The Nightingale and the Rose

Oscar Wilde’s jewel-like fairy tales tell of treasure, tragedy and transformation. These five fables are edged with darkness, but gleam with the trademark wisdom of one of Victorian literature’s greatest minds.

In the unforgettable ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, a young student yearns to be loved by his professor’s beautiful daughter, but his quest to capture her heart will come at a terrible cost. In ‘The Happy Prince’, a golden, decorated statue selflessly takes himself apart to gift his jewels to the poor people of the city he overlooks. ‘The Devoted Friend’ powerfully criticizes self-interest and questions what defines true friendship, and ‘The Star-Child’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’ reveal, fantastically, that appearances may not always reflect the truth.

This series of pocket-sized paperbacks celebrates the art of the short story and marks Macmillan Collector’s Library’s 10th anniversary. Each contains a curated selection of short stories from a literary giant: Katherine Mansfield, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Alice Dunbar Nelson, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Rabindranath Tagore.

Read a sample here