British writer Angus Wilson achieved fame in the late 1940s for two collections of short fiction. It was, however, the publication of Hemlock and After in 1952 that transformed him from an admired up-and-coming author to a scandalous novelist. A witty and scathing look at English literary life, Wilson's novel details the life of Bernard Sands, a noted homosexual English novelist who discovers that neither his fame nor his closet is very secure. Wilson was one of the first to write honestly and openly about gay life in post-war England, and Hemlock and After remains a classic of psychological insight and social satire.