Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde - Hardcover

Franny Moyle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848541627 ISBN 13: 9781848541627

Publisher: Hodder Library Hb, 2011

Synopsis

In the spring of 1895 the life of Constance Wilde changed irrevocably. Up until the conviction of her husband, Oscar, for homosexual crimes, she had held a privileged position in society. Part of a gilded couple, she was a popular children's author, a fashion icon, and a leading campaigner for women's rights. A founding member of the magical society the Golden Dawn, her pioneering and questioning spirit encouraged her to sample some of the more controversial aspects of her time. Mrs Oscar Wilde was a phenomenon in her own right. But that spring Constance's entire life was eclipsed by scandal. Forced to flee to the Continent with her two sons, her glittering literary and political career ended abruptly. Having changed her name, she lived in exile until her death. Franny Moyle now tells Constance's story with a fresh eye and remarkable new material. Drawing on numerous unpublished letters, she brings to life the story of a woman at the heart of fin-de-siecle London and the Aesthetic movement. In a compelling and moving tale of an unlikely couple caught up in a world unsure of its moral footing, she uncovers key revelations about a woman who was the victim of one of the greatest betrayals of all time.

About this title

About the Author

Franny Moyle has a degree in English and History of Art from St John's College, Cambridge and is the author ofDesperate Romantics. She enjoyed a career in arts programming at the BBC that culminated in her becoming the corporation's first Commissioner for Arts and Culture. She is now a freelance executive producer and writer as well as a director of the Hackney Empire, which is near her home in East London. She is married with three children.

Review

Praise for Constance --- 'moving, indeed disturbing, biography...her biography is long overdue and the wounding drama sweeps all before it' **** Daily Express '[A] diligently observed book...this sensitive biography, at last, does her justice' Sunday Times 'Franny Moyle has read far more of Constance's letters than I have, and her book now replaces and sometimes corrects, the earlier ones on Mrs Wilde by Anne Clark Amor and Joyce Bentley...presents a full portrait of an intelligent, committed young woman trying to make an independent life for herself in a London still dominated by men...Franny Moyle tells the poignant story of Constance in the aftermath of Wilde's trials and imprisonment, and of her brave attempts to keep in contact with him despite her suffering' Irish Times A sympathetic and fascinating biography Independent on Sunday Praise for Desperate Romantics Franny Moyle's book on the Pre-Raphaelites: --- Riveting ... Moyle captures vividly the texture and colour of this vital world Independent on Sunday Powerful, absorbing and, well, rather jolly Sunday Times 'An utterly gripping read' Sunday Express

Edition details

• Publisher: Hodder Library Hb
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848541627
• ISBN 13: 9781848541627
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384