Fifth Business Audiobook By Robertson Davies cover art

Fifth Business

The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1

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Fifth Business

By: Robertson Davies
Narrated by: Marc Vietor
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About this listen

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as "a modern classic", Robertson Davies’ acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven.

This first novel in the trilogy introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross but who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide. As we hear Ramsey tell his story, we begin to realize that, from childhood, he has influenced those around him in a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious way. Even his seemingly innocent involvement in as innocuous an event as throwing a snowball proves to be neither innocent nor innocuous in the end.

Listen to the rest of The Deptford Trilogy.©1970 Robertson Davies (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

"A marvelously enigmatic novel, elegantly written and driven by irresistible narrative forces." ( The New York Times)
"Robertson Davies is one of the great modern novelists." (Malcolm Bradbury, The Sunday Times, London)
"One of the splendid literary enterprises of this decade." ( Newsweek)

Editor's Pick

I owe it all to John Irving
"In John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, the protagonist glories in the excellence of Canadian literature. And that’s how I first heard the name ‘Robertson Davies.‘ Fifth Business is one of my favorite novels of his, and definitely the best place to dive into Davies Deptford Trilogy. Mark Vietor’s witty, crisp, masterful performance makes 10 hours fly by with humor and awe. When people ask me about WWI novels, or Canadian authors, or hilarious gems…this suggestion never fails."
Christina H., Audible Editor

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