Wilde Enchained
Two grifters, one violin, and a legacy of lies across the American Frontier.
Request Full ManuscriptThe Greatest Artifice is Life Itself
In January 1882, the young Oscar Wilde arrives in the United States to conquer the world with his philosophy of Art and Beauty. But the city that never sleeps teaches him an unforgettable lesson: he falls victim to a scam. This little-known historical detail is the engine of the story.
Following a lecture at Chickering Hall, virtuoso violinist León Goblin and cynical Irish grifter Theodor Oakley are caught cheating in a poker game involving Oscar Wilde himself. Goblin's ingenious trick—using his violin notes to signal their opponents' cards to Oakley—is exposed. Desperate for an escape route, the two con men intercept an invitation meant for Wilde and usurp the dandy’s identity, fleeing the city.
Their destination is Pebbletown, Missouri, where Lisa Lee Cotton—an idealistic young bookseller influenced by her Aunt Jane’s subversive feminist readings—eagerly awaits Wilde. But as the impostors journey West, their web of lies grows increasingly complex.
The Truth Behind the Frontier
Beneath the rugged exterior of the West lies a truth that can never be told. Among the Cotton family works Ben, a quiet, efficient man. But Ben is a woman secretly living under a male identity. Forced by fate since childhood to assume the guise of a man for the rest of her days, her life is a testament to the brutal choices imposed by survival.
Foreword by Luis Antonio de Villena
"A novel that captures the essence of the Gilded Age with the sharp wit of Wilde and the raw tension of the frontier... Bermejo has crafted a story where life and art are inseparable." — Luis Antonio de Villena, Poet, Novelist, and National Critics' Award Winner.
The Journey: From Readers to Bookstores
Originally self-published in Spain, the novel has built a dedicated readership through national Book Fairs and independent bookstores. It has been officially selected for the Spanish National Public Library Digital System (eBiblio).
From Madrid to the Frontier
I am José Carlos Bermejo, a Spanish author specializing in historical fiction and psychological thrillers. My prose seeks to blend the sharp wit of Oscar Wilde with the melancholic depth of Cesare Pavese, all filtered through the lean and tense lens of raw realism.
Since 2007, I have directed the cultural platform Actually Notes. In 2018, the Spanish edition of Wilde Enchained was honored with a foreword by the renowned critic Luis Antonio de Villena.
A handful of cherished childhood visits to Madrid's 'Cuesta de Moyano'—a permanent rare book fair—and local movie theaters deeply marked my vocation. Since I can remember, I have wanted to create new worlds and share them with joy.
I believe that literature should make the reader see, feel, and understand in a new way—to be transported so that something within them has changed, been enriched, or expanded.