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Fifth business by robertson davies5/9/2023 ![]() Dempster, wife of the local Baptist minister, in the back of the head, knocking her over and 1) sending her into early labor with Paul, who also plays a major role in the book and 2) permanently compromising her mental health. Specifically, he dodged a snowball meant for him – thrown by his frenemy, Percy Boyd Staunton – and it hit Mrs. ![]() on 27 December 1908, at which time I was ten years and seven months old.” I was reminded right away of the opening of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” In the first line Ramsay introduces himself in relation to another person: “My lifelong involvement with Mrs. In the theatre world, the title phrase refers to a bit player who yet has importance to the outcome of a drama, and that’s how the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay, thinks of himself. ![]() I started with what I had to hand: Fifth Business (1970), the first volume of The Deptford Trilogy. ![]() I do remember that Erica Wagner, one of my literary heroes (an American in England former books editor of the London Times, etc.), has expressed great admiration for his work. Of course, Canadians have long recognized what a treasure he is, but he’s less known elsewhere. ![]() I’m grateful to Lory (of The Emerald City Book Review) for hosting this past week’s Robertson Davies readalong, which was my excuse to finally try him for the first time. ![]()
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