Won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1984. The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (published in 1983) audaciously recreates the voice of the notorious Wilde in the form of a journal he might have kept during his sad last months.
In Ackroyd’s novel, Oscar Wilde looks back at his life, from early childhood, to his present disgrace, lived under an assumed name in a shabby Parisian hotel. Deserted by his former friends, and humiliated by his poverty, Wilde is persona non grata in a city famous for its exiles. The fictional memoir retells his life story, yet Wilde can not resist wryly commenting on the horrors of his day-to-day life.