INTRODUCTION BY LESA HOLSTINE
It’s obvious how much Louise Penny and her creations are admired. Robin Agnew, co-owner of Aunt Agatha’s Bookstore, and discussion leader here for The Cruelest Month, was recently quoted in the Ann Arbor Observer. “In my twenty-one years of selling books, I’ve never encountered the passion that people feel for Penny.”
In this forum, readers, librarians, editors, booksellers and publicists have discussed Louise Penny’s books. We’ve talked about Penny herself, how we met her, and how we’ve all grown to see her as a friend. We’ve discussed the settings, whether Three Pines, Montréal, Québec or a monastery. We’ve grown to love her characters; Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Reine-Marie, Clara, Ruth, Myrna, Gabri, Olivier, even a duck. And perhaps we’ve all discovered it’s hard to separate Louise Penny, the author and friend, from Three Pines, a place of comfort, where Gamache and his friends return time and again. Do we share a passion for Louise Penny because of who she is, or because of who she is and the gift of the world she has given us?
In How the Light Gets In, Armand Gamache acknowledges that Three Pines is not Eden. “Three Pines, he knew, was not immune to dreadful loss. To sorrow and pain. What Three Pines had wasn’t immunity but a rare ability to heal. And that’s what they offered him.”
Before we can heal, we must suffer. Louise Penny’s first nine books are a finished circle in themselves. We’ve gone from an introduction to Three Pines and Gamache, meeting them both in Still Life. We’ve watched him struggle with past history in the Sûreté du Québec, watched the situation there grow worse, and, now, in How the Light Gets In, we see the culmination of the epic battle between forces, the battle between good and evil. And, of course, it culminates in Three Pines.
One of the underlying story cycles of this series is finished. Gamache and Three Pines will go on, both somewhat changed from their experiences. I see the series as a Venn diagram. There is overlap. Gamache, Three Pines, many of the characters. We still need to find out what happens to Peter and Clara. But the first nine books will always be “Before the events of How the Light Gets In,” while the next books will be, “After the events of How the Light Gets In.”
Thank you for reading with us, discussing Louise Penny’s amazing series. It’s been an honor and privilege to participate in these discussions.
RECAP
Ch. 1-22: The opening chapter introduces a woman who remains a mystery in the first half of the book. Audrey Villeneuve’s story will come to light in the second half. Here, we only see her as a terrified driver viewing the cracks in the Ville-Marie Tunnel. When Gamache questions later, he learns she was a possible suicide victim and a clerk in the roads division of the Ministry of Transport. Audrey Villeneuve’s storyline is kept for the second half of the book.
The second storyline is introduced in chapter two. Constance PIneault, a friend of Myrna’s, leaves the village of Three Pines, with promises to return for Christmas. She left with a statement about playing hockey as a child, seeing it as revealing a secret. Her failure to appear causes Myrna, owner of the bookstore, to contact Gamache.
In chapter three, we learn that Chief Inspector Armand Gamache’s homicide division is under the gun. Chief Inspector Francoeur has torn it apart. The old guard, beginning with Jean-Guy Beauvoir, once Gamache’s protégé, has been transferred out, leaving Isabelle Lacoste and a group of rabble who have been transferred in. The most successful homicide team in the nation has been gutted, and Jean-Guy is emotionally destroyed, addicted to pills. Instead of a crack team, Gamache has a squad whose members are surprised to learn that “he actually believed it. Believed the Sûreté du Québec was a great and effective police force. A breakwater between the citizens and those who would do them harm.” We see that only Lacoste remains loyal to Gamache, the only one within the division who still respects him.
The three storylines slowly come together as Gamache responds to Myrna’s request. He and Lacoste leave for Three Pines. Along the way, they observe a body, later learned to be Audrey Villeneuve’s, being retrieved from the waters of the St. Lawrence.
When Constance Pineault did not show up in Three Pines, Myrna was worried about the seventy-seven-year-old woman. It’s only then that she reveals Constance’s true identity. She was one of the famous Ouellet Quintuplets, once the most famous children in Canada, born to a simple farmer and his wife. When Gamache and Lacoste find Constance murdered in her home in Montréal, it leads to a fascinating story about the Quints. It also leads to a murder investigation, and Gamache agrees to handle it for his counterpart in the Montréal homicide division.
The timing for a murder investigation is perfect, as it provides an opportunity for Gamache to smuggle two friends into Three Pines. Thérèse Brunel, a Superintendent in the Sûreté, and her husband, Jérôme, a retired doctor turned cyber junkie, are helping Gamache dig for answers as to what’s truly going on in the police force. But Jérôme’s computer searches have caught unwanted attention, and it’s dangerous for everyone involved. Three Pines makes the perfect refuge. Or does it? They are safe, but also stuck.
A murder investigation involving a woman whose childhood was so celebrated that she doesn’t seem real. A build-up of tension as Gamache and his few allies dig for dangerous information. A seemingly unrelated death. A name from the past – Arnot. And, the first half of How the Light Gets In ends with Superintendent Francoeur and Inspector Tessier discussing the plot against Gamache, and their use of Jean-Guy Beauvoir. As they send him on raids, ply him with pills, play on his addiction, they see him as the unexploded bomb that could destroy Gamache.
Ch. 23-end: Here’s my recap for you. Or maybe it should be my first question. Are you as emotionally drained after finishing How the Light Gets In as I am? Now, to the actual recap of the book in which Louise Penny unites us with Gamache and the villagers as we wait and prepare, building the tension until it’s so unbearable it has to conclude, as she says, with an explosive ending. Do not read this recap or conclusion if you have not finished the book. This recap is a spoiler.
Thérèse Brunel continues to tell her husband, Jérôme, the terrible story of the treachery at the top of the Sûreté du Québec, and Gamache’s actions that led both to the people’s admiration and to continuing enmity from some of the leadership. And then Gamache adds an unknown quantity to the mixture in Three Pines. He brings in Agent Yvette Nichol, who no one, not even Gamache, knows if he can trust.
It’s the beginning of a long stretch of tension in the book. No one knows if they can trust Nichol, but they need her to set up computer equipment so they can reach out from the isolated village and uncover hidden computer files from the Sûreté.
The only break from the tension comes when Gamache turns back to the investigation of the Ouellet murder, handing Constance’s Christmas presents out to the villagers. It’s Myrna’s gift of a tuque, a hat, that begins to prey on his mind, leading him to search for a missing member of the family, someone who could be a killer. It’s that search for answers that leads him back to Montréal, first to drop off the tuque so he can check on DNA, and then to his department at the Sûreté, where he dismisses the entire staff, effectively shutting it down, and tells Inspector Lacoste he will announcing his resignation in the next day or two.
But his trip back to the Sûreté a second time is shocking, when Jean-Guy Beauvoir turns on him and threatens him with a gun, blaming Gamache for everything, even in the face of the man who says he loves him. Nevertheless, Gamache finishes his errands, meeting with those who may have clues to the story of the Ouellet Quintuplets, before returning to Three Pines.
When they set in motion the plan to dig into those computer files, Gamache and his team are horrified to discover that the plot they’re investigating leads all the way to the Premier of Québec. As they begin to unravel the power grab related to money, death, and a scheme to kill thousands in order to create a new country, the computer hackers in Three Pines attract the attention of the police in the Sûreté. But it’s too late. Gamache’s small group have linked the stories of corruption to top leadership and even the murder of Audrey Villeneuve, who knew more than she should. It’s a story of allowing construction projects to go unfulfilled so they can destroy a dam, a tunnel or a bridge. And it will take one more trip to Montréal for Gamache to wrap up the loose ends. Warning the Brunels and Agent Nichol to stay hidden, he leaves Three Pines hoping to lead Francoeur to follow him. After he’s gone, Myrna and the villagers show up to lead the Brunels and Nichol to safety.
FAVORITE QUOTE
I was so torn. Matthew 10:36 is a recurring quote and theme in the series. “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” It’s so important in this series, and this particular book.
But this time, I picked a more positive one. It’s Gamache, reflecting on the dog, Henri. “But he realized Henri already knew all he’d ever need. He knew he was loved. And he knew how to love.”
My favorite quote now is not one I would have picked a year ago when I first read How the Light Gets In. It’s actually Ruth’s statement to Jean-Guy when he brings Francouer’s forces to Three Pines. In talking about Rosa, Ruth actually talks about so much more, as she often does. She talks about Jean-Guy, and, now we know, she talks about the next book in the series, hinting at future events.
Ruth says, “She took the long way home. Some do, you know. They seem lost. Sometimes they might even head off in the wrong direction. Lots of people give up, saying they’re gone forever, but I don’t believe that. Some make it home, eventually.”
CONCLUSION
All the storylines quickly begin to converge. While Gamache wraps up the investigation involving Audrey Villeneuve, he learns why she was murdered. She was about to tell the wrong person, the Premier, Georges Renard, about the structural weakness of the Champlain Bridge. Gamache warns Lacoste to close that bridge before it’s blown up. In the meantime, Myrna wraps up the story of Constance Ouellet and her siblings, telling the story of Gamache’s discovery that there was one more child, a younger son, who grew to hate his sisters, and killed some of them. And, Francouer, Tessier, and a small team head to Three Pines, led by Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
While the villagers put off the police, hiding the Brunels and Nichol, Gamache is on a mad dash back to Three Pines. But Francouer and Tessier are waiting for him. While they think they have him trapped, he jeers at them, informing them his announcement of his resignation was a signal to his former officers, still loyal to him, to take over the Sûreté du Québec. He and Francouer fight to the death, and Gamache dashes toward the schoolhouse to save Jean-Guy from dying in an explosion that has been rigged. But, Jean-Guy, realizing that Gamache does love him, turns up, and is forced to shoot Gamache to stop him from entering the schoolhouse, and blowing himself up when he opens the door.
The final scenes of the wedding and reception for Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Annie Gamache are set in Three Pines after Gamache’s recuperation and Jean-Guy’s stint in rehab. And, even though Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache have retired to Three Pines, Reine-Marie informs Jean-Guy that Armand might retire, but he can’t quit.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What did you know about the Dionne Quintuplets, the model for the Ouellets?
- Henri, Ruth, and Rosa often serve to alleviate the tension in the book, adding a little humor. I like comments such as “Henri, while a handsome dog, would never get into Harvard.” Do you have a favorite humorous scene or moment in this first half of the book?
- In describing Clara and housework, Penny says, “Clara Morrow was not someone who liked housework. What she liked was magic. Water into foam. Dirty dishes into clean. A blank canvas into a work of art. It wasn’t change she liked so much as metamorphosis.” How do you see this statement relate to Three Pines and the people who end up there?
- What do you think Gamache meant when he said, “He wondered in a moment that startled him, whether that’s what this little village was. The end of the road? And like most ends, not an end at all.”
- Over and over in the first half of the book, Penny emphasizes safety versus freedom, with Gamache and the Brunels in Three Pines, the Quints, the Crees. “They were safe, but also stuck, like the Quints. Made safe, given everything they wanted, except freedom.” How do you see safety versus freedom?
- Let’s talk about celebrity. Myrna looks at the Quints and says she wouldn’t wish celebrity on anyone. How do people suffer because of their celebrity?
- The shattered relationship between Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Annie Gamache is illustrated in the sad scene in which they sit in cars outside each other’s homes. In Jean-Guy’s case, “Now he was hungry. Starving. And he stank. The whole car reeked. He could feel his clammy undershirt sticking to him. Molding itself there, like a second skin.” At this point in the book, how do you feel about Jean-Guy Beauvoir?
- Ruth’s poem, “Alas,” can refer to so many people, although we now know she wrote it about Virginia Ouellet. Who do you think of in the book when you read “Who hurt you once/so far beyond repair/that you would greet each overture/with curling lip?”
- Did you anticipate the brazen plot Renard had hatched? Before reading it, what did you think the plot was all about?
- Let’s talk about the Ouellette storyline. Who did you think the killer was, and why?
- My favorite scene in the book wasn’t the wedding, but the moment after Thérèse Brunel opens the door to find Myrna there to take them to a safe place, and sees Clara, Gabri, Olivier, and Ruth and Rosa. “The end of the road.” What was your favorite moment in the book, and why?
- Who showed the most courage in the book, and why? Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, the villagers? Someone else?
- What did you think was happening when Gamache told Lacoste he was resigning?
- Talk about “Old sins have long shadows.”
- What do Ruth and Rosa mean to you?
- In a book with so many surprises, which one stood out for you?
304 replies on “Series Re-Read: How the Light Gets In”
I thought the journey of Jean Guy was the hardest to take. He seemed so far away from Gamache, I thought he was truly lost. To have Ruth help him to let the light in was so tender, so trans formative, I wanted to yell at him, ” Don’t you get it yet?” He does and shoots Gamache as an act of love and salvation, for both of them. I was amazed La Coste didn’t shoot him!
2. I realized there was another sibling when the mother threw the hat back into the house I thought the brother or the Priest was the murderer.
I too was in tears at the end of the book and cried again when I read the final page. I was so happy for Jean-Guy and Annie and to know that there was healing. And to know that Armand was going to get better, was pure joy! Reine-Marie knows her husband well.
The tension in the last half of this book was palpable. I could not put it down nor could I sleep after it was finished!
The quint’s story line was surprising but understandable from the brother’s point of view. His hurt and anger had many years to grow until he had to rid himself of his sisters and what he perceived as the damage they had done to him. The link between Myrna and Constance was very interesting. It just made me even more interested in Myrna’s “back story” and got me to wondering if Louise would be writing more about that her.
Ruth has the ability to cut to the core and say the things that need to be said. You see her love for Jean-Guy grow even when he is in the wrong!
The death of Audrey Villeneuve was the linchpin for the entire story of Francoeur etal and the corruption of the Sûreté du Québec and Renard. It was a story line that could have been taken from the headlines in any country — corruption breeds corruption to the top of the food chain! The prior story line regarding the First Nations peoples corrupted by the officers was sad enough but this added additional fuel to how far the corruption had progressed.
We had not heard much about Agent Nichol after the first couple of books but it was very good to have her back in the “mix”. She has proved to be a worthy character in a series of books that is so rich in characters and situations. At first I was very shocked that Gamache would trust her again but then learning that she had been been under the tutelage of his friend Therese Brunel and her husband. But Gamache really had to trust that all of the training and fatherly love he showed Yvette would win in the end.
The scene of the villagers coming to rescue the Brunels and Yvette was something out of an old Western, so scary and yet you had to trust Louise’s writing that all would be well.
The villagers showed great courage to face off the police, even when they were not sure of all of the circumstances but they trusted Gamache. It took courage for Jean-Guy to shoot Armand when Armand would not stop running toward the old schoolhouse, and to certain death.
The one thing that truly surprised me in this book was the depth of emotion I felt as I read it. The characters in Louise’s books have become friends. I feel like I could walk into the Bistro or the Book Shop and feel completely at home. It is not sympathy I feel, it is empathy for Clara, for Gabri, Olivier, Myrna, and Ruth and an agape love for Armand and Reine-Marie, Annie, Jean-Guy, even LaCoste and Nichol.
I have never read a series of books that have gotten under my skin as do Louise’s books. Her writing has gotten better with each book.
