Join us here in The Bistro for a discussion on the entire Gamache series. Feel free to ask or answer any questions about any of the books or the series as a whole.
Located in the Equitable Building in Manhattan, Minotaur Books publishes bestselling and award-winning crime fiction ranging from thrillers and suspense to traditional mysteries. Minotaur has published Louise Penny since 2007.
3,660 replies on “The Bistro”
I can’t see any of us protesting being stuck in a bookstore! Although I think we would have been better provisioned!
Thank you Barbara for permission to share. My daughter is currently in a private school. She has been to both, 6 school, changes in all because of various moves. Most of primary was in public schools.
This article is tongue in cheek so don’t take offense please if you are Texan, my sister is! I thought it was funny and uplifting for lovers of books.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/books-are-not-dying-in-fact-theyll-always-endure-writes-angela-mollard/story-fnixwvgh-1227101356679
Locked overnight in a bookstore! Oh the horror ! LOL! Sounds like a dream to me. I think we can assume that he doesn’t have a list of favorite authors.
Please do share my post about the South. She sounds like a bright young lady. Best of luck to her on being approved to skip a grade. Is she in public school or private? I am unfamiliar with the school systems in Australia.
Hilarious! Love the last paragraph – his is the story that wasn’t. Instead of a story that he could tell for years to come, he is stuck with what sounds like a series of annoying tweets.
I passed your comments to my sister and she was very grateful. Thank you all for helping revive some weary spirits.
I agree that the commercial is very well done. It was smart to put faces to the people involved, and beautiful, caring faces they are. The film looks smooth and easy, a testament to the hard work!
Thank you Cathryne.
Just remembered. Several times this week, the local news has shown local troops here at Ft. Gordon being trained in putting on protective gear as they are assigned to Liberia and due to leave soon. They are Signal Corps and will set up communications to help medical staff discuss the Ebola info. Another military group, from Ft. Stewart outside Savannah, GA, will assist medical personal in Liberia. They are learning to put on full Hazmat protective suits.
There is also an interesting connection between Augusta and Liberia. I’ll share it later.
Thank you Julie and Barbara for your feedback on the commercial. I will tell my sister. It will mean a lot to her, the crew and the hospital workers. They have been exhausted rushing it to air.
My sister has been working hard making a TV commercial for Texas Presbyterian where the Ebola victims were treated. All the people in it were caregivers for Ebola victims. It was a very emotional process, the caring and the video. I thought you might like to see it. Kindness in action and now they need supportive thoughts.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnDRGr7pTI&autoplay=1
Anna, Thanks for the info and link. I feel so for those connected with the Hospital. A very frightening time. Here again I admire those who faced danger to help. I hope the Hospital can move on past the fear of those who normally use the hospital. Good thoughts to them and all who are fighting the spread of Ebola and caring for the victims.
That’s an inventive answer to an inretesting question
Anna, that’s a beautiful commercial! So dignified and elegant in it’s simplicity! Ebola has taken our news hostage, it seems, and the same small points are magnified all day long until it seems as though everyone in America is at risk, which is absolutely not the case. I feel proud that our Dr’s and nurses are stepping forward without fear to treat victims of ebola, and yet, shake my head in amazement at the reporting in the news. You’d think we were all living on borrowed time.
Thanks Kim and Anna. There is some controversy about Halloween here too. Ours concerns some who feel even a child in a Princess costume is participating in something harmful. A group handing out pamphlets came to my door and tried to persuade me evil would make use of my Jack O’Lantern. Most Churches offer Trunk and Treat for Children on the 31st. Children go Car to car in the parking lot and “Trick or Treat”. Inflatables and activities for children are there. No scary costumes. No devils or witches or anything gory. Community Centers and Parks offer much of the same in their facilities.
We still had 52 Trick or Treaters come to our house last year. Years ago, I would rush home from work, put on my costume and prepare for the 125-150 callers. Sam answers the door now. He really enjoys it.
We have to give out commercially wrapped candy. No more homemade candy apples or popcorn balls. We don’t mind that as it is safer for the children.
