HomeFictionWhat's Bred in the Bone

What's Bred in the Bone

Fiction · 1986 · PG-13

What's Bred in the Bone

by Robertson Davies

The biography of a painter, forger, and spy is revealed by two supernatural observers

For14+GenreFictionLength336 pagesRead time~5.5 hours

This analysis was generated by AI from publicly available reader reviews, literary criticism, and book discussions. It has not been verified by a BookLens community reviewer and may contain errors. Be the first to verify →

Content snapshot

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

Barely any

Brief wartime violence; no significant content

Language

Barely any

Mild profanity

Sexual Content

Some

Sexual experiences including a formative adolescent encounter; adult relationships depicted without explicitness

Substance Use

None

Social drinking in period settings

Emotional Intensity

Some

Questions of artistic authenticity, identity, and the forces that shape a life; Jungian shadow themes

What this book is about

The life of Francis Cornish — art connoisseur, spy, and creator of a masterwork passed off as a 16th-century painting — is narrated to an angel by the Daimon who guided his fate. Davies traces Francis from his secretive Canadian childhood through Oxford, wartime intelligence work in Germany, and the creation of his great forgery. The second Cornish Trilogy novel is warm, erudite, and rich with art history and Jungian psychology.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

Some sexual content including adolescent experiences

World War II espionage

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