Karen, I’m not sure where you found that Therese Brunel and her husband had tutored Yvette Nichol. She said she had been trained by Superintendent Lambert of Cyber Crimes. This work in the school house was the first time she had ever worked with Jerome Brunel, she had never met him before. And Therese Brunel was the Superintendent of Homicide – she was too far up the ranks for Nichol to have had much dealings with her. Yvette just sensed that Therese Brunel didn’t like her. As Gamache told Therese, she hadn’t worked with Nichol, he had, meaning she should trust his judgment. If the Brunels had tutored Nichol, Therese would not have been so furious with Gamache for bringing her in.
I thought Therese Brunel was the superintendent of the art crimes department. She ranked higher than Gamache, but I feel sure that she works in the area of her expertise. I think Francoeur was the Superintendent of Homicide, or at least the Superintendent that oversees Homicide – maybe he oversees all felonies or something, and Gamache is the only one whose focus is only Homicide. But Therese is not Gamache’s boss, just higher up in the hierarchy.
Julie, Therese Brunel had been head curator of the Musee des Beaux Arts in Montreal before she left it and went into policing with the Surete. She was Superintendent of Homicide and Gamache’s immediate boss. Francoeur was the Chief Superintendent, head of the whole Surete and over all the other department superintendents. Lambert, for instance, was the Superintendent of Cyber Crimes. We haven’t had dealings with the other departments, so we haven’t met the other superintendents. Therese Brunel replaced Michel Brebeuf after he left in disgrace.
Julie, I checked back and I was wrong about Lambert. She wasn’t Superintendent of Cyber Crimes, but Chief Inspector. She had the same rank as Gamache. But if Therese had not been Gamache’s boss, she would not have had the authority to order him not to visit Arnot in the SHU. At the time she ordered him not to, he said he would accept her order and not go. Later, as things developed further, he did go, but Therese realized then that it no longer mattered.
Ah – I should have checked. Thanks, Sylvia.
1. Did you anticipate Renard’s plot? No, I had no idea that the separatist idea was in play. It was difficult to think of an individual (Renard) planning and plotting for decades to reach such a goal. I knew Sylian Francoeur was a bigot and power hungry but not that he was involved in a plan to bring down the Canadian Government’s rule of Quebec by blowing up the Champlain Bridge and bringing on chaos.
Reading the book, and now discussing it makes me fearful.
I do not believe Renard nor Francoeur were separatists. They had no sense of patriotism for Quebec. They did not respect the history nor the people of Quebec. The creation of a “new Nation” and fame and power were the goals.
I thought the plot involved the lack of repair of tunnels and therefore highway and bridge construction and repair. This was based on Annie(?) at the beginning of the book. I thought they were getting rich by kickbacks from corrupt contractors.
I agree that they were not separatists. Certainly their values are not like any separatists I know. They were power hungry and saw Quebec separatism as an avenue for more power.
8. Surprise that stood out most for me: that Jean-Guy loved Gamache enough to risk shooting and that Lacoste had enough faith to believe (1) in that love; (2) that there was a need to stop Gamache from reaching the school house; and (3) that providence would allow Jean-Guy in his addicted fog to stop Gamache without killing him.
7. Ruth and Rosa. Wow. Ruth and Rosa mean a lot. Love and protection. Loss, hope, redemption. Mother-child. Friendship.
6. Old sins have long shadows. This is a theme in most of the books, from Ben/Timmer and Still Life on. It should not have been surprising that it came out again in How The Light Gets In. Jealousy and resentment, cover-up of an earlier “assisted” death sat and stewed for a long time and was brought to the surface when Constance was ready (finally) to have outside friends. That made Andre afraid that the truth would come out. For Renard and Francoeur, it is almost inconceivable that these men would be so charismatic and powerful that they would be able to attract enough people who put aside their own morality to blindly follow their lead, especially without being in on the plan. But similar things have happened throughout history.
Yes, let’s never forget Hitler. He was charismatic and had a huge following who got suckered in to doing things they never would have done for anyone else. That kind of charisma can be extremely dangerous!
1. I anticipated the tunnel or bridge being destroyed but not the motive. I am not convinced that they were separatists or psychopaths using the cause of separatism to gain power.
2. I did better with the quint story, and caught on that there was a sibling when the mother was seen throwing a hat back into the cabin and shutting the door.
5. Gamache telling Lacoste he was resigning. I thought that Gamache was actually letting her know that he was resigning….mainly. I was hoping that it was a signal of something else. It did seem to be an odd time for him to take the time to let her know.
That never occurred to me that it was a “signal”, yet in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. It needed to be something that could be read by “the enemy” without worry, yet would reach all those who were waiting for “the word”. I also love that he told Lacoste that it would be coming, letting her spread the word to be on the lookout for it, as everyone needed to jump in and act at once.
I DID think it was his way of being able to act as an individual, rather than as an employee of the Surete, which probably gave him more freedom to act. Having all his people scattered throughout the Surete turned out to be the saving grace, rather than the punishment Francoeur thought it would be!
