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”
In re the Quints. I was born in 1940, and remember seeing some pictures occasionally in life. But I was never much interested, and I think my younger siblings, the Boomers, in the U. S. Never cared much. They are old, old history here, and one of the things that disappointed me in this book the first time through was the amount of time spent on the book’s quints. I wasn’t interested, and what I wanted was a book devoted to the battle for the soul of the Surete. Too much of that was hidden from the reader while time was wasted, imho, with the quints mystery. Maybe this time through, since I know the upshot, I can find more to interest me in the story, since I don’ recall the identity of the murderer.
Being from the US, I had never heard of the quints, my mother, however, had, and coming from her background of poverty wished, at one time or another, to be a quint because of the “face” that was put on their life. I think part the purpose of including that story line was there needed to be a clear definition of someone who had achieved the pinnacle of fame and the results of it on the person and those around them. This reflects on the Gamache and Jean Guy plot line, Jean Guy feels in the shadow of Gamache’s success and feels the need for valuation from Gamache until it begins to corrupt JG emotionally and then physically. Just a thought.
I think we also need some relief from the pure evil that emanates in the Jean-Guy/Francoeur story-line. If the whole book was that, without some relenting of the tension, we’d be basket-cases by the end!
I agree Julie. The whole book can’t be on one tense plane. On one level, life goes on, Armand has to juggle his normal day with everything else. It also has to seem normal to everyone or the game is up.
I do think the story lines have intertwined themes. The freedom-safety issue being one. The deception of appearances is another, things aren’t what they appear with the Quints, one face to the world so to speak. Similarly with Francouer and the Surete as a whole.
Destruction and collapse versus strength and rebuilding, is another theme relating to people, power, things….I am being vague as we are in the first half of the novel.
Julie, I was until I read the last chapter. It was such a huge relief and joy that I still kept crying!
Julia, I think Jean-Guy was frustrated at times in his relationship with Gamache because he felt ready to be more of an equal partner than a subordinate. So they did have some heavy arguments early on. For instance, Beauvoir wanted to be told the full story about the Arnot case. However, the real trouble came after he was so badly injured in the factory raid. He was in terrible pain for months afterwards, and to ease it he was prescribed Oxygen-Contin and Percocet. These are extremely dangerous drugs with a strong tendency to lead to addiction. I don’t think anyone has developed a test to find out if a person might develop an addiction if treated with them, but that would certainly be a vital piece of research! Then later, Francoeur tells him there’s nothing wrong with him – he’s not addicted. With Francoeur and Tessier working on his mind and continually supplying him with the drugs, he keeps going farther and farther down.
Sorry, I missed a mistake. This tablet keeps “correcting” what I write! I wrote Oxy-Contin, but it didn’t’t come out right.
I think this is exactly right, Sylvia. I know that as recently as 15 years ago, Dr’s didn’t think Oxy-Contin was addictive, and boy, were they wrong! I know from own experiences with it, it’s so effective at soothing pain that you have a tendency to take it almost before you need it, because if you have really bad pain, it helps a lot. Then there’s that sense of relief, as it floods through your body. You have to be so careful, because I think that even psychologically, it’s addictive. Luckily, now, they DO know, and prescriptions are routinely written for really just a few pills at a time, and a Dr. has to okay any refills. I don’t think they’d hesitate to cut you off.
1. No
2. “Henri chose, if such a thing is a choice, to hand out another great compliment at that moment. Lacoste brought her hand to her face , in an involuntary survival instinct.” I have a LARGE dog that loves nothing more than creating a whiff of bad air and walking off, I swear he laughs as he does, so when I read this I laughed aloud. It also reminded me of the middle schoolers I teach whom I need to remind that everybody farts.
3. The people whom we have met in Three Pines have all changed and evolved. It’s as if Three Pines is their chrysalis and they have to go through their struggles to break out with strength and beauty of character. This also leads into number 4.
4. Three Pines isn’t the end of anyone’s road who has a seeking heart. It has become, or has always been, a place of sanctuary and acceptance that allows for growth and, especially, forgiveness, of self and others.
5. One cannot be free if one is in fear of his/her safety, whether from inner or outer forces, and so many are willing to give up much in the name of safety. However, are we then safe from those who would protect us? It is a double edged sword.
6. Ahhh, celebrity. I began thinking about the “Kate Plus 8” kids, particularly the mom who was thrust into the limelight and has struggled to stay there. Then there is Alec Baldwin, whose fortune depends on the public watching him in whatever he happens to be cast in, and he battles with the press over his privacy all the time! I will take the normalcy of everyday life, thank you.
7. My heart breaks for Jean Guy as he has to lose his world to regain a stronger, clearer grasp on what is real to him.
8. “Alas” , makes me think of Myrna, Clara, Peter, Jean Guy, Olivier, Gabri…all the inhabitants of Three Pines who sought sanctuary and healing there. I know Jean Guy and Gamache aren’t residents, but they are as broken and in need of healing as anybody who has settled in TP. Must be something in the water.
Your remark about your dog reminded me of when I had four small dogs. One would “scent the air”, and they would all turn and look at each other. Including the guilty one.
I found the following quote in a National Post article where Louise discusses her own battle with alcoholism talking about book 7, A Trick of the Light.
Penny also hopes the book – and her life – show that although addiction is brutal, it is not insurmountable.
“You rarely have gone so far that you can’t come back,” she says. “And I know what it’s like to be standing in the middle of the room thinking if I had a gun I would blow my brains out.”
There is no doubt that Louise understands Jean Guy and his addiction intimately. As always I admire her ability to take that experience and make something good from it. Her key messages are all about hope and seeing experiences that seem to break us, as opportunities to “let the light in”.
Peeling back the layers of protection we wrap around us and being able to feel are perhaps essential, but frightening, preconditions to knowing our true selves. It certainly doesn’t feel safe to be truly known, laid bare with all our faults and failings, but I imagine that it comes with a certain freedom to be really understood. However, the more we are loved, the more we are understood, the more frightened we can become that we “will be seen” and found wanting.
I liked the description of a fence around a school giving kids the freedom to play because it enhanced safety. Love can be that fence if we are not afraid to come out and play.
Is the article online?
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/09/26/louise-penny-critics-cant-say-she-didnt-warn-them/?__federated=1
Thanks!
Anna, thanks very much for passing that link on to us. I just went to it and read the article. I feel much closer to Louise Penny now. She is no longer some shadowy figure who has written these books I love so much. She has become alive and real for me now.
I felt the same way. I think Louise’s ability to be honest about herself really comes through in her themes of “being true to self” in her books.
Anna, thanks for the link!
How do I feel about Jean-Guy? I love him as you only can love one of your own. Ms. Penny is brilliant in her ability to write about addiction from the inside out. We saw this is a very outward and obvious way in A Trick of the Light. But her ability to get inside Jean-Guy’s skin as he makes his dive to the bottom…that is real brilliance. It’s measured and paced beautifully on her part, in these last three books. His slip in the monastery, his surrender to Franceur — all have the absolute ring of truth to them. She shows us how his ego is his undoing, layer by layer. And now, with nothing left, we see the desperation, the dependence, the terror, the agony of the addict.
I think I felt Jean-Guy was a potential addict or alcoholic from the first or second book — “loosely wrapped but tightly wound” is one early description. His arrogance, his ego, his amusing frustrations with the “insanity of the Anglos” …but also his great love for Armand (and Annie), his very real skill as an investigator. And there is so much in him that I really have come to love — my heart hurt at the end of The Beautiful Mystery. I really did ache for him. And for Armand. But it’s all due to Ms. Penny’s terrific skill and art. I am in awe and am so eager for the next book!
Laurie, I appreciate these comments, especially at the end where you speak about Louise Penny’s brilliance as a writer. As I have read the books the first time and now again in this ‘re-read, I get so completely caught up in the stories that I can’t at the time appreciate how she is making them so wonderful. I expect that over time, as I ‘re-read them more times, my appreciation for her skill will grow. Perhaps because of such thoughts as yours, I”ll see this in other writers as well. Right now the characters in all their variety and what happens to them is all I can think about. I have always got right into novels and become one of the characters myself, so I never think about the author.
