{"product_id":"oscar-wildes-crucifix-a-biographical-experiment-9781940423210","title":"Oscar Wilde's Crucifix: A Biographical Experiment","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhile a student at Oxford, Oscar Wilde was courting a beautiful Dublin girl, Florence Balcombe, and on Christmas Day 1876 he presented her with a love gift of a golden crucifix. Two years later, Florence surprised Oscar by suddenly marrying another young writer from Dublin, Bram Stoker, the future author of \u003ci\u003eDracula\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDutch writer Maarten Asscher uses that crucifix as a fulcrum to examine Wilde's early development as an artist, from a seminal trip to Greece to his whirlwind tour of America and beyond, including real-life encounters with Walt Whitman and Arthur Conan Doyle. Asscher draws on the complete panoply of Wilde scholarship to supplement historical fact with imaginative reconstruction, including a myth-busting account of Wilde's deathbed in Paris, and a fictional solution to the mystery of the crucifix delivered by none other than Sherlock Holmes. The result is a convincing and original interpretation of Victorian history, and a literary tour de force.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-17276683\"\u003eMaarten Asscher\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Four Winds Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/20\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.49lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.43d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781940423210\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 194042321X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-BIO\"\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Autobiography\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-BIO007000\"\u003eLiterary Figures\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS015060\"\u003eEurope | Great Britain | Victorian Era (1837-1901)\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FAM\"\u003eFamily \u0026amp; Relationships\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FAM029000\"\u003eLove \u0026amp; Romance\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaarten Asscher was publisher of the leading Dutch publisher J M Meulenhoff for eight years, and managing director of Athenaeum Bookshop in Amsterdam for fifteen years. He has published more than twenty books including novels, poems, and essays, to critical acclaim. A selection of his essays was translated in the US as \u003ci\u003eApples \u0026amp; Oranges: In Praise of Comparisons\u003c\/i\u003e (Four Winds Press, 2015). \u003ci\u003eOscar Wilde's Crucifix\u003c\/i\u003e is his first book written in English. He lives in Amsterdam.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Four Winds Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48112147726573,"sku":"9781940423210","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/files\/img_d4b27b27-7339-45ca-9db3-5a592d54cc76.jpg?v=1752082800","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/oscar-wildes-crucifix-a-biographical-experiment-9781940423210","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}