In 1895, everything changed.

In Part Two, we move from literary controversy to legal catastrophe. The publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray had already stirred moral panic — but now Wilde himself would be placed on trial.

We examine the libel case that backfired spectacularly, the criminal prosecution that followed, the infamous courtroom exchanges, two years of hard labour, and the writing that emerged from imprisonment — including De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

This is the destruction of a public figure.
The cruelty of Victorian morality.
And the resilience of a man who refused to apologise for being himself.

If Part One was about brilliance, Part Two is about consequence.

He dazzled Victorian society with wit sharper than a blade.

In Part One of this two-part series, we trace the extraordinary rise of Oscar Wilde — from Dublin prodigy to Oxford aesthete, from society darling to controversial novelist.

We explore his early life, his devotion to beauty and aestheticism, his marriage, journalism, essays, and the publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the novel that scandalised Britain and cemented his reputation as both genius and provocateur.

Before the trials.
Before the prison.
Before the disgrace.

This is the making of a legend — brilliant, flamboyant, and dangerously ahead of his time.

Part Two examines the scandal, the courtroom drama, imprisonment, and the tragic final years.

In this episode of The Author Files, we step into the turbulent, brilliant, and deeply tragic world of Mary Shelley — the young writer who reshaped literature forever with Frankenstein.

Born to radical thinkers and raised in the shadow of intellectual revolution, Mary’s life was marked by scandal, loss, love affairs, and relentless grief. At just eighteen, during a storm-soaked summer in Switzerland, she conceived the novel that would give birth to modern science fiction and redefine the Gothic imagination.

But who was Mary Shelley beyond her monster? And how did heartbreak, motherhood, philosophy, and the fear of unchecked ambition shape one of the most enduring stories ever written?

Join us as we explore the woman behind the myth — and the haunting legacy she left behind.