Another indication that Jean-Guy had the potential to become an addict was that he always sniffed the felt markers before he wrote his lists in the Incident Room.
Sylvia H., that makes me so sad! Sense of smell is very important to me, and when I read that Jean-Guy sniffed the markers I thought it was because of all the good associations he had with them and with the beginning of an investigation. The way Louise describes it, it sounded like the excitement on the first day of school – the smell of a new school bag, etc.
I think Jean-Guy got a bit of a high from the markers, that’s why he loved to sniff them.
I can see that, too – it makes sense. Perhaps it’s one of those things that can go either way.
# 5 I’ve never thought of safety versus freedom other than in the changes that have come here in the US since 9/11. Travel is not as much fun as it once was because of safety measures that are now necessary. I would like to feel safe again as I did before 9/11.
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred during my first year of teaching. I had to tell my sixth grade students that if our area was bombed or invaded we would be taken by army transport to a place of safety. The fathers of many students were in the Army and stationed only a few miles from the school. I told them they didn’t have to be afraid because we knew the Army would keep us safe. Do you know—I honestly felt safe. I suppose ignorance is bliss.
Just thought of two safety versus freedom instances. Seat belts in cars and helmets while riding a motorcycle.
Finished the book last night….cried. I won’t spoil it for those who are still reading. I was so torn between racing through and letting the agony spin out as long as I could.
I expect we all spilled tears on this one. So much emotion pent up over the last years and growing more and more with each book… It had to come out, and for me, it certainly came in tears.
I too, finished it last night. Sigh.
Jean-Guy… I will admit to not understanding Gamache’s affection for him in early books. But in this one, I traveled a long path from disgust, to growing affection and serious concern for him. He is now externally the mess he has always been internally. His inability to trust Gamache’s (both Armand and Annie) love for him, his absolute lack of self-love, his fear of exposing his weaknesses… all right there for anyone to see, and for some to manipulate. I cried at the wedding.
I haven’t trusted Peter’s character since “Rule Against Murder”: it showed too much lack of character. I don’t think it comes from anywhere strange, but it showed lots of self centered-ness and fear for a grown man. To give up $1M when you and your wife struggle day to day, and are chronically cold in the winter… His brother was right on that count (“If it didn’t matter, you would have taken it”) I’m curious to see who he grows into in the next book (2 weeks left!!), as I previously believed him too weak to be capable of true evil. I occasionally entertain the idea that he has Asperger’s, he is so out of touch with other people.
At this point, my fear is that this is the last book; there are no significant issues left to tie up.
Oh no, “The Long Way Home” is not the last book. Go to Louise Penny’s author page. In a recent post, she says she is completing the first draft of the next book!
Now that’s good news!
Phew!
That’s an interesting thought, Bean – Asperger’s. I love the new Sherlock on British TV and available to us via Public Television, where Sherlock Holmes has Asperger’s, and it explains so much about him.
I agree about the million dollars – it’s fine that he denied himself this, but he put his wife through hardship because of his own stubbornness. And if it truly didn’t matter, he WOULD have taken it.
Now, I’m assuming Bean is a nom-de-plume, chosen because you loved the strength of character this child exhibited in A Rule Against Murder?
No, a long-time nick-name from my father, but I was thrilled to see a character named that!
My first comment, though I have been following these discussions from the beginning.
#6 I think celebrity must be especially hard for people such as the Quints, because unlike performing artists, pro athletes, and politicians, they didn’t choose it.
#7 I feel a little angry at Jean-Guy at this point, but mostly just very sad and afraid for him. PTSD and addiction are conditions that aggravate the severity of each other and the pain and fear he’s experiencing is almost unbearable to read about. It’s so hard for him to let down the barriers between himself and others, but when he does, either because he’s forced to by extreme physical or emotional distress, such as when he had the flu, when he collapsed in pain by Dr. Gilbert’s cabin, or the time in one of the earlier books when started by yelling at Gamache and ended up sobbing–or when he chooses to, such as his relationship with Annie or his confiding in Ruth about the events at the factory–these wind up being good experiences for him. I guess I just hope that he sees the message the Universe is trying to send him before it’s too late.
