At the end of the day

the long version

"This is a tale of mystery and attempted resolution. It is the true and poignant narrative of a daughter's search for her enigmatic father's life story, the father whose mental tricks, quirky humour and moodiness leave her in a turmoil of awe and terror. Set in Ottawa, Toronto, Merseyside and London, it is also the story of fear, of tiptoeing around in his presence, even after his death, to understand answers to the question "Why?"". "Angus Smart had many guises: born into a working class family in Merseyside, he was at times a poet praised by Robert Frost; an academic; a diplomat; and finally chief economist for a major merchant bank. He associated with the literary elite, marrying the daughter of the poet Conrad Aiken and then hiding that relationship from his future family, the children of his second wife to whom he said he was devoted. He hinted broadly at an involvement in espionage, though what exactly he did he would never say. He professed to love and protect his children. One of them went out in search of the man no one ever really knew."--BOOK JACKET.