Oh! Pere Lachaise

At the beginning of Oh! Père Lachaise, Oscar Wilde has been dead for years. His corrupted body has been lain to rest first at the Bagneaux Cemetary in Paris and later disinterened and reburied at the Parisians most favourite place: the cemetery of Père Lachaise.

After a turbulent life, surely Wilde's restless soul could expect to find peace at last and a place in Paradise. But in the Purgatory attached to the famous Parisian graveyard, his soul is uneasy. He is confused by his exclusion from Paradise and tormented by memories of a past besmirched by betrayal, most of all his loving wife Constance and his sons, Cyril and Vyvyan, still children when he was imprisoned, never to see them again.

Yet Oscar's years in Purgatory have not been without recompense. With his wit intact he has captivated the souls of Père Lachaise. He ha continued to write on an attempt to utilise his talents, which were maturing when virtually destroyed by his trials, imprisonment and premature death. Most important, he has made new friends. Amongst the rich cast of characters whose souls surround him in Purgatory are the American singer Jim Morrison, Chopin, Seurat, Edith Piaf, Alfred de Musset, Colette, Proust, Jane Avril, Delacroix and Balzac.

As Oscar's soul declines further and he slides into deep depression, developing obsessions about his genius, hid friends rally around him in an attempt to restore the writer to well-being and perhaps guide him into Purgatory.

Jim Yates' Oh! Père Lachaise marks an extraordinary debut. It is richly discursive, often amusing but also a philosophical novel about the debt we each owe to our past, to the nature of our being and the healing qualities of love. It is a fine addition ro the vast library about that most iconic of figures: Oscar Wilde.