I just thought Armand had come to the end of his rope, and had decided to follow Marc Breau’s advice and retire. With Beauvoir gone, Lacoste is his second-in-command, so it would simply be the courteous thing to do to inform her ahead of the actual resignation, along with giving her instructions to send the word out when she received his letter. It didn’t occur to me to look any deeper than that, so I was delightfully surprised when Gamache told Francoeur that sending word out to everyone had been a signal to his own still loyal agents to rise up and take over their departments! Brilliant! Francoeur paled as he knew the game was up! In the fight to the death, thank goodness Gamache was quicker on the draw than Francoeur.
4. Who showed the most courage? This is an unfair question. So much courage was shown by so many. Gamache showed courage long-term. He was the only person who was aware of the full potential risk. He lived through the decimation of his department and slowly and methodically spread his people throughout the Surete. He didn’t let anyone else carry the burden or the risk with him. He trusted Jerome and Therese, when so many had shown themselves unworthy of trust. He trusted Nichol. He trusted Lacoste. He was willing to give Jean-Guy another chance.
The villagers showed courage. Knowing that Francoeur and crew were descending on the village and their lives were at risk, they chose to put themselves directly into the path of danger to protect Gamache and his friends.
Lacoste showed courage in trusting in Gamache and following her instincts in letting Jean-Guy shoot.
Jean-Guy showed courage in (finally) choosing to pull himself out of his addicted haze in order to save Gamache – to stand up for loving and being loved.
Each of these was significant. To pick “the most courageous” minimizes the strength that each of the other people showed. For Nichol, who had lacked courage and integrity, this was a huge step. Likewise for Jean-Guy. It was more in character for Lacoste and Gamache (and the villagers).
I also remember when Yvette Nichol played along with Gamache when he knew Lemieux was a spy and she turned up at the exact right moment and hit Lemieux just as he was about to shoot Gamache. He called her “a very courageous young woman”. She had saved his life then, so I felt she was trustworthy in this book.
I trust Nichol’s intentions, but I do think she’s a bit of a “loose cannon”, so wouldn’t necessarily trust her to do the right thing. But she has totally been there when Gamache needed her, and I love that she “fessed up” to releasing the video. That took guts.
I agree with you, Julie, and I wonder if perhaps Lacoste can train Yvette into a valuable and trustworthy team member. I think Isabelle has the strength and the patience to do it. I do hope so, because I believe Yvette Nichol has great potential, and might learn better from a woman role model than a man. I also think she needs to get out of the family home and have a place on her own.
I think getting her own home would do Nichol so much good! She would be taking steps toward really putting old unlikable Yvette behind her! Getting away from her father, and also being responsible for finding and paying for her own place, cooking her own meals, etc. – the independence that gives a young person is very valuable!
I have listened to Gamache (I mean Ralph Cosham) read this book to me through Audible.com. I had read all the Three Pines mysteries until The Beautiful Mystery, which I listened to (it left me in despair), and then How the Light Gets In (which left me a happy basket case). (And then I got books 1-8 on Audible and listened to them all in order.) Anyway, as a pastor who is called on from time to time to speak for people who are lost to addictions, I have never come across an understanding of addiction so clearly stated as when Inspector Brunel says “It’ll steal your health, your friends, family, careers. Judgment. It’ll steal your soul. And when there’s nothing left, it takes your life.” I have repeated these words many times now, and bless Louise Penny for giving them to me.
3. My favourite scene(s). My favourites were when Ruth gave Rosa to Jean-Guy for safe-keeping (along with Myrna’s car)….classic Ruth!; when the henchman came into the church and was met by Nichol, dressed as an old woman; when Nichol confessed about leaking the video of the raid and her reason for it; and when Jean-Guy realized that he wasn’t abandoned by Gamache, but had been saved. Although I’m not against weddings, I thought that there was so much that had to be left out in order to there – it could have been another book.
I loved the wedding, and was so happy it was there. After all the anguish and terror, I NEEDED a really happy ending. The wedding made it clear to me that Beauvoir was better, that Armand was on the mend, that he and Reine Marie had found their place in Three Pines and that all had been forgiven by everyone involved. I am a little worried about where we go from here, but I did like the high note this book ended on.
What’s interesting to me is that I didn’t remember this last scene at all. I’d read the book so quickly the first time, I barely noticed what was going on that wasn’t part of the bigger story. I knew that Gamache was successful in shutting Renard and Francoeur down, but I didn’t really remember what they were planning to do, and I’d totally forgotten that Arnot wasn’t really a part of it, and I had also forgotten the details of the happy ending. Oddly enough, I remembered the Ouellet storyline in it’s entirety, including who the murderer was. I think that, because I read this without the tension present in the other parts of the story, I was more able to absorb things. Also, because I’d known quite a bit about the Dionne Quintuplets, this story fit in and around what I already knew, so was somewhat familiar to me.
Julie and KB, I found the wedding sheer joy, such a blessed release from the terrible tension of the previous chapters, but I agree with you, KB, about the amount of storyline that had been left out. For one thing, I thought the conversation between Armand and Jean-Guy as they were dancing very strange. I couldn’t help thinking that all that should have already been said between them, but since it apparently had not been said before, I keep fantasizing about the two men having a day together to talk and catch up with each other. I pictured Reine-Marie going in to Montreal for a day with Annie, while Jean-Guy drives down to Three Pines for the day with Armand. Then Reine-Marie brings Annie down with her, they all have dinner together and Jean-Guy and Annie go back home together. I have enjoyed this sweet daydream immensely!
