The Lyre of Orpheus Author:Robertson Davies Old fans will be delighted, and new readers intrigued, as characters from Davies's The Rebel Angels and What's Bred in the Bone reappear in this demanding but worthwhile third volume of "The Deptford Trilogy." With his wonderfully complex yet controlled plot, deft portrayal of eccentric characters, and great wit, Davies effectively satirizes the... more » world of universities and foundations. Members of the Cornish Foundation are forced by Francis Cornish's nephew Arthur into funding the doctoral project of abrasive prodigy Hulda Schnackenburgthe completion and production of E.T.A. Hoffman's opera Arthur of Britain , or, The Magnificent Cuckold. Soon the characters' lives begin to resemble the opera's plot, and the spirit of Hoffman in Limbo, who observes "Let the lyre of Orpheus open the door of the underworld of feeling," complicates the actionall to the reader's delight.« less