Oscar Wilde Discovers America: A Novel [Hardcover]

Louis Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2003

In January 1882, Oscar Wilde arrived in New York to begin a nationwide publicity tour. Mentioned in a few newspaper articles -- but barely a footnote in the history books -- was the black valet who accompanied him. In a daring and richly imaginative work, Louis Edwards rescues this figure from obscurity, blurring the line between fact and fiction as he follows Wilde and his gifted confidant, Traquair, on a whirlwind tour across the country, from high-society Newport to art-conscious San Francisco to the Deep South.

Edwards's brilliantly conjured Wilde astounds the New World with his eloquent lectures and larger-than-life presence, while Traquair delights in the greatest year of his youth: losing his virginity in a Washington, D. C., brothel; meeting Jefferson Davis in Mississippi; falling hopelessly in love in St. Louis; and learning about his own family's secret history. Juxtaposed with Traquair's experiences are those of his Caucasian best friend, Baxter, who travels to England and becomes enmeshed in a circle of luminaries including Lady Wilde, James Whistler, Lillie Langtry, and Wilde's future wife, Constance Lloyd.

Combining seductive, epigrammatic language and a unique perspective on class and race in late-nineteenth-century America, Oscar Wilde Discovers America builds to a surprising climax that offers a chilling forecast of the tragic destiny of Wilde and a stunning redefinition of the American spirit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In spite of its title, this third novel by Edwards (after Ten Seconds) is not so much about the celebrated Irish wit as about the black valet who accompanied him on his 1882 coast-to-coast American tour. Not much is known about the actual valet, but Edwards imagines him as a privileged son of educated New York City servants. William Traquair has recently graduated from college, and his father, with the help of his employer, a generous white banker, arranges for Traquair to accompany Wilde. Traquair is already an admirer of Wilde's work, and as Wilde prefers to dispense with formalities, the two become friends. Wilde even adopts some of Traquair's puns ("travel moves me"). Purists may shudder at the stilted conversations; Edwards's many epigrams are rarely the match of Wilde's, though the book does have its moments of humor, especially when Traquair's starchiness is gently mocked by the more down-to-earth blacks he encounters. Yet while Edwards makes an intriguing attempt to imagine the trip from Traquair's perspective, the effort is uneven and often tedious, slowed by awkward prose with a false, old-timey stiffness ("I was, indeed, mildly annoyed with his remark. But I hope I did not impart that displeasure in any discernible way.... I was, after all, a mere uninvited guest into his small chamber of solitude"). There is a surprising and touching conclusion, but some readers will have lost patience before then.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Critically acclaimed for his previous novels, Ten Seconds and N: A Romantic Mystery, Edwards here offers a historical work set in 1882 after Reconstruction but before Plessy v. Ferguson. His protagonist is the 22-year-old William Traquair, who travels as valet to Oscar Wilde throughout his U.S. lecture tour. African American, Bowdoin-educated, and son of the butler to a wealthy abolitionist family, Traquair has had a relatively sheltered and privileged childhood. Already a follower of Wilde's aesthetic philosophy, he overlooks his distaste for servitude to learn at Wilde's elbow. However conscious of his position as a servant, Traquair does not feel limited socially by his position or his skin color. His experience gives him insight into his family and its history, his confusing parentage, and the twists of fate that have contributed to his destiny. Traquair's recent heritage of slavery and the conditions of being black in America are left to the reader to deduce and comprehend through revelation and the author's subtle narrative technique. This complex novel requires-and deserves-multiple readings to be understood and appreciated fully. Highly recommended for all public and academic fiction collections.
Rebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition. 1 in number line edition (January 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743236890
• ISBN-13: 978-0743236898
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,395,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Step Back in History................, April 4, 2003

By 

Joseph J. Hanssen "Joe" (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oscar Wilde Discovers America: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is a step back in history narrated in the language of the times, which is quite realistic. It is told from a quite different viewpoint, not of Oscar Wilde, but beautifully described by his black valet who accompanied Oscar on his nationwide American tour. The book starts out in January 1882, as Oscar arrives in New York to begin his tour. At the time no mention was made in the press of his black valet named William Traquair, who accompanied him. As Wilde entertains the New World with his lectures and humor, Traquair enjoys what he will always remember as the best year in his life.

This is an engrossing and intriguing story that certainly gives us a much clearer perspective on what it must have been like in America at the turn of the century and especially what impact this time period had on black men.

A story that?s both fact and fiction, and one that will make you fantasize that you are right there on tour with Wilde and Traquair traveling across America at a time when life on this continent was so young and open to suggestion. I enjoyed this story and I feel the author has accomplished what he intended to do by taking us clearly back in time!

Joe Hanssen

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Concept, Good Storytelling, May 15, 2006

By 

Todd and In Charge (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Oscar Wilde Discovers America: A Novel (Hardcover)

What a great idea -- to focus on the black valet who accompanied Wilde on his great American speaking tour in the early 1880s. Edwards does a passable job explicating this premise, and in the process explores race and class relationships in America, as he takes the reader on a wild ride through late 19th Century America.

Don't buy this historical fiction if you want all Wilde, all the time, the story is really about the valet, a proud, handsome, educated free black who faced withering racism as Wilde's travels took them to the deep South.

It's a wild road novel that would make a fine movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Left me wishing for more Wilde, March 10, 2008

By 

J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oscar Wilde Discovers America: A Novel (Hardcover)

Louis Edwards does a wonderful job of capturing the America of the late 19th century, particularly as seen through the eyes of Oscar Wilde. Using Wilde's actual lecture tour of America as the basis for his novel, Edwards captures the rhythm and tone of Wilde's speech and his commentaries are very much in character. It is through Edwards' preoccupation with Wilde's valet, Traquair that the novel comes up a bit short. As the story is told through Traquair, we have to participate in his "coming of age" tale, while Wilde proves to be the more fascinating character. Poor Traquair just isn't a strong enough a creation to stand up to Wilde's charisma and the novel suffers for it. I understand that Edwards felt he needed a focus for his work other than Wilde; perhaps concerned that Oscar might wear out his welcome over the course of the novel, but whenever Wilde left center stage I found my attention to Traquair's story wavering and I just couldn't wait for Wilde's reappearance.