Robertson Davies

Growing up, Davies was surrounded by language. His father was a newspaper man, and both his parents were voracious readers. He, in turn, read everything he could. While Davies spent his first twenty-three working years at various newspapers in small town Ontario, his first passion was for the theatre, which is where he met and married his wife, Brenda. He was a playwright and director for many years, in England and Canada.

Davies later became the Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto (1961-1981).

His greatest novel is probably Fifth Business (1970), a curious book which draws heavily on Davies's love of myth and knowledge of small-town mores. The narrator, like Davies, is of immigrant Canadian background, with a father who runs the town paper. In a book full of singular characters, the central character is a simple, mentally defective woman named Mary Dempster, who may or may not be a saint.

Plays, novels, and other published writing:

• The Salterton Trilogy:
  • Tempest-Tost
  • Leaven of Malice
  • A Mixture of Frailties
• The Deptford Trilogy:
  • Fifth Business
  • The Manticore
  • World of Wonders
• The Cornish Trilogy:
  • The Rebel Angels
  • What's Bred in the Bone
  • The Lyre of Orpheus
• The papers of Samuel Marchbanks
• The Cunning Man
• Murther and Walking Spirits
• Collections:
  • High Spirits
• Essays:
  • One Half of Robertson Davies
  • A Voice From the Attic

Referenced By