Leaven of Malice – Robertson Davies (1954)

This week is Robertson Davies reading week hosted by Lori at The Emerald City. Robertson Davies is one of Canada’s most distinguished writers. Leaven of Malice is the second book in his Salterton trilogy; I read the first book Tempest Tost two years ago, and really wished I hadn’t left it so long between books.

The story centres around the local newspaper, the Salterton Evening Bellman, the family of Professor Vambrace, young Solly Bridgetower and his mother, members of the congregation of St. Nicholas’ Cathedral and the Dean of that cathedral.

On the 31^st of October a notice appears in the Bellman announcing the engagement of Pearl Vambrace and Solly Bridgetower, a marriage which is due to take place at the cathedral on November 31^st. Not only does the Dean of the cathedral know nothing about it but neither do Pearl Vambrace, her family or Solly Bridgetower. What might at first appear to be a rather bizarre, but ultimately harmless practical joke – spirals out of control.

Gloster Ridley is the editor of the newspaper where the notice appears and is immediately under pressure. A quiet man whose daily routine never varies much and who is helped at home by Mrs Edith Little, whose habit of going through the newspaper everyday correcting errors has earned her the name Constant Reader in Ridley’s mind. Ridley is already anxious about trying to ease out the ageing Mr Shillito from the newspaper, at first, he doesn’t fully understand the seriousness of the engagement notice.

Everyone it seems has an opinion about the engagement notice and it is discussed by Edith her sister and brother in law and their lodger Mr Higgin. Edith is possessed of a rather spoilt little boy who she tries to woo Gloster Ridley with by showing him what a wonderful mother she is. Other inhabitants of Salterton are drawn into the rather comic drama, including the Dean of the cathedral who is perturbed one night to discover his organist Mr Cobbler and a bunch of students singing and dancing in the cathedral at a time when the place should have been shut up. Following this, Mr Cobbler is named as a possible culprit to putting the notice in the paper. The Dean is a man who has his critics, so there are those who would love to see his organist disgraced.

“But in every church there are people who, for reasons which seem sufficient to them, do not approve of their pastor and seek to harry him and bully him into some condition pleasing to themselves. The democracy which the Reformation brought into the Christian Church rages in their bosoms like a fire; they would deny that they regard their clergyman as their spiritual hired hand, whom they boss and oversee for his own good, but that is certainly the impression they give to observers.” 

Since Solly and Pearl were thrown together two years earlier when they were acting in The Tempest, Pearl’s father Professor Vambrace has developed a ferocious antipathy for Solly’s late father, a fellow professor whose single vote denied Professor Vambrace the position of Dean of Arts. He sees the coupling of his daughter’s name with that of the son of his late enemy as a terrible insult – and surely proof that someone is out to get him. Despite the fact that Pearl is twenty-two and doesn’t want any fuss, the Professor’s fury is out of all proportion and he decides to sue the paper for libel.  

Poor Pearl is horribly embarrassed – she believes as people begin to congratulate her, that a denial of any such relationship will make her appear ridiculous, she worries no one will ever want to marry her. Solly Bridgetower, still hopelessly besotted with Griselda Webster – who has now gone abroad – finds himself too much of a gentleman to issue an outright denial. Thus, the two miserable young people are thrust together again, finding themselves attending the same dreadful party where everyone thinks they are engaged. When Solly drops Pearl off they run straight into her father who is returning from acting rather strangely outside Gloster Ridley’s house, an incident unfortunately witnessed by neighbours and talked about for days afterwards.

“‘Get out of it!’ roared the Professor. ‘Get out of it or I’ll pick you out of it like a maggot out of a nut!’ And with these words he brought his stick down on the roof of the Morris with such force that he dented it badly and smashed his treasured blackthorn to splinters.

‘Daddy’ said Pearl, ‘please try to understand and be a little bit quiet. Everybody will hear you.’

‘What do I care who hears me? I understand that you sneaked out of my house tonight like a kitchen maid, to meet this whelp, to whom you have got yourself clandestinely engaged.’”

Soon, what should have been an incident few people weren’t even aware had happened, is, it seems known about by just about everyone. Pearl and Solly find themselves meeting up more often to discuss the situation, as Pearl is reduced to being like a child again in the face of her father’s ridiculous anger. Professor Vambrace, meanwhile is consulting lawyers, and other people are gossiping about Pearl’s difficult relationship with her absurd father.

Robertson Davies writes brilliantly about the peculiar foibles of these townspeople, the newspaper business and gossip. There is humour and humanity in Davies’ storytelling, coupled with a poignant understanding for people and the little things that matter to them.

I have now downloaded the third book in this trilogy to my kindle, and I shall endeavour to read it rather sooner than later. I have had Robertson Davies’ famous Deptford Trilogy recommended to me too, so there’s another three books to seek out at some point.