Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies
"Murther and Walking Spirits" by Robertson Davies is a multigenerational novel that intricately weaves together over two hundred years of family and national history through the eyes of its protagonist, Connor Gilmartin. Set in the present day, Connor, an entertainment editor at a newspaper, navigates the afterlife following his murder, which serves as a framework for a series of flashbacks that explore his family's lineage. The narrative delves into themes such as spirituality and identity, drawing on diverse philosophical influences including Christianity, Buddhism, and Celtic mythology.
As Connor is unable to haunt his murderer, Allard Going, he is instead compelled to accompany him to a film festival, where he experiences personal "films" that reveal the histories of his ancestors. The story spans significant events, from his Loyalist great-great-great-great-grandmother's escape to Canada post-American Revolution to the struggles of his Welsh ancestors, ultimately highlighting the complexities of familial ties and personal legacy.
The novel culminates in a poignant exploration of acceptance, as Connor reflects on the lives of those he left behind, including his unfaithful wife, Esme, and his killer, who grapples with guilt and loss. Through rich character development and a layered narrative structure, "Murther and Walking Spirits" invites readers to contemplate the intersections of history, identity, and the human experience.
Murther and Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1991
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Although it begins in the present day, Murther and Walking Spirits is a multigenerational novel that spans more than two hundred years of family and national history. Its narrator and protagonist, Connor Gilmartin, is the entertainment editor of a newspaper called the Advocate. It is tempting to equate Gilmartin with Robertson Davies, who was also a newspaperman and whose family histories share many details with the fictional ones presented here, but there are some significant differences, not the least of which is age; Connor Gilmartin is a full generation younger than Davies, who has perhaps as much in common with Connor’s father, Brochwel, as with the narrator.
The story of Connor Gilmartin’s murder and afterlife, during which he attends a film festival with his murderer and colleague Allard Going, known as the Sniffer, forms a frame for the multigenerational flashback that constitutes most of the narrative. Other significant characters from the frame portion of the novel include Gilmartin’s adulterous wife, Esme Baron, and his friend and spiritual advisor, Hugh McWearie. He recounts earlier conversations with McWearie that cover Christianity, Buddhism, Celtic mythology, and Emanuel Swedenborg and continue the Jungian theme that can be found in many of Davies’s other novels.
Although he is unable to haunt his killer or make himself known to anybody who is alive, Gilmartin finds himself bound to Allard Going and is forced to attend a series of films with him. However, the “films” the protagonist is shown are for himself alone. While the festival audience watches The Spirit of ’76, Gilmartin’s private film opens in New York in 1774 and follows his Loyalist great-great-great-great-grandmother’s brave exodus to Canada after the American Revolution.
The third part of the novel is set in Wales. While Going views Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors, the ghost narrator sees a film about five generations of his Welsh Gilmartin ancestors, the last of whom, because of financial setbacks, immigrate to North America.
While Going sees a film called The Master Builder, the invisible narrator watches the unfolding of the next chapter of his family history from the perspective of his grandfather Gil and Gil’s unstable father-in-law, the builder and opium addict William McOmish. Gil’s marriage to Malvina McComish represents the merging of the Dutch and Welsh family lines. Scenes from a Marriage depicts the youth of Gilmartin’s father, Brochwel, who will one day be a university professor specializing in the poetry of Robert Browning; appropriately, this section of the novel uses interior monologues from multiple points of view, providing Gilmartin and the reader with a variety of viewpoints that require some assembly in order to understand the situation.
The novel concludes with the ghost revisiting those who have survived him: his wife, who is parlaying her bereavement into a book deal, and his murderer, who is taking over his victim’s job even as he is consumed with grief over his crime. The book concludes with a conversation between the ghost and his anima, a Jungian term for the feminine, true inner self of a man. While there is no absolution as such for the murderer Going or the unfaithful wife Esme, the novel concludes, in conversation between self and soul, with acceptance.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist. LXXXVIII, September 1, 1991, p. 4.
Boston Globe. November 17, 1991, p. 72.
Chicago Tribune. October 27, 1991, XIV, p. 7.
Library Journal. CXVI, October 1, 1991, p. 139.
Los Angeles Times. November 14, 1991, p. E9.
Maclean’s. CIV, September 23, 1991, p. 68.
New Statesman and Society. IV, November 22, 1991, p. 47.
The New York Times Book Review. November 17, 1991, p. 9.
Publishers Weekly. CCXXXVIII, September 6, 1991, p. 95.
Quill & Quire. CVII, August, 1991, p. 14.
The Spectator. CCLXVII, October 5, 1991, p. 29.
The Times Literary Supplement. September 27, 1991, p. 24.
The Washington Post Book World. XXI, November 10, 1991, p. 6.