Books like Tempest-Tost

”She herself was a victim of that lust for books which rages in the breast like a demon, and which cannot be stilled save by the frequent and plentiful acquisition of books. This passion is more common, and more powerful than most people suppose. Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of a drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines--not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality. Solly was in a measure a victim of this unscrupulous passion, but Freddy was wholly in the grip of it.”Fredegonde “Freddy” Webster is a supporting actress in this novel, but for those who have developed an addiction to Flavia de Luce’s adventures, you will find a like minded young lady in Miss Freddy. She has a still in the gardening shed, with which she makes passable wine and suspect champagne. She is, from what you can see of the quote above, a book fiend. She is, in other words, a wonderfully interesting individual. She is quite content to let her older sister Griselda have center stage. She is a lovely young woman at the age to be perfectly in bloom. Mr. Webster, a widower, is frequently taken aback by the rather aggressive opinions expressed by both his daughters. He has his own interests that he likes to putter with, and the raising of his daughters is left to themselves for the most part. ”He had allowed his daughters to use his library without restraint, and nothing is more fatal to maidenly delicacy of speech than the run of a good library.”Then please do let more young women have the run of a good library. As Griselda says at one point, ”I can’t help it if I’m not stupid enough to be good company.” Reading books does do that. When the Salterton amateur theater group decides to put on a production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Griselda finds herself at the center of the attention of three vastly different men. Hector Mackilwraith is an unlikely suitor for anyone. He has never really shown interest in women before, but the theater has a way of raising the libido of all those involved, even a man with a steady pulse like Mackilwraith. He is a math teacher, a very good one, and is very set in his ways. ”’I know what I know,’ said Hector, ‘and it is sufficient for my needs.’” What a tragic sort of personality to be chasing after such a girl with so much promise. She would suffocate under such regimented thinking. I can’t imagine ever saying I don’t need to know more. There is also Solly Bridgetower, a good sort but crippled by his devotion to his mother. The other suitor is Roger Tasset, who is a bit of a player. A man who is into sampling everything in the store without offering to buy any of it. The play itself is on the edge of disaster at any moment. I am in these cases always reassured by the quote from the movie Shakespeare in Love.”Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.Hugh Fennyman: How?Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.”Despite all the hazards of ego, ineptitude, and lovelorn actors, it will somehow all be fine. I checked to see when I’d last read a Robertson Davies novel and was stunned to discover that it was 1996. I read him in a flurry in the early 1990s, and then, like many strange aspects of my reading choices, it is a mystery as to why it has been so long since I’ve indulged myself with the dry wit and laugh out loud humor of one of the greatest Canadian writers. The characters are all so deftly drawn that it deepens the humor as we experience their trials and tribulations. Poor Hector Mackilwraith will be as real to you by the end of the novel as people you’ve known your whole life. The intellectualism infused in the plot is as enjoyable as sipping a fine cabernet sauvignon while listening to Bach’s Air on a G String.If you like theater, audacious characters, and a fine combination of wit and witless dialogue, you really should add Robertson Davies to your future reading experiences. “Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine. Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tossed.”--MacbethIf you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.comI also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten