The Fall Of The House Of Wilde: Oscar Wilde and His Family - Tapa dura

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. Not since Ellmann's masterly 1988 biography has a book been published that will be so warmly welcomed by those still held in thrill by the myth and reality of Oscar Wilde, that miracle of mind and personality. Perhaps even more importantly, this is a book that reminds us how very unlikely it is that a genius is likely to born in a vacuum: Oscar was, O'Sullivan demonstrates, every inch his parents' child (Stephen Fry)

'Emer O'Sullivan . does not dwell unduly on Wilde's sexuality - a good thing in my view . She is, as her title proclaims, principally interested in the "house" that made Wilde and that he pulled down in his fall . O'Sullivan vividly evokes the cultural vitalities Oscar inherited from the house he was born into . O'Sullivan's hugely readable book . does not dissolve the embarrassment Oscar still causes us, but she makes the source of it crystal clear. For which one may be truly grateful (John Sutherland The Times)

Enjoyable . O'Sullivan claims, plausibly, that Wilde learnt his formidable conversational skills by listening to the intellectual chatter at his parents' table (Prospect)

A valuable addition to the scholarly reclamation of the Wilde name . . . The Fall of the House of Wilde does justice to the name of Wilde. (The Irish Times)

A valuable addition to the scholarly reclamation of the Wilde name . Lucid . O'Sullivan deals with the difficult and unhappy Willie with clear-eyed understanding . The Fall of the House of Wilde does justice to the name of Wilde (Irish Times)

Emer O'Sullivan's meticulously researched debut . shows . her extensive journey into Wilde's family background is not some eccentric effort, but a necessary, even vital one . Considering the fascinating new material it unearths in every chapter, this book's understated tone is striking . 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. Emer O'Sullivan's brilliant book shows how Oscar was forced to be a bright, flamboyant and radical playwright and novelist so as to be able to take care of his mother and brother . The Fall of the House of Wilde shows how artificiality came naturally to the Victorians - and how their pasts determined their futures (Kaya Genç Times Literary Supplement)

Worthy and useful ... fresh insights and entertaining asides ... O'Sullivan, concentrating on Oscar's family, is able to give a rich account of the hapless Willie (Literary Review)

What makes O'Sullivan's narrative so intriguing is how she cleverly links the Wildes' story against the historical background of fin-de-siècle Dublin and London . This is a remarkable piece of work. And the best non-fiction book I've read all year (Sunday Independent)

Thoroughly researched and rich with scholarship ... O'Sullivan's observations brighten in a spirited and authoritative commentary (Irish Examiner)

An engrossing examination of how the great writer was shaped by his upbringing and by his unconventional parents: Jane, his mother, a poet and campaigner for women's rights; and William, his father, a leading surgeon, whose disgrace would devastate the family (Book of the Year Mail on Sunday)