Here is a question to our widely read, international group:
I have heard Australian authors comment that their publishers altered the language in their books for American audiences eg. Footpath to sidewalk, nappy to diaper, dummy to pacifier etc.
The question is, do you really think this is necessary?
My language is richer for exposure to other idioms. We seemed to cope reading unaltered American books even before Google meant any explanation was a few keystrokes away. Of course we grew up on a diet of both American and English TV shows and movies too, so we were multilingual early. Kidding!
One of the pleasures for me with LP is reading about the French Canadian culture and I know LP didn’t change her terminology as she mentioned in an interview she was questioned about the word toque for example.
I think that depends on your intended audience and your setting. If it is a book for the teen and young adult crowd and is not set in a specific country, then there might be some push-back. Some readers are lazier than others and may resist a book because the “funny” words don’t resonate. As someone who is considerably older than “young adult”, I like the sense of place that comes with word choices. That being said, I would picture a path rather than a sidewalk (and might not look it up unless something from context made it glaringly obvious that this interpretation was wrong) and something in me rejects the usage of the word “dummy” for an object used by a baby. Still, if your book is set in Australia, I would expect it to feel like Australia. Now, I’ll put on my bunny hug and toque before I head to the park. 😉
My book is deliberately not iconically set anywhere, in contrast to LP, however, I don’t think you can miss that it is Australian from the language and I think it is important to leave it that way. I don’t use the word dummy in my book but I don’t know anyone who calls it anything else. It certainly had no derogatory connotation so I never saw it as a problem. Always interesting to see how others respond.
Had not heard of “Dummy” for a pacifier. Years ago when a neighbor asked me to pass her the baby’s “paci” I had to ask, “Her what?”.
Local authors say they are sometimes asked to edit “Southernisms” from their manuscripts. That must be hard to do when the story is placed in Georgia/South Carolina.
I wouldn’t think a story placed in Canada, Australia, or England would sound right if the language didn’t reflect the area. Just like modern language wouldn’t fit in a story set in the 1920s.
We have so many English programs on TV especially PBS.
Last night we watched the Australian show, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries on PBS. I read some of the books before the programs were picked up here and they differ greatly from the TV adaptations. I think the programs we see now are written directly for TV. I enjoy seeing Miss Fisher in her beautiful clothes chasing criminals down. The years after WWI are interesting as society tries to learn to cope with the Modern Woman. Have you seen the show or read any of the books?
We love Miss Fisher! Such attention to detail in the sets nd the costumes are stunning.
My daughter is reading The Help and To Kill A Mockingbird for school in preparation for writing a comparative essay. They both have the flavour of the south but I wonder, do you think they were watered down Barabara. I haven’t spent any time in the American South? My only exposure is TV and movies and some documentaries.
Two very good novels to expose your daughter to the thorny issue of discrimination in the American South. It was Fall of my Jr. year and first year at UGA Very bad situation made worse by the press. Students were told that we would be dismissed with not refund on fees if we spoke to the reporters. I knew that if Daddy lost money he would never pay for me to attend another college. The reporters even blocked the entrances to buildings to try to force us to speak. I shoved one down the steps and proceeded on inside. No one would stop me from getting an education.
Both books were very disturbing to read. The Help is a excellent example of good intentions having bad outcomes. I have so much admiration and respect for those who stepped forward and spoke out.
My parents were not racists but my in-laws still are. If I had had children, it would have been impossible to leave them with the in-laws as I did not want them taught such ways.
The trick to understanding the Southern Attitude is to realize that not all whites were/are haters.
After emancipation, thousands of people who could not read or write ( to teach slaves to read was illegal) were suddenly homeless and without a way to make a living, even their daily bread. It is a wonder things were not even worse. Georgia, like much of the South, had been devastated by the Union Army. Then came the terrible years of Reconstruction which meant occupying troops. Resentment grew with many whites and it was focused at the former slaves.
