Bosie

Description

Lord Alfred Douglas, or "Bosie" as he was known, is destined to be remembered as the lover of Oscar Wilde. Dissolute, wellborn, and beautiful as a young man, his role in the events that led to Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment determined the strange celebrity that haunted him until his death. Biographies of Wilde generally give only a cursory account of what happened to Douglas after Wilde's death, but Bosie recounts the full and absorbing story of his complex life. A successful though now obscure poet, he renounced homosexuality after converting to Roman Catholicism and embarked on an ill-fated marriage to Olive Custance. Lord Alfred's time was largely consumed by his growing interest in religion and costly feuds -- he was imprisoned for libeling Winston Churchill -- and he died a neglected and lonely figure in 1945.

Description

"A genius yet a failure through his tormented youth, Bosie's deep and enduring friendship with Oscar Wilde continued throughout the trials and subsequent imprisonment of Wilde and on until his death in 1900. Soon after, Bosie surprisingly eloped and started a family, briefly finding tranquility both in this and in his poetry. He became great friends with George Bernard Shaw and Marie Stopes and was associated with the Bloomsbury Group. His religious devotion increased as spiralling debts cut short his happiness. Soon battles with the remainder of the Wilde circle, his father-in-law and indeed his libelling of Winston Churchill led to his own imprisonment, followed by a semi-reclusive state until his death in 1945.". "Douglas Murray has succeeded where Bosie himself failed in securing the release of a Home Office file which was to be sealed until 2043. It holds the key to Bosie's state of mind while in prison and the only original workings of some of his best poetry."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Genres

• Biography.

Other Editions

• Bosie: a biography of Lord Alfred DouglasHardcoverHyperion2000-01-01
• BosieHardcoverHyperion2000-01-01
• BosieHodder & Stoughton2000-01-01
• BosieHardcoverHyperion2000-01-01
• BosiePaperbackHodder & Stoughton General Division2000-06-01
• BosieHardcoverMiramax Books2000-06-28