Deptford trilogy consists of three related novels by the Canadian author Robertson Davies. The books in the trilogy are Fifth Business (1970), The Manticore (1972), and World of Wonders (1975). The novels explore the relationship between magic, religion, and psychology. They also examine ideas about art, truth and illusion, and good and evil, among other matters. The books have been praised for their wit, entertaining characters, and absorbing narrative. The Manticore won the 1972 Governor General’s Literary Award in English language fiction. The Governor General’s Literary Awards are the highest national prizes given to Canadian authors. The Deptford trilogy is now considered a masterpiece of modern Canadian fiction.
The trilogy centers on three characters who grew up together in the small Ontario town of Deptford, which is based on Thamesville, Ontario, where Davies was born. The complex narrative begins with a simple incident. As a boy in the early 1900’s, Dunstan Ramsay ducks from a snowball thrown at him by another boy, named Percy Boyd “Boy” Staunton. The snowball strikes a pregnant woman, causing her baby to be born prematurely. The infant grows up to be Paul Dempster, a world-famous magician who performs under the name of Magnus Eisengrim. The snowball incident strongly influences the lives of Ramsay and Staunton, as well as Dempster.
Each novel is told from a different point of view. Fifth Business takes the form of an autobiographical letter Ramsay writes to his headmaster upon Ramsay’s retirement as a history teacher at a boys school. Staunton’s son narrates The Manticore. In World of Wonders, Dempster recounts his difficult life leading up to his fame as a great magician.
