On a summer evening in Stratford, Ontario, the errantthrust of a gardener's spade slices a telephone cable intoinstant silence. The resulting disconnection isdevastating. With the failure of one call to reach thehouse, an ambitious young actor becomes the victim ofsexual blackmail. The blocking of a second call leadstragically to murder. And when a Bell Canada repairmanarrives to mend the broken line, his innocent yetirresistible male beauty has explosive consequences. In Spadework, Timothy Findley--a master storytellerand playwright, has created an electric word-play ofinfidelity and morality, set on the stage of Stratford,Ontario--Findley's home territory. In this insider'sfictional portrait of Canada's pre-eminent theater town,intrigue, passion and ambition are always waiting in thewings. He peoples the town with theater makers, artists,writers, and visitors, both welcome and unwelcome--and with lives that are immediately recognizable as"Findleyesque"--the lonely, the dispossessed and thesexually troubled whose foibles confound their families,their friends and even their pets. A story that rippleswith ever-widening repercussions, a sensual andcompletely absorbing read, Spadework is anotherTimothy Findley winner.