In some areas, the abuse by whites was worse than in others. Fortunately, Augusta had a Free Black community before the War. The difference in attitude from whites living in the city and those in the more rural area of the county continues today. I don’t mean to say that no bigots were or are in the city or that all the whites in the county were or are bigots.
I’m glad to know that the books are read by Australian students. Has there been discrimination toward any group in Australia? You know, the Irish faced terrible discrimination in the Northeastern US. I only know what I have read about that topic. Native Americans and Mexicans were badly treated in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Native Americans had no chance and many still don’t.
Simple answer, yes things were even worse than in those books even though they are heart breaking.
I sometimes wonder how I was born into a non-bigoted Christian family and became an adult during the time we women were finding our voice. I feel so fortunate.
Thank you so much for that detailed and heartfelt reply Barbara. If you don’t mind I will send that to my daughter to read.
Unfortunately, we do have major instances of discrimination in Australia which saddens me. The Indigenous population have had, and continue to have all manner of struggles and despite our multicultural nation now, at one point we had the White Australia Policy.
I think discrimination comes from fear and scape goating and that is one of the reasons it is so hard to eradicate. While people fear and need an outlet for blame, it goes on.
I was shown the film of To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in grade 6 at a Catholic school. It had such a powerful effect on me. We have shown Erin both that film and TKAM in the last couple of weeks.this is all extra work for her in preparation for a grade skip. She is also studying for end of year exams, our school year is end of Jan to Dec. Poor sausage is very busy so all your insights are incredibly valuable Barbara. I will bring her to Georgia one day I hope.
Anna, I know that I would not think anything of the language, except as KB says – a footpath does have a meaning here distinct from sidewalk, and therefore, something different would come to mind. Nappy would make me think we were in England. As would “knickers” if they were to appear in the book. I think you’d have to go full-on “billabong” before I figured it was somewhere in Australia, as so many of the words would also work for England, and that’s where my mind would go first. If it’s important to be in Australia, you might want to point that out somehow. I don’t think any of the words would distract from my enjoyment of any story, however.
Julie you made me laugh out loud saying I would have to go “full on Billabong”. Still laughing.
The joke here lately is the that the Australia’s threat level has been recently raised from “crikey” to “strewth”!
Good Morning! A question. Is Halloween observed in Canada and Australia? Pumpkins, Fall colored flowers, scarecrows, ghosts and goblins abound here in the Georgia-South Carolina area. When Daddy lived with us, we decorated the house and side yard (I live on a corner) for every holiday. Halloween decorations were replaced with Thanksgiving the day after and Christmas went up the day after Thanksgiving. It was a busy time. Pumpkins, small decorative “bales” of hay and cornstalks were used for Halloween and Thanksgiving. The hay was spread for the Nativity Scene in the Christmas decorations.
All Hallows Day, as a religious observance, yes, but I wonder about All Hallows Eve.
I can’t remember anything in LP’s books about Halloween in Three Pines. I’m very busy now decorating it. I think I’ll give Rosa a Pumpkin costume and Henri a skeleton costume I saw for dogs in a Halloween store on Monday.
Halloween is observed in Canada. My daughter has been pestering me to buy the candy for the past month. There are a few homeowners who put up haunted house fronts and lots with pictures and decals on the windows. A number put spider webs up in the trees and a small display in the yard. I haven’t seen anything in my neck of the woods with the all-out types of displays that are featured on TV, though.
Yes, we definitely have Halloween in Canada, and we have just had our Thanksgiving, the second Monday of October. I live on a street with families and kids, and other kids come from all over town and other towns and villages as well. We typically get around 150 kids on my street! I was out buying my Halloween candy treats today.
Halloween means “All Hallows Eve” and it’s followed by All Saints Day. Next Sunday will be All Saints Sunday, and we’ll celebrate Holy Communion. This week we remember our own “saints” as we celebrate our church’s anniversary.
Traditionally, not really Barbara. We would partake of Halloween vicariously through all the TV shows from America that had a Halloween special. Now it is a bit controversial. The supermarkets sell special large Halloween pumpkins for decoration and special Halloween candy, although we normally call candy lollies.
