This book presents Lady Wilde's letters to her son, Oscar Wilde, correspondence which began when Oscar left Trinity College, Dublin, to attend Oxford University and ended just before Oscar was charged in 1895 with offenses under Section Eleven of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1895. The letters provide insight into Oscar's relationship with his mother and indicate how much he helped her financially when she was unable to cope with the demands upon her dwindling income.

"Joe Orton's last play, What the Butler Saw, will live to be accepted as a comedy classic of English literature" (Sunday Telegraph) The chase is on in this breakneck comedy of licensed insanity, from the moment when Dr Prentice, a psychoanalyst interviewing a prospective secretary, instructs her to undress. The plot of What the Butler Saw contains enough twists and turns, mishaps and changes of fortune, coincidences and lunatic logic to furnish three or four conventional comedies. But however the six characters in search of a plot lose the thread of the action - their wits or their clothes - their verbal self-possession never deserts them. Hailed as a modern comedy every bit as good as Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Orton's play is regularly produced, read and studied. What the Butler Saw was Orton's final play."He is the Oscar Wilde of Welfare State gentility" (Observer)

“A lively debut biography of the flamboyant Irish writer . . . focusing on the women who loved and supported him” (Kirkus Reviews). In this essential work, Eleanor Fitzsimons reframes Oscar Wilde’s story and his legacy through the women in his life, including such scintillating figures as Florence Balcombe; actress Lillie Langtry; and his tragic and witty niece, Dolly, who, like Wilde, loved fast cars, cocaine, and foreign women. Fresh, revealing, and entertaining, full of fascinating detail and anecdotes, Wilde’s Women relates the untold story of how a beloved writer and libertine played a vitally sympathetic role on behalf of many women, and how they supported him in the midst of a Victorian society in the process of changing forever. “Fitzsimons reminds us of the many writers, actresses, political activists, professional beauties and aristocratic ladies who helped shape the life and legend of the era’s greatest wit, esthete and sexual martyr . . . provide[s] a potted biography of the multitalented writer and gay icon . . . highly enjoyable.” —The Washington Post “Fitzsimons brilliantly calls attention to the progressive ideas and beliefs which drew the most daring and interesting women of the time to his side. The depth and painstaking care of Fitzsimons’ research is a fitting tribute to Wilde’s fascinating life and exquisite writing—and really, what better compliment is there than that?” —High Voltage

A woman from Scotland recounts her travels in the U.S., focusing particularly issues relating to women (education, employment, etc.), also discussing more general cultural matters.

This is the first volume of Lady Jane Wilde's letters to be published. Its contents help to dispel some of the malicious rumors about the Wildes' repeated in most biographies. Lady Jane Wilde was a poet, essayist, intellectual, and fighter for Ireland and women's rights in the second half of the nineteenth century. She wrote many letters from her home in Dublin and later from London connecting her to people with whom she felt empathy, some of whom she rarely saw. One such friend was the Swedish feminist and author, Lotten von Kraemer, who lived in Uppsala, a difficult journey from Dublin. Lotten saved Jane's letters - as did a number of her correspondents - and the collection is now housed in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm. Jane's bond with Lotten was strengthened through her letters in which she expressed her affection and respect for Lotten and Sweden and wrote of shared interests - writing, women's education and rights, and books. Jane also revealed much of herself in her letters, including her ambition to be a reputable writer as well as a caring wife and mother.