Friday 25 November 2011

Constance - Mrs Oscar Wilde and friend of Lucy Russell

James Cholmeley Russell pops up briefly in ‘Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde’ the new biography by Franny Moyle. One of his sisters – Lucy – was a college friend.

Constance and Oscar Wilde were part of a circle whose outrageous behaviour shook the foundations of nineteenth-century society.

Constance is the extraordinary account of their marriage played out under public scrutiny, which crashed and burned as only a celebrity marriage can.

Franny Moyle has radically rewriten accepted opinion about the Wildes from both a personal and a literary perspective. Drawing on Constance’s numerous unpublished letters, she uncovers key revelations about a woman who was the victim of one of the greatest betrayals of all time.

Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde - published in June 2011 by John Murray