I remain confused about Nichols incredibly cheerful and seemingly heartfelt admission to Gamache about creating the video. My Issue arises from the fact that my recollection of nickel self-describing for creation was that she did do it for malicious purposes. Indeed, Again by recollection, it was for overwhelming certainty that everyone hates her and underestimates her and dismisses her abilities, particularly those sentiments related to Gamache, caused her to create the video intentionally to disturb him.
I apologize for the crappy, undesired auto-corrects from correct to incorrect.
I cannot see my initial post as I type this, and I can make only these first two corrections, because the second sent me running to try to edit (I could not figure out a manner to do that):
Nichols’ [missing apostrophe]
Nichols [bizarre substitute word]
I assume that there are others, and I apologize.
2. Ouellette story line – killer. I thought the killer was one of two: the priest or the “nephew” (who turned out to be the brother). The priest appeared to be hiding things. So did the “nephew” to a certain extent.
I had two thoughts. One was that it was the “nephew” or whatever it was they thought the brother was, though I wasn’t clear on a motive. But I also thought it might have been one of the Quints – the one long thought dead. In my mind, I had pictured the other sisters helping her fake her death, so she could live in anonymity, and then, later, when she saw Constance making friends and coming out of the shadow of the Quints, she killed her out of jealousy. Of course, Louise has already done the “faked their death” routine, and I should have realized that she’s not so short of ideas that she’d have to revisit some territory already covered, hahaha.
Actually, Andre Pineault was posing as the Quints’ uncle, not nephew – he was pretending to be their mother’s brother, so that would make him their uncle even though he was younger than the girls. It happens quite a bit in large families.
That’s what I thought, Sylvia, but someone else said nephew, and another said cousin, so I thought I’d misremembered.
What happened to Andre?
I have the same question!
Plus the next door neighbour was also suspected. There were three suspects, all names beginning with A. This was left in the air and I don’t think Armand would do that with a case
I had that that “MA” was a “Marc-?” who was a sixth sextuplets whose maleness made him unacceptable to a perfect identical female group and whose segregation led to the “quintuplet” myth. I assumed that he, marginalized, was the killer. I never thought of him as a separate birth.
I do feel a need to research the multiple amniotic sac scenario for the identical. I didn’t realize that that was possible.
1. Did you anticipate Renard’s plot? I didn’t anticipate the plot at all. I had wondered why the higher-ups in the Surete had all tried to cover up the corruption, but had thought that the actions on the reservation were discrimination based – like the “moonlight tours” in Saskatoon, where police had a habit of taking drunk and disorderly natives to a power station out of town and if some of them died trying to make it home, “so be it”. I didn’t understand why the higher-ups would ALL want to cover this up, though. That certainly wasn’t the case in Saskatoon. I admit that I hadn’t seen the motive for it being anything else. There were no signs that any of the players were separatists and we didn’t even know of Renard, let alone his involvement. I understood the plot and the motive, but would have enjoyed it more if there were subtle clues in earlier books as to the motive. The first time I read this part of the story, I found it the least enjoyable and, unlike most of Penny’s books, it required a lot of explanation to the reader. This time through, I enjoyed it more.
Me either, KB. I thought it was simply the fact that the tunnel had been built with substandard materials and not been maintained. We are seeing so much of the infrastructure around the US failing now, because it’s too old and has been subjected to too much stress. It should have been replaced before now, and yet, still, there doesn’t seem to be a priority to inspect and repair or replace the bridges, tunnels, etc. that so many people use every day. I worry. Here in Washington, we’ve had a major bridge on I-5 (probably one of the busiest freeways in the country) collapse. Luckily, it was at a time when only a couple of vehicles were on it, and only three people were injured, and no-one killed. But it could easily have been a real mess. This is what I was thinking. I knew that Audrey Villeneuve had been murdered, and why – but I never dreamed that they were actually planning to blow it up and kill all those people. Human life seemed so irrelevant to them. I also never thought that there was someone above Francoeur who was calling the shots.
Julie, human life didn’t mean much to them when they were planning to blow up La Grande Dam – of course native lives meant least of all. But we got a hint that Francoeur was under someone else at the private dinner. The two of them were alone in the dining room, with bodyguards posted at the door. I didn’t connect the dots myself, but Francoeur’s boss had to be a high up official. I just never thought it would be the Premier. However corruption at high levels is fairly common! Once I found out the top boss was the Premier of Quebec, I was much less surprised than the characters were.
I found the scene with Reine-Marie and Annie about to walk down the aisle most poignant. I immediately thought of walking down the aisle of St. John the Evangelist Church behind the coffin of my father in 2004. And realizing then that I had walked down that same aisle in 1967 with my father on my wedding day. I have talked to several friends who had that same experience in their long time family church. Sacramental moments full of the mystery of love and life.
I rejoiced with Annie that this time she was celebrating her wedding in that church with her mother and father. But I know there will come a time when she once more walks down that aisle in a time of great sadness. And she will remember her wedding day.