# 7 It is had to read the description of what Jean-Guy has become. I think of the perfectly dressed man who would rather shiver in the cold than to wear a parka over his stylish clothes. Now– a filthy, smelly wreck of his former self. This very sad devolution of the individual happens in real life when drugs/alcohol take away all self-respect and dignity. I feel sorry for Jean-Guy but would like to grab him and give him a good shake. While wearing gloves, of course.
BTW, I’m almost done with the book. I did have to put it down. I’m so scared to finish it. Argh…..
8. 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?”
I think of Ruth and of Jean-Guy and also Nicole. I guess also Francoeur. He certainly has a curling lip. 😉
7. 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?
One part of me wants to shake him and to wake up to what he lost. To man up. The other part of me feels bad. My heart breaks and I want to comfort him in a motherly way.
6. 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?
All I can think about is Robin Williams. Look at how famous and loved he was but it looked like he has committed suicide. People have no privacy. They are under a microscope. It puts pressure on the conscientious ones to be good role models. Others can’t handle the scrutiny and go on drugs.
I too was thinking of Robin Williams today, Lizzy. Such a tragedy…. he seemed so warm and outgoing as well as one of the most talented men we have ever seen on the screen. And yet, something was amiss behind the scenes, something that drove him to alcohol and and drugs and finally, to suicide. Celebrity? Maybe, or maybe the combination of celebrity and other issues in his life that we never saw. I keep wondering how someone who made so many people happy could have been that unhappy — and then I think of Jean Guy’s struggles and misinterpretations and … realize I am so lucky not to have fallen into that particular pit.
When you see this happen to adults, possibly a result, at least in part, of celebrity, think about celebrity children — the Dionnes, and so many more. KB has outlined some of the pitfalls that capture them. No wonder some of them do not become healthy adults, and other celebrity adults fight hard to keep their children out of the spotlight.
Robin Williams needed Three Pines.
Yes, Robin Williams was beloved by my generation, yet there was always something manic about his performances. Life must have caught up with him, and I am so sorry for his family. It shows we can never tell what someone else is going through, and reminds me, once again, that I should not judge.
I agree Margaret. It wasn’t just celebrity. Yes, if only there was a Three Pines!
I was surprised and not surprised to hear the news about Mr. Williams. It’s always seemed to me that some people in this world are not meant to be here very long; they are like the meteor showers, exploding with light and then extinguishing. I’ve known people like that and Mr. Williams always struck me as one of those.
It was one of Louise Penny’s earlier books, “Trick of the Light” and her passages about Alcoholics Anonymous, that got me to thinking: would the same construct work for people suffering from depression? People who suffer from chronic depression (not people who are depressed, that is a different thing) tend to isolate themselves, and the people who love them find them more and more difficult to understand, to live with. I was thinking of the sponsorship construct, and how that might be useful when a person starts thinking into the spiral, how the world would be better off without him, that somebody who has been through it would be more likely to get it, to know how to illuminate the lies in such thoughts.
I’m not claiming to be knowledgeable in this, and I’m not dismissing the usefulness of doctors and medication. But more and more I believe in the importance of human contact. My daughter told me she’d heard that the writers of Disney’s “Frozen” were thinking about mental illness when they wrote the script, and it makes perfect sense to me.
5. 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?
This is interesting. It reminds me of a story of children who went to a school on a busy street. At play time they huddled close to the school as there was no fence. When they got a fence, they had the freedom to run around and play. So, in one way the fence kept them in, but it kept them safe and gave them freedom to play. I think KB stated it well. There is a tension. There is a balancing act.
4. 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.
I think in one way it was an end to the old. An end to trouble and a place to heal. Just like if a door. It can close on one part of our life but open up to another side.
3. 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?
That’s how I feel! lol Most people who end up there were on their way somewhere else. They found Three Pines and found healing and metamorphed ( yeah, I made that word up…lol) into their potential.
2. 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?
