Did you know Mrs Wilde?

Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

 

Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

We all know about Oscar Wilde, we all know some of his witty quotes , we know / have seen  his plays.  Who can forget The Picture of Dorian Gray, or The Importance of being Ernest… ?

 

You may even have seen the movie in which Steven Frey acted. Movies never give the true story!

 

But did you know his wife?

 

Here is a book that I can recommend.

 

The story of the woman at the center of the most famous scandal of the nineteenth century. 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. She lived in exile until her death. Franny Moyle now tells Constance’s story with a fresh eye. Drawing on numerous unpublished letters, she brings to life the story of a woman at the heart of fin-de-siecle London and the Aesthetic movement.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, Moyle unveils the story of a woman who was the victim of one of the greatest betrayals of all time.