What's Bred in the Bone — Robertson Davies

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, What's Bred in the Bone, takes you back to Cornish's 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