![]() ![]() The afternoon had been humiliating for him, and when Percy was humiliated he was vindictive. ![]() He’s the son of a well-off doctor (whose wealth comes mainly from shrewd land purchases) and he and 10-year-old Dunny have been out testing Percy’s “fine new Christmas sled” - alas, Dunny’s old-fashioned, well-used one has out-performed Percy’s new acquisition: First we meet the hero (or perhaps villain?) of the story, Percy Boyd Staunton. The novel is told in the first person by the Fifth Business himself, Dunstable Ramsay, and author Davies, in admirable touring company fashion, introduces all the major characters in an incident that takes less than two pages to recount. More subtly, this will be an “old style” story, the kind that is a staple for drama and opera companies - particularly those specializing in visiting out-of-the-way towns where they don’t want to pose too much challenge to the audience. ![]() Most obviously, given the novel’s title, the central character will be one whose purpose is to bring the story along (rather than being a hero or villain). ![]() That’s the epigraph to Robertson Davies Fifth Business (1970) and, unlike many epigraphs, it tells us a lot about what is to come. ![]()
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