Lord Arthur Savile's Crime

Oscar Wilde's stories and literary meditations glitter with wit, irony, and a constant tug between surface appearances and hidden truths. In Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, a fashionable young aristocrat is thrown into a night of dread by a palm reader's ominous prophecy, then responds with absurdly calm determination, treating murder as a duty he must complete before marrying the woman he loves. The Canterville Ghost turns Gothic terror into comic farce as an ancient spirit is routed by modern practicality, only to find redemption through Virginia's courage, compassion, and solemn journey into the mystery of his suffering. The collection also includes Wilde's brilliant literary investigation of Shakespeare's Sonnets, where a narrator becomes captivated by Cyril Graham's theory that the poems were inspired by the boy actor Willie Hughes. As he searches for clues, he reimagines the Sonnets as a drama of beauty, desire, theatrical power, loyalty, and artistic immortality. Across these tales, Wilde blends playful mystery, melancholy, and social satire into elegant prose and unforgettable reversals. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.