Some people get right into Halloween now and some kids even go trick or treating, but for many is seen as another way for shops to make money selling themed produce, hence the controversy. It’s certainly not widespread but each year it is more common.
Millie, I am sure no one thinks you don’t care! Caring too deeply, as you do, means you have to limit your exposure to horrific events. I felt a bit bad mentioning it, knowing it would be upsetting for you and coming so soon after your comment, but I feel we are so strongly connected to Canada by our love for LP and Three Pines, that these events were very meaningful to us and couldn’t go unremarked. And I knew you wouldn’t want it to.
It is a connected world and we need to draw strength from that as much as it means we all feel more vulnerable because we care about the world beyond our little borders. If we didn’t care we wouldn’t hurt, but that isn’t a reason to stop caring.
I am sure, right now we would all love to shut the doors on the Bistro and hide away in Three Pines safe from wordly intrusions. It is dark and overcast here with rain and now thunder. So ominous but I am safe with my cuppa and my link to my friends…..
But inside the Bistro it’s so warm and cozy!! The fire is so inviting! I don’t want to leave!!
I mean with us inside Sylvia! The Bistro is the place we all want to hide. I want us to stay warm inside!
First, I want to say I am stunned that I wrote about not liking to watch or read the news before I had any idea that on that very day such horror was going on in Canada. I hope my comment wasn’t taken as ‘I don’t care’. I do. My ‘gift’ means I feel it too strongly to deal with the 24 hour loops of ‘speculation’ by journalists who are tasked to opine – many times without it having any bearing on facts. In my humble opinion, that only adds to a sense of fear. My prayers are with the family of the fallen hero and with the entire nation. Thru LP’s books I’ve grown very fond of Canada and am saddened beyond words by the events there.
Dear, dear Millie, I understand. There is no way I can and the endure the 24/7 talk, talk and more talk either. Especially, when the news is tragic and frightening. I wept last night for the arrival of terrorism to Canada and the fear of what would come. Not a 9/11 type attack , Please God. I wept for the loss of innocence my county suffered and that that loss is now felt in Canada. Yes, we have developed close ties to each other thanks to LP and also to Canada. I have always loved my trips to Canada and enjoyed the people I met.
Hope I said what I intended to say.
You did
Millie, I never thought for a minute that you avoided news because you didn’t care, but because you cared too much to cope with sometimes! I hate news channels that just keep on rehashing the one story over and over again. It’s pretty senseless. I watch news at six and that’s all the TV I watch. I’d rather read a good book any day!
Barbara, I spend a lot of time in the Bistro in my Pjs and slippers. Love that cosy feeling!
KB and Millie, your recent posts gave me the last little bit I needed to understand how the threads in my book tie together. I hope I can do it.
I went and read LPs latest posts. I was happy it was her recent anniversary of meeting Michael. How wonderful they found each other in life. I was also glad to hear she is pulling back to spend time with Michael and Bishop. Her words about the cowardly attack in Ottawa were spot on. Terrorism is cowardice, it is the same as bullying.
Yes, bullying at a national or international level.
Anna, I am glad that I posted anything that could be helpful. Like the others here, I am looking forward to your book and hoping to be able to read it. And I wholeheartedly agree with your comment about not shutting down because of sorrow and fear. Shutting down can stop the pain, but it also stops the joy and closes out the light. In my (little) mind, hope is the power that makes the crack in our walls that lets the light in.
Thanks to all you honorary Canadians for sending prayers and good thoughts our way. It is appreciated.
Reading your comment I would say you have read my book already!! Thank you KB and stay strong. There is much love from the Southern cousins heading your way.
LP writes how she is. Her posts to uptdate us about her process show openness, humour, intelligence, thoughtfulness, wit, self-deprecation, courage, acceptance and hope. There is great strength of character and a sureness about what is right and good. Her characters show these traits as well. That is why we all feel as though they are friends.
