Product Description

"A Mixture of Frailties", the third volume of Robertson Davies "Salterton" Trilogy, is his first extended engagement with one of the great neuroses of Canadian culture: Canada's artistic relationship to Europe, and particularly to Britain. Davies begins his story with the funeral of Louisa Bridgetower, the Salterton matron whose imposing presence ranges throughout the earlier volumes of the "Salterton" Trilogy. The substantial income from her estate is to be used to send an unmarried young woman to Europe to pursue an education in the arts. Mrs. Bridgetower's executors end up selecting Monica Gall, an almost entirely unschooled singer whose sole experience comes from performing with the Heart and Hope Gospel Quartet, a rough outfit sponsored by a small fundamentalist group. Monica soon finds herself in England, a pupil of some of Britain's most remarkable teachers and composers, and she gradually blossoms from a Canadian rube to a cosmopolitan soprano with a unique - and tragicomic - career.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1080894 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Robertson Davies, novelist, playwright, literary critic and essayist, was born in 1913 in Thamesville, Ontario. The Manticore was published in 1973, followed by The Salterton Trilogy (Tempest-Tost, Leaven of Malice, winner of the Leacock Award for Humour, and A Mixture of Frailties); The Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders); The Cornish Trilogy (The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, shortlisted for the 1986 Booker Prize, and The Lyre of Orpheus); Murther & Walking Spirits; and The Cunning Man. His other work includes One Half of Robertson Davies, The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies, Robertson Davies: The Well-Tempered Critic, The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks, High Spirits, A Voice from the Attic and The Merry Heart, a posthumous collection of autobiography, lectures and essays. Many of his books are published by Penguin. Robertson Davies died in December 1995.

From AudioFile
A mother posthumously stifles her son but grants a stranger spectacular opportunity. Third in a trilogy, yet independently satisfying, this presentation encourages listeners to seek more of Davies's beguiling prose. Will the audience pursue other narrations by Frederick Davidson? Fate, and what individuals do with it or in spite of it, are prevalent themes in Davies's writing, and a voice so incessantly rich and erudite as Davidson's poses an apropos question: Does Mr. Davidson have to work harder to overcome the gift of his deep, mellifluous tones? He reads expressively as various characters, yet his golden voice never actually seems to modulate. However, the words somehow outshine the voice delivering them, as they should. What power, yet whose: Davidson's or Davies's? D.J. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Davies hits his stride
To my taste, with this book Davies hit the big time. It's a wonderful story of a developing artist, instantly familiar to anyone who has been involved with the performing arts. Add to that the fact that Davies begins to really hit his stride in developing his mature style, with offbeat but recognizable characters, a plot that drives forward without ever seeming to rush, and his real appreciation for artists and students, and you have a real winner.

Rich with description and humor
A Mixture of Frailties opens at the funeral of Mrs. Bridgetower. During the reading of her will, her son, best friend and others are told they are to form a committee to find a young women to fund that will get an education in the arts with the money Mrs Bridgetower has left behind. Her son with get just about nothing but the responsibility to maintain her home as the property of the trust.

Once a young lady is found, Monica Gall, it switches over to her narrative. Monica is a singer and is sent abroad to England to study with several different people. This story is about her experience abroad over the next few years. A Mixture of Frailties is the third in The Salterton Trilogy but I had no problems reading it as a stand alone book.

I loved this book. I will admit that it took several weeks to get through for some reason, but I adored it nonetheless. It's hilarious in a nonchalant way. That's just the way it is. A wealth of humor comes from the cast of different characters that Monica encounters and the situations that arise. It was a refreshing piece of literature. It seems everything I read these days you don't have to think much about and could read half asleep. This book is rich with description and humor is found in every situation which I liked very much.

I liked the character of Monica and identified with the point in life she was in. With this opportunity she grows, changes and finds out who the person she is to become is. All the secondary characters were well flushed out and meaningful to the story.

The weakest of the trilogy
In my opinion he should have kept The Salterton Trilogy in Salterton. The characters in Europe where too real. I enjoyed the caricaturish Salterton characters much better. This book does seem to have a bit more of a plot than the first two but I'm not sure Davies is that worried about plot in his books. Guess I'll have to read the other two trilogies to find out.