The Salterton Trilogy: Tempest-Tost Leaven of Malice a Mixture of Frailties

The Salterton Trilogy: Tempest-Tost Leaven of Malice a Mixture of Frailties
by Robertson Davies

The Salterton Trilogy: Tempest-Tost Leaven of Malice a Mixture of Frailties
List Price: $25.00
Our Price: $13.39
You Save: $11.61 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.10 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Robertson Davies
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-11-01
ISBN: 014015910X
Number of pages: 808
Publisher: Penguin Books, Inc.

Book Reviews of The Salterton Trilogy: Tempest-Tost Leaven of Malice a Mixture of Frailties

Book Review: The wonder and fun starts here
Summary: 5 Stars

This is Davies first trilogy, and, if I remember correct, his first novel was the lead-off to this, Tempest-Tost. Before writing novels, however, Davies had written several plays, so his first novel is quite accomplished. The Salterton trilogy is almost misnamed--yes, it does center around the town of Salterton, but the real center of the three books is Solomon Bridgetower. Although he is almost a minor character in the first book, he and his family are front stage in books two and three.

Tempest-Tost is about an amateur production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The Salterton players assume they can have the use of the garden of their most famous citizen, and it is this assumption of community use that leads them into trouble. While no characters in the book undergo a sea-change, several characters do awaken from passive slumber to new lives, sometimes with mixed results. For anyone who has ever been involved in amateur theater, this is an extremely amusing tale. Others might find it belabored.

Not so with the second novel, which is about class and prejudice, but told in a Wodehousian manner. Winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour (a Canadian award for best humor novel--I wish I could find a list of past award winners), Leaven of Malice concerns an engagement announcement in the local paper that was placed by neither bride nor groom. The resulting conflict between the two families brings up old academic rivalry, the worst of the new goody-two-shoe couple in town, and an escalation of lawyers. In some ways it is a mystery, too, as the two "lovers" attempt to find who had the malice to link their names in the public eye.

The concluding volume, A Mixture of Frailties, is about a trust established by Solomon's mother, and how it must be awarded to a specific individual. But finding the individual is only the start of Solomon's trouble, and the story follows two separate lines: one regarding Solomon and his need for a heir to rid himself of his mother's legacy, and one regarding the lucky trust recipient, and her entry into the world of opera.

There were certain things near to Davies' experience, it seems: theater, academic life, and trusts. Trusts can be found in both A Mixture of Frailties and the second and third books of the Cornish trilogy, academic life is featured in Leaven of Malice and The Rebel Angels, and theater productions in Tempest-Tost and The Lyre of Orpheus. I can easily see myself rereading Davies in ten years, and rediscovering all of this once again.

Short Stories Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Short Stories Books
The Roald Dahl Treasury ImageThe Roald Dahl Treasury
by Roald Dahl
Jonathan Cape; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
The Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics) ImageThe Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics)
by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $12.00
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain ImageA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
by Robert Olen Butler
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.15
Price in other shops: $12.95
Guys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon ImageGuys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon
by Damon Runyon
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.35
How We Are Hungry ImageHow We Are Hungry
by Dave Eggers
PENGUIN; Published: 2006-02-23; Paperback; Book
Dressing Up for the Carnival ImageDressing Up for the Carnival
by Carol Shields
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops: $15.00
East, West ImageEast, West
by Salman Rushdie
Vintage Books; Published: 2006-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.76
Price in other shops: $10.50
Local Girls ImageLocal Girls
by Alice Hoffman
Vintage/Ebury (a Division of Random; Published: 2000-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: $17.75
Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories ImageSomeone to Watch Over Me: Stories
by Richard Bausch
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops: $13.00
Faithless: Tales of Transgression ImageFaithless: Tales of Transgression
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco; Published: 2001-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $15.90
Similar Books and other products
Fifth Business (Penguin Classics) ImageFifth Business (Penguin Classics)
by Robertson Davies
Penguin Classics; Published: 2001-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $15.00
What's Bred in the Bone (Cornish Trilogy) ImageWhat's Bred in the Bone (Cornish Trilogy)
by Robertson Davies
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1986-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $28.00
Lucky Break: A Novel ImageLucky Break: A Novel
by Esther Freud
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2011-10-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading Writing, and the World of Books ImageThe Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading Writing, and the World of Books
by Robertson Davies
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1998-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.00
Theatre ImageTheatre
by W. Somerset Maugham
Vintage; Published: 2001-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.19
Price in other shops: $13.95
Next Season (Applause Books) ImageNext Season (Applause Books)
by Michael Blakemore
Applause; Applause Books; Published: 2000-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops: $12.95
Murther and Walking Spirits ImageMurther and Walking Spirits
by Robertson Davies
Penguin Books; Published: 1992-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Cunning Man ImageThe Cunning Man
by Robertson Davies
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1996-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Cornish Trilogy ImageThe Cornish Trilogy
by Robertson Davies
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Deptford Trilogy ImageThe Deptford Trilogy
by Robertson Davies
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1990-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.75
Price in other shops: $22.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories