Rating: 
Summary: Subtle Working On A Theme
Review: A friend loaned me her copy of Tempest-Tost, saying "You'll love this author." (Whenever someone says that to me I almost always dislike the book.) From now on I'm listening to everything this person says about my taste in literature! From the first scene in TT to the last scene of Mixture of Frailties, I was delighted and captivated. Davies employs a sly examination of theme, growing from lighthearted simplicity to overwhelming realization, and all wrapped in three novels of distinct yet united character. How I went this long without knowing about him is beyond me. Thanks, C.A.!
Rating:
Summary: Subtle Working On A Theme
Review: A friend loaned me her copy of Tempest-Tost, saying "You'll love this author." (Whenever someone says that to me I almost always dislike the book.) From now on I'm listening to everything this person says about my taste in literature! From the first scene in TT to the last scene of Mixture of Frailties, I was delighted and captivated. Davies employs a sly examination of theme, growing from lighthearted simplicity to overwhelming realization, and all wrapped in three novels of distinct yet united character. How I went this long without knowing about him is beyond me. Thanks, C.A.!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Beach Book Ever
Review: And I don't actually mean that in a derogatory sense. What I do mean is that the Salterton Trilogy is a compelling romp of a read with enough intelligence and wit to cause one to want to read it in front of the fire come February. BUT...you can put it down and pick it up again weeks later and not feel disconnected.
I came rather late to Robertson Davies (university age), even though I grew up in Toronto and even went to Trinity College, U of Toronto, the fictionalized setting for "Rebel Angels"; my problem was that we were force-fed "Fifth Business" in high school. I hated the book (as it was taught, at least) so much that I never wanted to have anything else to do with Robertson Davies, ever. Fortunately, a friend in my sophmore year urged me to pick up Tempest-Tost, and a die-hard convert was born. Again, perhaps. The Cornish Trilogy is certainly more complex, and the Deptford astonishingly onion-like in its layers, but the Salterton is the most fun. Although the town of Salterton (in reality Kingston, Ontario, a charming old Loyalist city on the river) seems to exist as a somewhat rarefied sugarplum of 1950s sensibilities and prejudices, the characters are remarkably believeable and personable, the plots well paced and the action eminently suited to a comfy chair and a cup of tea. The best characters in Tempest-Tost are Freddie Webster and Hector Mackilwraith, but Humphrey Cobbler is perhaps the most memorable. He manages to assert himself in all three of the books, if memory serves correctly, and it's a good thing. He is the epitome of the mad musical genius without being a complete cariacture. The Salterton Trilogy is a perfect introduction to a great Canadian author, and a great cheer-up if life has been treating you shabbily.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Beach Book Ever
Review: And I don't actually mean that in a derogatory sense. What I do mean is that the Salterton Trilogy is a compelling romp of a read with enough intelligence and wit to cause one to want to read it in front of the fire come February. BUT...you can put it down and pick it up again weeks later and not feel disconnected.
I came rather late to Robertson Davies (university age), even though I grew up in Toronto and even went to Trinity College, U of Toronto, the fictionalized setting for "Rebel Angels"; my problem was that we were force-fed "Fifth Business" in high school. I hated the book (as it was taught, at least) so much that I never wanted to have anything else to do with Robertson Davies, ever. Fortunately, a friend in my sophmore year urged me to pick up Tempest-Tost, and a die-hard convert was born. Again, perhaps. The Cornish Trilogy is certainly more complex, and the Deptford astonishingly onion-like in its layers, but the Salterton is the most fun. Although the town of Salterton (in reality Kingston, Ontario, a charming old Loyalist city on the river) seems to exist as a somewhat rarefied sugarplum of 1950s sensibilities and prejudices, the characters are remarkably believeable and personable, the plots well paced and the action eminently suited to a comfy chair and a cup of tea. The best characters in Tempest-Tost are Freddie Webster and Hector Mackilwraith, but Humphrey Cobbler is perhaps the most memorable. He manages to assert himself in all three of the books, if memory serves correctly, and it's a good thing. He is the epitome of the mad musical genius without being a complete cariacture. The Salterton Trilogy is a perfect introduction to a great Canadian author, and a great cheer-up if life has been treating you shabbily.
Rating: 
Summary: Each book is better than the last
Review: Davies is a fantastic writer. He uses his superior language skills in an accessible way and throws in thoughts that will make you say "wow, I never looked at it that way". The trilogy itself rates 4 stars because Tempest tost, though well written and entertaining is light and nothing significant. Leaven of Malice is a 4 star effort, rivetting and Mixture of Frailties is one of the best novels I've read. It has qualities of coming of age and 19th century Vicorian novels. It also studies art and its evolution in an entertaining way. Any of the three novels stands alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Should Be the Last Davies Book You Read
Review: I am an incredible Davies fan, and have lived and/or travelled to many of the places he writes about. This trilogy takes place in "Salterton", a thin veiling for Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and Queen's University, located there.
Unlike his other university-set novels, Salterton features contempt for the frivolity of faculty and persons who live in a small town. While not entirely inaccurate in his portrayal of a small university-centered Canadian town, it doesn't relish academia in the way that the Cornish trilogy does.
As always, the pages are rife with attention to detail and tangential storylines are fleshed out with loving care. It is as if seven or eight short stories collide into three great novels. If you enjoy these, I strongly recommend the Deptford and Cornish trilogies; both are better examples of Davies' literary gifts.
Rating:
Summary: I grew up in Salterton
Review: I grew up in the town that Davies used as his model for Salterton. The Davies were a leading family in Kingston Ontario Canada. They were the publishers of the local newspaper which was a highly regarded journal in Canada. Davies showed his ability to capture and describe character in these novels since they exactly describe the Kingston that I remember from my childhood in the 1950s. Kingston was a university and government town with only a modest industrial base. The local establishment was bifurcated with one group centred on the university and another group comprised of local merchants and professionals. As one might expect in a small Ontario town in the 1950s, these groups were insular and provincial with a strong faith in their own virtue and legitimacy to rule. Davies captures this beautifully in is descriptions of the personalities and petty politics of the community. He captures this in their mutual genteel but discreet contempt fot the working class population of Kingston based in the 'North End' that Davies describes. However, Davies captures the personalities beyond the expected prejudices that one could expect in a provincial 1950 Canadian town. The characters themselves are accurately drawn. I recognise some of them even though they were a generation ahead of me and despite the fact that I grew up in the North End which was kept separate from the richer parts of the town. One of the characters is undoubtedly my high school music teacher who was a remarkable man. Daives describes hem only briefly in 'Tempest Tost' but he captures the personality of this wonderful man accurately and sympathetically. The same can be said for all of Davies' characters. These are remarkable books that find the universal that lies behind all of us. They are well worth reading
Rating:
Summary: One of the more enchanting books from an enchanter
Review: I have a soft spot for "The Salterton Trilogy"; it was one of those books I read in those stages of teenagedom when you're prone to fall in love at the most crooked, disjunctures of life, when everything seems beautiful and senescence a faraway rumour. My affection for this book knows no bounds, though "Tempest-Tost," objectively the slightest of its three volumes, is my favouritest. Its characters are charming in the way toddlers and kittens are charming: self-absorbed, wilful, and inviting of every indulgence. This is a great introduction to the general beneficience of Davies' world. (I would also recommend Davies' book of ghost stories, "High Spirits.")
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read but not Davies" best
Review: If you have read Robertson Davies' other trilogies you will recognise all his trade marks-a series of linked but self contained novels with great character development and wit and wisdom a plenty. I would rate the first of the novels-Tempest Tost as the most enjoyable. I love Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles and if you do as well then buy this book now.The Salterton community has the cloistered and ordered feeling of Barchester with the outside world rarely intruding.Like Trollope the plot of each of the three novels in the trilogy look dull from the outside-the staging of The Tempest by an amateur dramatic society etc.But Davies great strength is to develop characters of great interest from the most ordinary of circumstances. For me this is the most lightweight of Davies' trilogies.I would rate it behind the Cornish trilogy and even further behind the Deptford trilogy in terms of depth and complexity.However I read it on holiday so this is what I was after.I would recomend it for an excellent easy read
Rating:
Summary: Terrific read - plan to enjoy this series.
Review: If you've never read Robertson Davies, I envy you - you've got some wonderful new books to look forward to. I picked up the Deptford trilogy in a used bookstore,to take up space in my backpack while I wandered around in Europe last summer. I read and reread it, and ended up thoroughly enchanted. As soon as I got back, I grabbed the Salterton trilogy, and thank God, it wasn't a fluke - I loved it. Mr. Davies is a master storyteller; even better, his obvious mastery of the English language is never ostentatious, and always serves the story. More importantly, however, these books are fun to read - not just the occasional wry grin, but laugh-out-loud funny (I know it's plebian - so sue me). In short, don't wait - please do us both a favor, and start now.
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