Louise Penny is a great author because in her writing she calls forth from our memories our own moments of love and friendship and happiness and sadness. And such memories enrich and enhance the reading of all her books.
I’ve never thought of this. Not having a “family church”, it has never occurred to me that many people will walk down an aisle at a funeral remembering another walk down the very same aisle…
My favorite moment in the book was the scene between Ruth and Jean-Guy when she hands him Rosa and says I love you (is it to her beloved duck or to this man whom she has come to care about?). It offers a distinct view of love and how powerful an emotion it can be. Jean-Guy actually gently responds (almost pleads for help?) to Ruth which is something he had never done before. Redemption comes from understanding the grace of a loving heart.
I agree. It is the “I love you” that Jean Guy repeats until he finally gets it…. he is loved.
Yes, that was the turning point – the moment when despair turned to hope, as we saw in Clara’s wonderful portrait of Ruth.
I agree here. Ruth’s leap of faith that she could help Beauvoir was wonderful to behold. I would love to know if Rosa is still with Beauvoir? Probably not, but I do think that Ruth was giving him hope AND another living being to take care of. He knew how much Rosa meant to Ruth, so he knew what trust she was placing in him. Love that she also gave him Myrna’s car. And Myrna’s response – “So you gave him my car?” I laughed out loud.
Katherine, your statement about redemption was so lovely and true. Hi everyone, I discovered the Gamache series in April and read them all. Have enjoyed reading all of your uses.
Ideas not uses….sorry 😉
This was certainly an amazing moment. I’ve loved Ruth and considered her relationship to Jean-Guy both bizarre in the way it arose from nowhere, and perfectly sublime in its incredible symbiosis. The statement about wringing Rosa’s neck and Ruth’s amazing self-control to endure it in order to impart love and strength to Jean-Guy was painful beyond belief. It is a constant fear anytime I let someone near an animal companion (I’ve had many) that such a person will reveal, too late, an intense cruelty and harm/destroy my stalwart, trusting friend. Reading of Ruth risking Rosa in service of facilitating Jean-Guy’s salvation, even while it was Ruth showing firm faith in his inner good self, ripped me apart.
I actually thought LaCoste was the bravest … she had to go on trust. She trusted Gamache (not so hard) and also at the end she had to trust Jean-Guy when he was about to shoot Gamache. She is a remarkable character.
Talk about stress! In re-reading this book I realized that the first time, the story of the Ouellette quints was totally lost on me and I didn’t remember any of how it was resolved. I was so focused on finding out what happened with Gamache and Renard and Jean-Guy and the Surete that I must have skimmed over the other storyline. It was fun re-reading it because I knew things would be OK in the end.
Wow – who was the bravest? That’s so hard – everyone of our “heroes” had to be heroic! I think it was Beauvoir, because not only did he have to shoot Gamache and hope people understood his real motives, but also, he’d had to climb out of the hole he’d dug himself to even get where he wanted to save Gamache’s life. First he had to save himself, and that was very hard, because I don’t think he thought he was worth saving. So I have to vote for my boy. I have such affection for Beauvoir, even though he’s the most flawed of the group of “good guys” in this series. Or maybe because of that. Who knows?
Julie, I agree Jean-Guy is the most flawed, um, maybe not quite so flawed as Yvette Nichol, but I think it’s one of the things that makes him so loveable. He certainly has a special place in my heart!
That’s interesting, Sylvia, to hear you describe Nichol as flawed, when I hadn’t really ever thought of her that way. Different, absolutely, and unskilled socially. But I have always thought her kind of true to herself, and just “young and unformed” yet. Meeting Gamache really has helped her come into her own. I said somewhere else that I don’t think she’ll ever be warm and fuzzy, but I don’t necessarily see that as a flaw. Maybe she’s what Ruth was like when she was young? We know she had really only one friend – Jane, and that she hurt Jane terribly in an effort to keep her friendship for herself. Something very misguided and immature – like I could easily see Nichol doing. Somebody else has wondered if Nichol has Aspergers, and I wonder if that couldn’t be the case… we see lots of strange behavior from her, and an exasperation with others who don’t jump to the same conclusions as she does, as quickly.
I remember being in school and doing math problems. I was good at math when I was quite young, but I didn’t analyze how I was solving the problems – I’d kind of look at the question and “just know” the answer. I was usually right, but then came the dreaded “show your work” comments I’d get on my papers. I couldn’t. I really didn’t know how I’d arrived at the right answer, I did it just… naturally! I became “not good” at math because of this, because I hated that part. This is kind of how I think of Nichol – that she often knows how to do things, but not how to explain how she knows…
Julie, we could have a whole interesting discussion about what we each mean when we say a person is flawed. I do think, though, that I would call Nichole flawed. She is described as someone who is more likely to lie than tell the truth, almost would rather. Maybe that is social ineptitude, it probably is, but I would also name it a flaw. I have no doubt she can change, we are often able to overcome a flaw. But I think it will take time and work for her to develop the trust to respond to an uncomfortable question with the truth, habitually.
Julie, I don’t think Yvette Nicole has the self-knowledge to be true to herself. She doesn’t have a clue as to who she is, but I have no doubt she will get there, and that will be a sight to behold!
