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The Weight of Angels

The unforgettable new literary novel about Oscar Wilde by the bestselling author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies.

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The Weight of Angels

By: John Boyne
Narrated by: Roy McMillan
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Summary

Can one rash decision prove the difference between a life well lived and a life destroyed?

When the Marquis of Queensbury left his calling card at the Albemarle Club in February 1895, it bore only his name and five words: ‘For Oscar Wilde, posing Somdomite’. The most feted playwright of his day famously sued for libel, which led to his arrest, criminal prosecution and imprisonment. From then on, his gilded existence spiralled into public disgrace, humiliation and an early death.

But what if he had simply ignored the insult?

Rather than dying impoverished in Paris at the age of forty-six, what if he had lived to bear witness to the momentous events and cataclysmic changes at the start of the twentieth century, and even influence some of them? What if the second half of his life were as celebrated, dramatic and tumultuous as the first?

Like Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet and Percival Everett's James, John Boyne explores one of the great what-if stories of modern literature, giving the great Anglo-Irish playwright an opportunity to take an entirely different path.

© John Boyne 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 20th Century Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Funny Heartfelt Witty Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

The book sparkles with wit, clever inventions and twists of history.
A spectacularly cheeky piece of speculative fiction, gleefully celebrating the possibilities of queer genius, subversive influence and alternative history. It also shows Boyne channeling his own bruising experience of notoriety into a moving exploration of regret and rehabilitation. (Patrick Gale)
John Boyne is one of our best authors writing today. The Weight of Angels is wise, imaginative, funny, and extremely moving. Art and Life, Tragedy and Love, you’ll find them all here in this rich and magnificent novel. (Tan Twan Eng, Booker longlisted author of THE HOUSE OF DOORS)
This sweeping revisionist historical fiction has a compelling premise and honours a writer whose literary achievements were clouded by the social stigma surrounding his sexuality for decades after his death.
The Weight of Angels is a marvellous conceit -- a word Oscar himself might employ -- a richly inventive multi-media novel of literary might-have-beens. Boyne is at the very tip-top of his form, and the book is at once highly readable and an intellectual treat for Wildeans and the wide world. (John Banville)
John Boyne confers a second immortality on Oscar Wilde in this counterfactual life of the writer. It is granularly imagined, witty, hugely pleasurable to read, and exceptionally moving. A great public wrong can ruin a life, as it did Wilde’s. Boyne’s great imaginative generosity is to rescue, in fiction, a damaged reputation and let it live again, live anew. (Neel Mukherjee)
Boyne has clearly had a fantastic time here, feeding his Wilde a ceaseless supply of quips, bon mots, barbs and ripostes.
At more than 600 pages, this is one to settle into, but for fans of Boyne’s expansive, emotionally charged storytelling, it should be well worth the commitment.
All stars
Most relevant
I loved this. The narrator encapsulated Wilde wonderfully. Truly sublime. Really interesting to see how Wilde may have lived.

The humour had me laughing out loud!

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John Boyne is one of my favourite authors and this isn’t like anything he’s written before but a real revelation. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve ‘read’ which was so unexpected. Just go with the flow, suspend belief and enjoy. Listening rather than reading is the way to go with this.

What a treat and the best narration ever

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Brilliant. John Boyne never fails to write an excellent story. Very funny but beautifully sad.

The weight of angels

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I love John Boyne’s books. A fully engaging story. I was a little concerned about the paedophilia conversation. Better arguments from Gus, as a teacher would have made the conversation more palatable and rounded. It’s an excellent listen. Especially as. The narration is sublime. I firmly recommend

Always outstanding

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Maybe not to everyones taste but I enjoyed it almost as much as invisible furies. Sometimes corny, sometimes funny and ultimately heartwarming. Narration was outstanding.

Joyous!

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