Her recent post is a case in point. She posted about the shootings in Ottawa yesterday and the terrible loss of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a part-time soldier performing ceremonial duties at the tomb of the unknown soldier. She captured our sorrow and reminded us not to succumb to fear – not to lose hope and our belief in the basic goodness of humanity. No lo timere.
The Bistro feels so warm and comforting this morning. Hope no one minds my robe and slippers.
Maybe I’ll have a cafe-au-lait with you tomorrow morning, in my robe and slippers!
Anna and Sylvia, I loved reading about your dogs. I knew you felt like we do about dogs. Petey is here with me as I write this.
I teared up when Henri was remembering his life while “talking” with Rosa and hope that didn’t foretell that we will lose Ruth soon.
We have spoken for all our dogs through the years. We had a mixed Corgi who was like Ruth. I think of her when Ruth is speaking inappropriately. All have managed to talk to us without speaking English. They taught us “dog”.
I turned the laptop on and saw the news. My blood turned cold. As Anna said hope all are well. We are connected.
Anna and Barbara, I have been away for a few days and just got back this afternoon. I hadn’t heard any news since last Friday, but when I called my neighbour to say I was home again, he told me about the shootings in Ottawa. I watched the news tonight at six. It is scary. This is the first time something like this has happened to us and it gives us a little bit of a taste of how American people felt when the Twin Towers came down. Things like that shake up all your assumptions about security and safety. You sort of hold your breath, waiting for “the other shoe to drop”. That lovely friendly openness at the Parliament Buildings will have to come to an end now – such a shame, it is a place that belongs to the people.
Best wishes Sylvia. It feels like that to me too. I don’t associate Canada with terrorism….Maybe that is another reason the plotting of Francouer and Arnot were so shocking. Our television has had little else all morning. It has been discussed in our Parliament and even at the televised Senate Estimates Committee which was being updated on the situation. We are half a world away geographically but very much linked. Canada has the concern and care of all Australians.
No mention of further terrorist acts in the news this AM. Good. That fear of “waiting for the other shoe drop” stays with us a while. I mentioned last month on 9/11 how that fear remains with me. I would like to hug the Sargent-at-Arms. A sincere “Well Done to him”.
Love and prayers from the USA to all of Canada.
Barbara, we are pretty proud of that Sargeant-at-Arms. He is a Maritimer!
Anna, I had been wondering where you are, and I’m interested you are in Australia. My youngest daughter lives there in the far north. I actually undertook the terrific journey and went out to see her and her four children a couple of years ago.
I don’t get up to the far north much, way too hot for me. I have a cousin in Darwin and my husband visits there and Cairns quite often. Give me a cooler climate any day! Glad you were able to get down visit. Its a long trip particularly from the far side of Canada. You must miss your daughter. I hope you have Skype and Viber to stay in touch. My sister lives in the US so I know it is hard.
In a newscast, my emotionally distant husband saw the Sargent-at-Arms being recognized in Parliament. Sam choked up when he tried to tell me. Tears streamed down his face. I was shocked but “happy” he felt something.
Maritimers be proud!
With apologies to Millie, the world of bad intrudes so look away dear, I turned on the news to see the shooting drama in Ottawa. I just hope all our Canadian friends are ok. Thinking of you, you feel like my cousins!
Yes Millie, the Village Green is where everyone seems to go to find their centre.
Or the Bistro!
I had that thought too Sylvia. Then I had this image of Gamache out walking around the Green or Ruth sitting on the bench quietly. The Village Green seemed to me more about being with the self and the Bistro about communing with others, even in silent communication. But it probably isn’t as separate as that. This Bistro has certainly become a place to centre and be for me.
Anna, I like that observation that the Green is more about communing with the self and the Bistro more about communing with others. We need that balance.
By the way, some of us here in Canada are pretty shaken about what happened in Ottawa. So I pray we’ll be given the strength and courage to do like the British do – “Keep Calm and Carry On” – because if we let fear overwhelm us, those who do such evil win. We have to go about our days and our lives as normally as possible, but no one said it was easy!