Cathryne, you are probably right – Nichol IS flawed – I guess I’m just more willing to give her more time, while Beauvoir is over 40 – he ought to have learned a lot by now… But he is getting there, and so is Nichol. She is so much better than she was in Still Life! You’re probably right about being true to herself, too – it’s probably just stubbornness! I think I see a little of my young self in Nichol, hahaha.
Julie, your last paragraph made me so sad. I taught elementary math and I had a terrible time with reminding children to show their work. It did not make me very popular with other math teachers. How I wish we could change the mindset of people who are locked into doing things a certain way. I think that maybe why I enjoy Gamache so much–he’s open to different ways of doing things.
Jill – thank you – it’s funny what we keep with us so many years later, isn’t it?
I cannot believe someone else had this math issue. I, too, would look and know (in lower math). I learned, however, that I had to create a show of work after deducing the answer, just to keep the teachers from causing trouble. That was annoying because it was not always simple, as you’ve pointed out.
Happily, my love for math (lower, not higher) continues as I move to the end of my sixth decade. Numbers have always been of primary importance to me.
This Re-Read has been an amazing journey, with “How the Light Gets in” the ultimate in intensity and depth. I am not sure how much I breathed at all during the last section of the book.
8. In a book with so many surprises, which one stood out for you?
That would have to be the wedding of Annie and Jean-Guy. At the end of Chapter 41 Gamache is lying spread-eagled in the snow, shot by Jean-Guy. The next chapter begins in the church in Three Pines, with Jean-Guy, head bowed, watching Reine-Marie and Annie walk in. It’s not until we read that whole page and turn to the next that we discover that Annie is wearing a wedding dress. It’s a wedding, not a funeral. At that point, as a reader, I think that I took my first breath in about five minutes. Nicely played, Louise!
I agree with Judy S. on her choice of surprises. I was sobbing at that point, sure that this was a funeral for our beloved Gamache and, when it became the wedding of Annie and Jean-Guy, I think I sobbed even harder.
I don’t know why, but it never crossed my mind that it was a funeral. That would have been devastating…. I also didn’t guess that it was a wedding.
Same here, KB! It was my biggest surprise, but also the most joyful moment!
I think I always thought that Beauvoir would “come back”, and he and Annie would marry. Or at least, I hoped so, so when it happened, I was sure I’d already expected it, hahahaha. The biggest surprise for me was to find that Arnot played a relatively small part in the “Arnot case” as I had been calling it for all this time. When he wasn’t there in prison, I was amazed, and then when it became clear that the Premier of the province was the “mastermind”, it absolutely blew me away! How could someone so evil rise so high?
Many of you have already mentioned that you don’t think these people were separatists, and I agree. Much more than anything, they wanted absolute power, and obviously, were willing to stop at nothing to get it. I can’t imagine how awful if their plan had succeeded!
I did think Jean Guy would “come back”, and I thought Ruth would bring it about. I saw their odd and strangely tender relationship as leading up to that.
“How could someone so evil rise so high?”
Just read this during the post Trump election. There you go.
I had EXACTLY the same thought about Trump when I read her comment! Great Minds.
I’m looking forward to being able to discuss the book as a whole starting tomorrow. In the first half, we have to be so careful not to give anything away to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t finished it, but in the second week we can assume everyone has finished reading the book. I’m sure we will have plenty to say about this book this week.
I love that Louise finds humor in all sorts of small things! For example, this is a description of a walk that Gamache and Jerome Brunel take upon first arriving in Three Pines on a very cold night:
“They were well insulated against it. A tall man and a small, round man. They looked like a broken exclamation mark.” (page 110)
I also really like the way that Louise varies the length of her sentences, which can create drama or, in this case, humor.
There is also the wonderful scene in which Clara, Ruth, Myrna, Gabri, Gamache, and Gilles are discussing the effects of secrets (pages 182 – 183). I won’t quote all of it because it’s long, but it begins when Ruth says that secrets turn the secret-keeper into an ancient mariner:
” ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Gilles broke into the silence. ‘An old sailor and a tuna?’ ”
‘That’s albacore,’ said Olivier.
‘Oh, for chrissake,’ snapped Ruth, and flicked her hand so that the flame went out. ‘One day I’ll be dead and what’ll you do for cultural conversation, you stupid shits?’
[…]
“‘Wait a minute,’ Gabri said. ‘I remember now. Didn’t the ancient mariner and Ellen de Generes save Nemo from a fish tank in Australia?’
‘I think that was The Little Mermaid,’ said Clara.”
Then, with Louise’s skill at transition, the conversation turns quite serious at the end: ” Oh, shut up,’ snapped Ruth. ‘The Ancient Mariner brought the curse on himself and them. It was his fault, and he had to admit it, or carry it the rest of his life. Got it?’ “
I love all the wonderful literary allusions in Louise’s books. They add a lot to the depth of her stories. This was a very funny conversation about The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. Armand got the reference right away, which seemed to impress Ruth.
Yes, I did laugh out loud a few times. But the funniest moment has to be the box of condoms scene at the Dépanneur (Québec term for what Penny calls a “convenience store”). 🙂