Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

"It's going to be a great nuisance for both of us," said Freddy. "Couldn't you make a fuss about it, Tom?"

-- fromm Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies.

Tempest-Tost is the first novel in Robertson Davies' Salterton Trilogy set in a fictional Canadian university town. This first book, published in 1951, is a comedy of manners focusing on an amateur production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. 

I loved Davies's Deptford and Cornish Trilogies so much that I've put off reading the Salterton books because then I will have no more to look forward to. That may sound silly but makes sense in book world!

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from Tempest-Tost:

She did not seek to thrust herself upon her goddess; she wished only to love and serve Mrs. Caesar Augustus Conquergood, to support and if such a thing were possible, increase her grandeur. If Mrs. Caesar Augustus Conquergood's name might appear, alone, at the top of an otherwise double column of patrons of the Salterton Little Theatre then, in Nellie's judgment, the drama had justified its existence, Thespis had not rolled his car in vain, and Shakespeare was accorded a posthumous honor which he barely deserved.

This elaborate writing tyle might not be to everyone's taste, but it make me laugh so I like it. I love a good, shaggy novel with lots of humor and lots of plot.  

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Weaving a tapestry of wonderfully developed characters, smoldering rivalries, and witty satire, Robertson Davies introduces the first book in the Salterton Trilogy.

An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare’s play, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play’s opening night.