effectively captured the voice, the quips, and witticisms of the legendary Oscar Wilde. Well beyond that, THE WILDES allows readers to enter into the mind and soul of the legend behind this wit as orchestrated by Bayard. It is an act of tribute and just plain love for the real Oscar Wilde and all the many contributions he has made to both literature and the world in general.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
This novel could have only been released and fully appreciated in the present day, where most recognize that a person cannot allow themselves to let a label categorize and define who they truly are. The novel is told in five acts, like a play Wilde may have written, and the opening act features a setting and cast of characters you might have seen in one of his plays like The Importance Of Being Earnest or A Woman Of No Importance. In addition to Oscar and Constance we have Lady Wilde – Oscar’s Mother, Cyril – their oldest of two sons, Arthur and Florence Clifton, the hired help, and of course the unexpected guest who arrives and impacts everyone in the story --- young royal Lord Alfred Douglas.
The setting is a summer get away in the Norfolk countryside in the year 1892. Their youngest son, Vyvyan, had to stay behind due to a bout with whooping cough. The language is as witty as you would expect from a Wilde play or novel, which makes it ironic when he states: “Books and plays are not truth, my love. They are exercises in sensation.” All is happy and innocent banter until Oscar announces that a guest he had extended an invitation to had accepted and would be spending a couple of days with them. He is none other than Lord Alfred Douglas of the Queensbury’s. Upon his arrival, everything changes within the demeanor of the group as it is obvious to all that Alfred is infatuated with Oscar and that their relationship seems to be more than mere friendship.
Constance bears up, as she knows the visit is a short one, until Oscar tells the group that Lord Alfred is staying on longer to translate his French work Salome into English. No one really buys this excuse and Arthur even suggests that Constance would be more qualified to handle such a translation. In a very telling conversation that leads to the subject of art and morality, Oscar professes that a book is neither moral or immoral, it is only well written or badly written. When at point young Cyril points out to his mother the hidden extra attic room, referred to as a priest’s hole it contains a thin mattress that Constance immediately recognizes as her husband’s rendezvous spot with their young male guest.
This leads to perhaps the best moment of the novel when Oscar and Constance lay everything out in the open in a stunning and awkward conversation. It will lead to Constance, Cyril, and Lady Wilde deciding to take their leave of Norfolk while Oscar and Lord Alfred stay behind. Their immoral relationship is called into question publicly by Lord Alfred’s father, the Marquess Of Queensbury, and Wilde sues him for slander. The infamous court case does not go well for Oscar as judge and jury find him guilty of indecency and sentence him to two years term at Gaol prison.
The remaining acts give us a much deeper understanding of the rest of the Wilde family in Oscar’s absence. We see Constance and her two sons spending a brief exile in Italy and learning of Oscar’s eventual release from prison. We then leap forward in time for acts featuring Cyril as a sniper in World War I and another with Vyvyan as a young man who gets to confront both Arthur Clifton and Lord Alfred about what occurred when they were young in 1892. In both of those acts, Oscar and Constance have already passed on. Every act in this wonderous novel carries its own bit of sorrow and pain and makes the total work play out like a Shakespearean tragedy.
The final act brings us back once again to 1892 in the moments not before seen that feature Constance confronting both Oscar and Lord Alfred about their relationship and to discuss how they are to get one from there in some guise of marriage. THE WILDES is eye-opening and heart-breaking and provides so much detail and surprise testimony in the form of historical fiction that it will make you rethink what you thought you knew about the legend Oscar Wilde.
I cannot conceive of many authors outside of Louis Bayard who could have so effectively captured the voice, the quips, and witticisms of the legendary Oscar Wilde. Well beyond that, THE WILDES allows readers to enter into the mind and soul of the legend behind this wit as orchestrated by Bayard. It is an act of tribute and just plain love for the real Oscar Wilde and all the many contributions he has made to both literature and the world in general.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
May 23, 2025
3.5/5
I liked the ending of The Wildes. It was the best part of the novel. I still had some questions by the ending of the novel, for example: Why was Constance using a cane? What surgery did she undergo? What happened to Cyril?
The ending was beautiful. If only things amongst the Wildes had turned out that way. If only there had been a "place" for that family, how differently would their lives had turned out, and for the better? A novel of "what ifs" and "should haves" and "if only's." Bittersweet.
I liked the ending of The Wildes. It was the best part of the novel. I still had some questions by the ending of the novel, for example: Why was Constance using a cane? What surgery did she undergo? What happened to Cyril?
The ending was beautiful. If only things amongst the Wildes had turned out that way. If only there had been a "place" for that family, how differently would their lives had turned out, and for the better? A novel of "what ifs" and "should haves" and "if only's." Bittersweet.
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