Leaven of Malice, published in 1954

1954 in literature

The year 1954 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jack Kerouac reads Dwight Goddard's A Buddhist Bible, which will influence him greatly.*John Updike graduates from Harvard with a thesis on George Herbert....

, is the second novel in The Salterton Trilogy

The Salterton Trilogy

The Salterton Trilogy consists of the first three novels by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies: Tempest-Tost , Leaven of Malice , and A Mixture of Frailties...

by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 novelist Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies

William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...

. The other two novels are Tempest-Tost

Tempest-Tost

Tempest-Tost, published in 1951 by Clarke Irwin, is the first novel in The Salterton Trilogy by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. The other two novels are Leaven of Malice and A Mixture of Frailties...

(1951

1951 in literature

The year 1951 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*E. E. Cummings and Rachel Carson are awarded Guggenheim Fellowships.*Flannery O'Connor is diagnosed with lupus....

) and A Mixture of Frailties

A Mixture of Frailties

A Mixture of Frailties, published by Macmillan in 1958, is the third novel in The Salterton Trilogy by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. The other two novels are Tempest-Tost and Leaven of Malice...

(1958

1958 in literature

The year 1958 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*August 18 - Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in United States.*First volume of The Civil War by Shelby Foote is published....

). The series was also published in one volume as The Salterton Trilogy in 1986

1986 in literature

The year 1986 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Michael Grade. Controller of BBC One, axes plans to televise Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play.-New books:*Kingsley Amis - The Old Devils...

.

The trilogy revolves around the residents of the imaginary town of Salterton, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.

Davies won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1955

1955 in literature

The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*28 May - Philip Larkin makes a train journey from Hull to London which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings....

 for Leaven of Malice.

Plot summary

The book starts out with a false, anonymous engagement

Engagement

An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...

 notice between Pearl Vambrace and Solly Bridgetower published in the local newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, the Bellman. The wedding is to be held on November 31st at the local cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

. The notice creates a stir in the community. Professor Vambrace, the father of Pearl, is outraged, considering it an insult directed at himself and his family, due to his longtime feud

Feud

A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...

 with the Bridgetower family. As such, he threatens the Bellman's editor, Gloster Ridley, to sue the Bellman for libel. Mrs. Bridgetower is also outraged, although she confines this to her personal circle.

Vambrace consults a lawyer, a relative of his wife, who suggests that he not go through with the case, and that the newspaper is as much a victim of the hoax as he is. His partner, Snelgrove, however, says otherwise, and offers to take the case himself.

The case is looked into by both Snelgrove and Ridley's lawyer. Along with several major and minor characters in the novel, they pursue a quest for the person responsible for entering the false wedding notice, who is dubbed 'X'. The climactic scene takes place at the Bellman, where the principal characters gather and the identity of X is revealed.

The novel explores themes of innocence, guilt, and judgement.

External links

• The Date Was Nov. 31 Review by the New York Times, July 10, 1955. Retrieved September 9, 2007.