The trilogy consists of Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders. The series revolves around a precipitating event: a young boy throws a snowball at another, hitting a pregnant woman instead, who goes into premature labor. It explores the longterm effects of these events on numerous characters. The Deptford trilogy has won praise for its narrative voice and its characterizations. The main characters originate from the same small village. Each carries a secret that crosses the lives of the others and drives the plot forward. Fifth Business is considered one of Davies' best novels. The second novel, The Manticore, won the Governor-General's Literary Award in the English-language fiction category in 1972. The trilogy was named for its setting in the fictional village of Deptford, Ontario. This is based in part on Davies' native Thamesville. Davies takes the view of different characters in each novel, and expresses each in a different style. The tone and unconventional literary devices of metafiction have led some later critics to suggest the series was a precursor to what has been called "slipstream" fiction in the 21st century.
''Fifth Business''
Fifth Business is narrated by Dunstable Ramsay, who grows up in Deptford, a fictional town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. After World War I, he becomes a teacher and serves for decades at a college. The epistolary novel takes the form of a letter Ramsay writes to the headmaster of Colborne College after his retirement. He feels ill used by an article about him in the school paper. He recalls how, as a boy, he ducked a snowball intended for him. It hit a pregnant woman instead, and she gave birth prematurely. This incident and related events deeply affected Ramsay's life. He tells how he came to terms with his guilt. He also tells of his boyhood friend and enemy, Percy Boyd "Boy" Staunton, who becomes a wealthy businessman and politician.
''The Manticore''
The Manticore is the story of Boy Staunton's only son, David, who undergoes Jungianpsychoanalysis in Switzerland. During his therapy, he tries to understand his father and his relationship to him. The novel is a detailed record of his therapy and his coming to understand his own life. It sheds new light on many of the characters introduced in Fifth Business, including his father's friend Dunstan Ramsay, who happens to be in Switzerland recuperating from a heart attack. The Manticore won the Governor-General's Literary Award in the English-language fiction category in 1972.
''World of Wonders''
World of Wonders tells of Paul Dempster, a boy born prematurely who is befriended by Dunstan Ramsay. He learns to conjure and, as an adult, takes the name of Magnus Eisengrim as he establishes a successful career as a noted magician. Eisengrim is to portray Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin in a televisionmovie. During lulls in the filming, he recounts his life, including obstacles he has overcome. He elaborates on his career as an actor traveling through Canada in the early 20th century. Dunstan Ramsay also appears in this novel. More insight is provided into the characters of Fifth Business.
Key characters
Dunstan Ramsay
Dunstan Ramsay is the narrator of both Fifth Business and World of Wonders. He also appears as a major character in The Manticore and as a supporting character in several other novels by Davies. Ramsay is a gentle schoolmaster with surprising depths and is probably a stand-in for Davies himself. Ramsay counsels his students to write in "the plain style," as Davies does—to highlight the story rather than the writer. Ramsay appears in Davies' novels What's Bred in the Bone and The Lyre of Orpheus, two of his Cornish trilogy, and in the later novel The Cunning Man. Ramsay is not religious but he is fascinated by the lives of the saints. He writes several well-regarded treatises on saints. In the novels he is compared with Saint Dunstan in his struggle with Satan.
Magnus Eisengrim
Magnus Eisengrim is one of the names taken on by Paul Dempster. Like several of the main characters in Davies' novel, Paul undergoes a symbolic rebirth which is accompanied by a name change. It is eventually revealed that this name is derived from that of Isengrin, a wolf in the stories of Reynard the Fox. On December 28, 1908, Paul was born prematurely after his mother was hit in the head by a snowball thrown by Percy Boyd Staunton. She went insane after the mishap. Paul is raised by his strict and religious father but runs away from home. He is taken by the World of Wonders troupe, where he is abused but learns the skills of a conjuror. This moment in his life is also significant for his first change in alias, that of Faustus. After several years, Paul becomes the understudy of a famous, aged English actor. Working as his stunt double, Paul slowly adopts his personality and appearance and almost assumes his persona. Paul tells this story to his co-workers while they are working on a movie about Robert-Houdin.
