by Louis Bayard
First published 2024
September 1892. Constance Wilde has every reason for contentment as her family retreats to the Norfolk countryside. Her husband Oscar is England's most celebrated playwright. Her two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, are thriving. Her own reputation as a progressive advocate flourishes. Then the houseguests arrive, including aristocratic young poet Lord Alfred Douglas. Constance watches Oscar's attention shift toward the magnetic young man called Bosie. The growing intensity between them threatens everything she has built. When their affair becomes public, Oscar's imprisonment destroys the family. Constance and her sons flee England in disgrace, forced to abandon their home and hide their identities. Years later, Cyril fights in the trenches of World War I, wrestling with his father's legacy. Vyvyan searches London for answers about his parents' story. In five acts spanning decades, the novel follows each family member as they navigate the wreckage of scandal and search for their own paths forward.
Genres: drama, family, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: England, Norfolk
Period: 1892, World War I
Library Binding · Thorndike Press Large Print
Content warnings: abuse, homophobia