The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde

The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde is a 1983 novel by Peter Ackroyd. It won the Somerset Maugham Award[1] in 1984.

The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde
First edition cover
AuthorPeter Ackroyd
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHamish Hamilton
Publication date
April 1983
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN978-0-241-10964-9

Plot summary

The novel is written in the form of a diary which Oscar Wilde was writing in Paris in 1900, up to his death. The diary itself is completely fictional, as is the detail contained, although the events and most of the characters (such as the characters of Lord Alfred Douglas, Robert Ross and the Earl of Rosebery and his incarceration, at Pentonville, later Reading) are real. In this diary he looks back at his life, writing, and ruin through trial and gaol. Included are fairy tales much like those Wilde wrote, although again these are wholly Ackroyd's invention. The last pages are written in the character of Maurice, Wilde's valet.

References

  1. O'Mahony, John (2 July 2004). "Profile: Peter Ackroyd". The Guardian.
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