4 JUNE 1983, page 29

A Life Of Contrasts

Richard Shone Lydia Lopokova Edited by Milo Keynes (Weidenfeld £15) rrhis book brings vividly to my mind memories of an extraordinarily original and enchanting human being......

Mrs Wilde

Peter Ackroyd The Importance of Being Constance Joyce Bentley (Robert Hale £8.75) F or almost a century Mrs Oscar Wilde has remained precisely that: only the s, of her title......