Louis Bayard tells tale of Oscar Wilde's fascinating family in new novel

In 1892, playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was a few years away from the trial and imprisonment that would wreck his life and that of his family.

Louis Bayard begins his delicately masterful historical novel, "The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts," during a week in the Norfolk countryside in “the before times — before scandal, gaol, exile.”

Here, Wilde and his wife, Constance, both in their 30s, retreat with their 7-year-old son, Cyril, and Wilde's acerbic mother, Lady Jane Wilde.

Younger son Vyvyan, who has whooping cough, is being cared for by friends.

Behind the scenes in the White House: Author tells tale of covering presidents

They are joined by newlyweds Arthur and Florence Clifton, a couple who have been “unfailingly cordial to each other” but who also seem to be “locked in an inscrutable argument” — perhaps connected to the fact that Arthur seems to have eyes for Constance rather than for his new wife.

They are also joined by Lord Alfred Douglas, known to his friends as “Bosie,” he of the “silken hair, the unmolested skin,” who comes bearing six trunks of clothing for a three-day stay.

At first, Constance believes him to be one of “the procession of narrow-chested young men, each younger than the last,” who seek Oscar's attention, but their relationship is more dangerous and complicated than that.

Constance knows that Oscar “has never belonged entirely to her, or to anyone.” And she accepts, unhappily, that they no longer share a bed, or a bedroom, a fact that Oscar attributes to a venereal disease he picked up from a prostitute.

But not until one weekend does she realize what sort of romantic misadventures are going on behind her back. And once she realizes, she has to decide what to do about it.

Though Oscar plays a role in the novel, Bayard's main focus is on the other members of his family, and on incidents from their lives that may be pivotal, but are not necessarily of historical importance.

After its "first act,” the novel jumps several years, using brief excerpts from letters and trial transcripts to indicate what has been going on in the meantime, to find Constance and her sons with new names, estranged from Oscar and living in Italy.

Librarian nightmares: Author to discuss book banning at Columbus event

Here, Constance is suffering from “creeping paralysis” of the legs, and under the dubious care of a doctor who diagnoses “hysteria” and prescribes surgery.

After a jump of nearly 20 years, Cyril is a sniper during World War I, assigned to care for a young officer who may or may not have intentionally wounded himself. And then, 10 years later, Vyvyan shares a drink at a club with the aged Lord Alfred Douglas, his “lovely blue eyes” now “bloodshot and malarial.”

In a daring “fifth act,” Bayard returns to the time and place of the first, reimagining history in a way that gives all of the Wildes a fighting chance against the various forms of doom that await them.

It's a novel in which dialogue plays a major role, and Bayard pays tribute to Wilde's cynical humor without copying or exaggerating it.

Both slyly comic and achingly tender, the novel sets the readers within the context of an unexpectedly complicated and fascinating family.

margaretquamme@hotmail.com

At a glance

Louis Bayard will appear at a Gramercy Books' PROSECCO & PROSE event at 5 p.m. Sept. 30 at Giuseppe's Ritrovo, 2268 E. Main St., Bexley.

The $50 admission includes a copy of the novel, a glass of wine or prosecco, hors d'oeuvres, a meet and greet with the author and a book talk and signing.

More information can be found at gramercybooksbexley.com .

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Louis Bayard tells tale of Oscar Wilde's fascinating family in new novel