Looking at the Stars

The TLS Podcast examines the intersection of personal history and literary legacy. Fiction Editor Toby Lichtig reviews a diverse range of new novels, including Gwendoline Riley’s *The Palm House*, which offers a nuanced, outward-facing perspective on contemporary life, and Lucy Caldwell’s *Devotions*, a collection of short stories exploring familial and spiritual themes. The conversation shifts to a historical analysis of Oscar Wilde’s enduring impact, featuring his grandson, Merlin Holland. Holland details the decades-long process of researching his book, *After Oscar*, which documents the profound social and professional ostracization faced by Wilde’s descendants following his imprisonment. This discussion highlights the heavy burden of inherited scandal and the persistent, multi-generational efforts to reclaim and sanitize the family reputation against the backdrop of changing social attitudes toward homosexuality and public morality in 20th-century Britain.