Book Synopsis Second in the Cornish Trilogy following The Rebel Angels . An altogether remarkable creation, [Davies] most accomplished novel to date.-- The New York Times Shortlisted for the Booker Prize Francis Cornish was always good at keeping secrets. From the well-hidden family secret of his childhood to his mysterious encounters with a small-town embalmer, an expert art restorer, a Bavarian countess, and various masters of espionage, the events in Francis life were not always what they seemed. Rounding out the story started by the death of eccentric art patron and collector Francis Cornish in The Rebel Angels , this worthy follow-up, Whats Bred in the Bone , takes you back to Cornishs humble beginnings in a spellbinding tale of artistic triumph and heroic deceit. It is a tale told in stylish, elegant prose, endowed with lavish portions of Davies wit and wisdom. Davies novel is absorbing, and the understated humor radiates with good sense about the way of the world.-- Los Angeles Times Davies fiction is animated by his scorn for the ironclad systems that claim to explain the whole of life. Messy, magical, high-spirited life bubbles up between the cracks.-- South Florida Sun-Sentinel About the Author Robertson Davies (1913-1995) was born and raised in Ontario, and was educated at a variety of schools, including Upper Canada College, Queens University, and Balliol College, Oxford. He had three successive careers: as an actor with the Old Vic Company in England; as publisher of the Peterborough Examiner; and as university professor and first Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto, from which he retired in 1981 with the title of Master Emeritus. He was one of Canadas most distinguished men of letters, with several volumes of plays and collections of essays, speeches, and belles lettres to his credit. As a novelist, he gained worldwide fame for his three trilogies: The Salterton Trilogy , The Deptford Trilogy , and The Cornish Trilogy , and for later novels Murther and Walking Spirits and The Cunning Man . His career was marked by many honors: He was the first Canadian to be made an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he was a Companion of the Order of Canada, and he received honorary degrees from twenty-six American, Canadian, and British universities.