Not easy at all Sylvia, not at all. Thinking of you and sending strength. Know you are safe here if you ever need to decompress.
Terrorism works through fear. Try to be alert but not alarmed, that’s the catch phrase over here. Be aware of your surroundings and always have an exit strategy, just like flying on a plane.
Hope. How true. And kindness. I think too many novels echo what is seen in the news. Some warped perception that only the ‘bad’ things going on in the world are what interests people – shootings, upheaval, bombings… I no longer watch the news because I try to hold firmly to my belief that ‘I live in a safe universe.’
My challenge with my own writing is how to balance ‘story is conflict’ with my belief that ‘life and people are instrinsically good’. Thank you for giving me some clarity that it is hope that tips the balance to what keeps us keeping on.
Millie, the conflict in my story is essentially an internal battle about what is right and wrong, good and bad. Any challenge for your character is ok. It could be overcoming illness or unforeseen adversity. Good people have all kinds of challenges as you well know! How are the ribs??
And hope. LP novels are full of hope. I just read a newspaper column about why young adult fiction was so successful and it decried the dense angst in a lot of adult literary fiction that focusses on when life isn’t what you thought it would be. Life rarely is. Clara and Jean Guy might be examples here. But a lot of adult literature ends up like the Morrows, bitter and devoid of a happy centre. LP discusses deep issues but there is always lightness and hope in there too.
One could view the Village Green as a symbol of that happy center! In one of the videos I saw of LP being interviewed, the moderator discussed that ‘world building’ was becoming popular. Books where the author created a ‘world’ – be it in outer space, the past or Three Pines – provide an escape from ‘reality’ which indeed can be filled with Morrow’s…
I am sure you are right Millie. We swear our dog speaks English. She definitely communicates a lot. Our dog turns in a circle to say yes if you ask her a question. If the answer is no then she just keeps looking at you until you work out what she wants….to go out, to be let through a door, to have a treat! My daughter can’t get over how much she loves her and is loved back. Poor Bella, the dog, is a bit worried about Mum I think. She slept on her bed for days when she left!
Depth of feeling…..spot on Millie!
Anna, sometimes they have the most amazing expressions on their faces, don’t they! When the answer to your question is no, that stare speaks volumes! As in, “What a stupid question!” or “What on earth would make you think I wanted that!” or “Keep on trying – you might get it right eventually!” or “Oh, these humans – how can they be so dense!”
You know my dog! Well, my daughter’s. Exactly right. I almost hear Bella talking like Ruth in a disparaging way when we can’t immediately work out what she wants.
Glad you made me laugh with that Sylvia because your other post made me cry. So sorry for all your losses. Big hugs and love. You weren’t a murderer, quite the opposite and unbelievably brave, but I totally get how you felt.
Thank you, Anna, for your kind words. Kindness is a strong aspect of our relationships here in The Bistro, isn’t it!
I’m so sorry your mother had a fall and broke ribs. It adds more to your burden of anxiety. Is she now in the other dementia unit that you told us about? And is she finding it any more likeable than the first place? It must be so scary for her!
Yes she is in the dementia unit but it is a struggle. She doesn’t want to be there. I know she is getting good care though. It wasn’t their fault she fell. She has fallen at home when I was out of the room for a couple of minutes. I don’t want her tied to a chair, which wouldn’t happen, I just mean she has to be able to do things. She has a walker and they are watching her like hawks but she isn’t the only patient.
See if the care facility will let you bring Bella for visits. Many do and it might help both your Mum and Bella (and you).
My husband and I take our two Shih Tzus on regular visits to assisted care facilities, nursing homes and reading programs for children at the library.
It’s so amazing the joy and delight we receive from those we visit. It’s rare indeed for us to not be greeted with affection and smiles.
They do Linda and we have taken Bella in there. Dogs are so sensitive to the needs of others. She jumped up on Nanny’s lap and gave her big cuddles. She also didn’t bark once at anyone. She normally does just to say hi but I don’t think she wanted to scare anyone.