Most biographies about Oscar Wilde mention little about his sexuality, which is ironic since Wilde’s sexuality played such a big part in his life as well as his fiction. Neil McKenna’s 2006 biography of Wilde, “The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde,” fills the gap nicely on all the titillating aspects of Wilde’s life. Many have wondered, now we know. This is the “ E True Hollywood Story’ so to speak. But not to make light of this book, it is a fine peace of writing, well written and researched, full of facts from many sources that are little known. And it does round out the picture of a brilliant writer who has fascinated literary circles as well as the public for over a century. So finally at last someone has gotten up the courage to right about the true facts of Wilde’s life and the desires that drove him. The facts that everyone wants to know. And what about Wilde’s scandalous trial, it’s all here in interesting detail, right down to the soft tear in Wilde’s eye as he was being convicted. Mckenna covers all in great detail and what unfolds is a riveting picture of Wilde’s long and ultimately tragic journey of self discovery. As Mckenna states: “For years Oscar had a secret sexual and emotional life..He was torn between the desire to proclaim the existence of his secret life and the need to conceal it. These conflicting imperatives fired Oscar’s creativity and found expression in his writing.” In this book we find Wilde’s sexual life “laid out” in all its voyeuristic detail, but detail that is skillfully drawn from the writings of Wilde as well as his contemporaries. Nothing is here that Wilde wouldn’t want us to know. Mckenna says that he wanted to “present a coherent and psychologically convincing account of [Wilde’s] sexual journey.” And that he does. If you are interested in that journey it's here. In many ways this book has been needed to finally cover in detail the “10,000 pound elephant in the room” that other biographers have ignored. This important aspect of Wilde’s life has been marginalized to the detriment of actually understanding fully many of Wilde’s writings. The big news that comes from this biography is the suspected conspiracy of some Liberal Party members to trade Wilde’s prosecution in order to protect the secret sexual proclivities of the British Prime Minister Lord Rosebery. Hmm. Read in conjunction with other biographies of Wilde such as Richard Ellmann’s, “Oscar Wilde,” a full picture of Wilde finally emerges.
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