From the Publisher
The first novel in Davies''s celebrated "Deptford Trilogy" introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross who is destined to be caught in a no man''s land where memory, history, and myth collide.
About the Author
Novelist, playwright, and journalist, Robertson Davies is one of
Canada's best-known writers internationally. He grew up in
Kingston, Ontario, where he later attended Queen's University. In
1938, he received a B.Litt. from Oxford, and then joined the Old
Vic Theatre Company. Returning to Canada in 1940, he served as
editor of the influential publication Saturday Night until 1942.
For the next 20 years he was editor of the Peterborough Examiner in
Ontario, where he wrote the Samuel Marchbanks Sketches. From 1953
to 1971 he served on the board of the Stratford Festival. In 1963
Davies became the first master of Massey College, a graduate
college at the University of Toronto. In the 1970s Davies published
the Deptford Trilogy - Fifth Business (1970), The Manticore (1972),
and World of Wonders (1975). Beginning in 1981, Davies published
the Cornish Trilogy - The Rebel Angels (1981), What's Bred in the
Bone (1985), and The Lyre of Orpheus (1988). These novels, with
their academic setting, reveal Davies's awareness of Canada's
intellectual and artistic sophistication.
Gail Godwin was born on June 18, 1937, in Birmingham, Ala. and
graduated from the University of North Carolina and University of
Iowa. Godwin writes about strong women, a perspective she gathered
from her own life. After her father abandoned her at an early age,
she was raised by her mother and grandmother. Her father eventually
returned on the day of her high school graduation and she lived
with him for a brief period before he ultimately shot and killed
himself. Godwin worked as a reporter for The Miami Herald, and
later as a travel consultant before achieving her fame as a writer.
Godwin's novels are about contemporary women, frequently Southern,
who search for meaning in their lives. In Glass People, the heroine
is a beautiful woman who learns that her husband is merely obsessed
with her beauty and unconcerned about her as a person. Other
popular titles include The Odd Woman and The Good Husband. Godwin
has been the recipient of several honors including a Guggenheim
Fellowship and an Award in Literature from the American Institute
and Academy of Arts and Letters.
Trade Paperback
288 Pages, 5.2 x 7.76 x 0.5 in
January 4, 2001
Penguin Usa
English
0141186151
9780141186153