I’m so glad to see and hear more about Henri especially since I just put my German Shepherd down 3 weeks ago. I left work, he was fine, came home and he was so sick with internal bleeding and the diagnosis was such that surgery wouldn’t save him. We lost our other German Shepherd 3 months before that to lymphoma. They were young dogs too. So Henri helps my heart heal a little.
I love how Henri loves Rosa and catching snowballs.
Lizzy, I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved pets. I know that their unconditional love adds so much to our lives, and their presence is sorely missed. Maybe your pets are playing with Louise Penny’s Trudy…. or my Mischa! A beautiful grey cat who hated dogs in life, but I’m just sure she’s seeing all their good qualities on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge…
Lizzy, Sorry for the loss of your two dogs. Those of us who love animals miss them so much. I often think of the dear dogs my husband and I have loved. Some were with us for nearly 20 years and some only a few. But I still think of all of them. My sister lost her 21 year old cat last week and is still weeping daily.
Julie and Barbara, thank you so much for your kind words.
Oh Lizzy that just happened to me with my 10 year old Golden Retriever Hunter. Three weeks tomorrow. I know your grief. I have been inconsolable. It was so sudden. Internal bleeding and no way to save him.
Reading about Henri does me good also. As did seeing Bishop come into Michael and Louise’s life like a miracle.
Oh KE! I’m so sorry!! It’ll only be a month on Monday. I feel your loss. ❤️
KE – I’m so sorry to hear this. I think animals bring so much joy to our lives, which is why they are so missed when they are gone. It’s been over 10 years for me (turns out my hubby is allergic, so no more pets for us) but I still see Mischa out of the corner of my eye sometimes, or feel her jump up onto the bed when I’m almost asleep. It’s so comforting…
I love that you said it is comforting to see your former and beloved pet where you have been used to seeing it or to feel it jump up on the bed, so familiarly, as you fall asleep. This can be a real comfort if we are open to it. I’m glad you put that feeling into words because it can be easy to think of the experience as only a negative, instead of embracing the pleasure.
Well, I know it’s only a trick my mind is playing on me, but that’s okay with me, hahaha. Mischa was loved, and gave so much love. I got her when she was already 8 years old – her former people had a baby who turned out to be allergic, so they needed to find her a new home. I went to see her and she ran up to me and rubbed against my legs, and in that one action, stole my heart. For awhile, it was just she and I, and we really bonded. So it’s wonderful to still catch a glimpse of her and know that the love goes on…
1. What did you know about the Dionne Quintuplets, the model for the Ouellets?
This was all new to me! Fascinating and so sad.
Regarding Henri, one of you wrote about him and his place in the story. I just love that Favourite Quote, that sweet moment when Gamache thinks about Henri: “But he realized Henri already knew all he’d ever need. He knew he was loved. And he knew how to love.” That’s one of my favourite quotes too! There are, amid the tensions, so many sweet and beautiful moments, and many of them feature Henri, the Shepherd with the “satellite ears”. Just thinking of him makes me smile. He’s a blessing, where many things in the story make me angry or make me cry.
“What did you know about the Dionne Quintuplets, the model for the Ouellets?”— I only knew what my mother told me about them and the family circumstances. She thought it was tragic and blamed much of it on cultural bias after which greed quickly took hold and gained the advantage.
The Dionnes and the Ouellet quints were born in the Great Depression. Their parents were dirt poor. I felt in this book that the Quints were “expropriated” by the government to become a tourist attraction and bring in much needed dollars both for the economy at large and also for the parents. I think it was tragic all around. It destroyed the happiness of both parents and their daughters. I think the Dionne Quintuplets grew up to avoid publicity and yearned for peace and privacy just as the Ouellet Quints did in this book.
Reine, I think this is also one of those cases where we have to be careful what we ask for. Marie-Harriette had gone to great and painful lengths to get to Frere Andre and ask for his blessing and prayer for a miracle. She got her miracle all right – too much of a miracle! It was so totally overwhelming for her and Isidore. I know how overwhelming twins can be; I can’t imagine how parents could survive the first months with quads or quints without a lot of help.