Weaving a tapestry of wonderfully developed characters, smoldering rivalries, and witty satire, Robertson Davies introduces the first book in the Salterton Trilogy.

An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play's opening night.

"High comedy with a spice of satire to give it savor."--Montreal Gazette

"An exercise in puckish persiflage."--Toronto Star

"Hilarious, satirical, witty and clever."--Edmonton Journal

"By turns humorous and sympathetic, Davies shows us that he knows his stuff, even in this, his first book."--AllReaders.com

"It would not be a bad thing for more writers to read and be inspired by Davies's example of intelligent, emotionally resonant fiction, or for more readers to discover its pleasures."--The Emerald City Book Review