{"product_id":"oscar-wildes-crucifix-maarten-asscher-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 Maarten Asscher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 194042321X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781940423210\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Four Winds Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/20\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Maarten Asscher","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46526413308159,"sku":"9781940423210","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_71c6217f-fcda-4024-82fe-22dd6faa9a25.jpg?v=1737556113","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/oscar-wildes-crucifix-maarten-asscher-9781940423210","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}