Deptford Trilogy

[Guest]

About ten years ago, a book of fiction fell into my hands.

Within the text, specifically within the second book in the trilogy,
(I believe
called World of Wonders), a world was vividly painted of a young boy
who grew up in a carnival setting who later on became a world class
travelling magician.

Does anyone know the backstory of this, or what magicians the character
may have been based on?

[Guest]

The Deptford Trilogy is a classic of Canadian literature.
The book in question, World of Wonders, is the third in the trilogy, but the magician character appears in all three books.
While I am not familiar with the back story behind the magician character, it is well known that the fictional town of Deptford is based rather strongly on author Robertson Davis home town of Thamesville.
I highly recommend this trilogy, not just for the magician, but for the wonderful storytelling.

Gord

[Guest]

I highly recommend reading the three books, begining with "Fifth Business" and ending with "World of Wonders". In addition to there being a lot of magic in the stories, they are really a great read. Curously, one of the characters is a traveling magician by the name of Willard the Wizard. Given some of the truly nasty things that this character does in the book, I have since wondered whether the choice of the character name was purely coincidental.

[Guest]

Thank you both.

Who might have Willard been based on, or at least been a composite of?