INTRODUCTION BY PAUL HOCHMAN

I first met Louise in 2006 while working at BarnesAndNoble.com. We had a fabulous lunch at a Greek restaurant in New York City to celebrate the publication of STILL LIFE. She signed my copy of the book as follows:

“For Paul, such fun undermining St. Martin’s together”

Little did we both know that just four years later I’d join St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and, together with Louise and the wonderful “Team Penny”, we’d undermine the publishing status quo and rocket Louise’s books to the top of the Bestseller Lists!

Gamache Series.com, the website you are now reading, and the Re-Reads initiative was originally conceived to promote THE LONG WAY HOME so to say I have a certain connection to this book (and all of Louise’s novels really!) is to say the least! This website – a community really – with an enormous amount of content and connections was built on the back of THE LONG WAY HOME.  

The really unique thing about THE LONG WAY HOME Re-Read is that it was led by readers just like you, in real time, at the point of publication. Now – I doubt it – but if you haven’t read the book yet, beware, spoilers lie ahead! 

RECAP

The Re-Reads initiative was initially launched in the lead-up to the publication of The Long Way Home. After the book was published, readers came together once a week on GamacheSeries.com to discuss the book, ten chapters at a time. What you’ll read below includes many of the insights from those readers. 

Ch. 1-10: From the opening chapters, readers point out that this book is very different from previous books in the series. After all, How the Light Gets In ends with what feels like a natural conclusion: the internal struggles within the Sûreté du Québec are resolved, Jean-Guy gets the help he needs and marries Annie Gamache, and Armand and Reine-Marie retire to Three Pines. 

The Long Way Home opens on the bench in the Three Pines village green. Armand has been sitting at the bench every morning, holding a book – The Balm of Gilead – but not reading it. Clara has taken to joining him. As they sit, Clara wonders why Armand never seems to read his book. Armand wonders if Clara has been sitting with him because she pities him – or because she needs something. 

After some time, Clara tells Armand what she’s been struggling with: the year before, she and her husband Peter, also a painter, had separated. Before he left, they made an agreement that they would have no contact during their year apart, but on the first anniversary of his leaving, he’d return to discuss their relationship. But it’s been a few weeks since that day, and Peter still hasn’t come back. Clara is worried. 

The neighbors gather for dinner, and Armand tells Jean Guy – who still can’t bring himself to call his new father-in-law anything other than patron – about Clara’s concerns. When Clara finds out, she’s furious at Armand: a fury that readers found frustrating and disrespectful. But Gamache, thinking Clara might not want his help after all, is relieved. 

But she does need his help. When Gamache asks Clara why Peter left, she tells him that he was always supportive of Clara when she was struggling, but wasn’t supportive of her after her success. As Clara’s career took off, Peter’s plateaued. 

First, Gamache pays a visit to Peter’s mother, Irene – a cold woman – and her husband, Bert Finney – a kind man. The couple has art all over their walls, paintings from the finest Canadian painters, but none by either Peter nor Clara. Neither have heard from Peter recently.

Doing their due diligence, Gamache and Jean-Guy check Peter’s credit card records, and find that he’s traveled all over the world – Venice, Paris – in the year he’s been gone. One place in particular stands out as unusual: Dumfries, Scotland. But the records also show that he returned to Quebec City recently, just four months ago. 

Clara and Myrna travel to Toronto to speak face-to-face with Peter’s siblings: his brother Thomas, and his sister Marianna. Neither have heard from him either. 

And Clara meets with Peter’s siblings to see if they know anything about Peter’s whereabouts. At his sister Marianna’s, we encounter Bean: Marianna’s child. Born out of wedlock, Bean’s gender identity is a mystery that Marianna refuses to share with her family, out of spite – though the readers in the comments speculate that Bean is a girl.

Ch. 11-20: 

Clara and Myrna visit the Ontario College of Canadian Arts, where Clara and Peter went to school. They meet with the charismatic Professor Massey, who tells them Peter was recently there, but that he doesn’t know where he went after he visited. 

Here, we learn more about Clara’s time at OCCA: she spent most of her student years as a bit of a reject – her art was shown in Professor Norman’s Salon des Refusés – until Peter, who was more conventionally talented and popular, noticed her.

Gamache and Jean-Guy go visit Dr. Vincent Gilbert in the forest to ask him about Paris. Later, in the Garden with Reine-Marie, Clara, Jean-Guy, and Myrna, Armand says he thinks Gilbert and Peter were drawn to the same place in Paris: LaPorte. The Door. A community created by a priest to serve children and adults with Down’s syndrome. Vincent Gilbert volunteered there, hoping to find himself, and the theory is that Peter did too. 

In these chapters, commenters point out, a new side of Peter begins to emerge. Clara realizes that the paintings on Bean’s wall weren’t Bean’s, but Peter’s first attempts at painting something with feeling. “Peter Morrow took no risks,” Louise writes. “He neither failed nor succeeded. There were no valleys, but neither were there mountains. Peter’s landscape was flat. An endless, predictable desert.” Perhaps all of Peter’s wanderings were his attempts to find himself.

Marianne sends the paintings to Clara. Commenters point out that Clara feels a twinge of jealousy, looking at them. Where Peter used to only paint with muted colors, the new paintings were bright and colorful. Suppose they weren’t abstract, Gamache wonders? Suppose Peter was painting what he saw?

The Dumfries, Scotland question is still outstanding. Gamache calls the Police Constable in Dumfries to ask if there are any artist colonies there. Constable Stuart couldn’t think of any artist colonies, but did say they had gardens. Gamache sends him a picture of Peter’s painting, and Stuart recognizes it: he had painted The Garden of Cosmic Speculation. 

Later, Constable Stuart asks around town about the garden. An old man, Alphonse, tells him about a time he went to shoot hares there. He sees a large hare, who stares at him, unmoving. And then behind that one, he notices 20 others. And then notices one turn to stone in front of his eyes. Back in Canada, Armand notices a circle of stones in the photos – a stone circle not visible on the garden’s official website. One commenter pointed out that the garden reminded her of Peter, straight lines and geometric shapes, but with a little magic thrown in. 

Ch. 21-30:

Peter’s paintings continue to reveal new meanings. Clara and Armand look at one of the paintings in a new perspective, and see an image that they recognize: The St. Lawrence River. 

They travel to Baie-Saint-Paul, a tourist destination near Charlevoix, where a meteor had hit millions of years before, creating a natural ecosystem unlike anywhere else in the world. Readers point out that just like the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, this is another “cosmic” location. Is there a reason Peter was drawn to both?

There, they split up to visit galleries, but no one had seen Peter. In their search, they meet a man named Marcel Chartrand, who runs the Galerie Gagnon, showcasing the works of Clarence Gagnon (you may recognize one of Gagnon’s paintings from the cover of The Long Way Home!) He introduces himself and offers them a place to stay, since all of the hotels were full. He knows Peter: Peter had spent many hours in the gallery back in April, and had ended up renting a cabin down the road. But he left before the summer, and Marcel does not know where he went.

However, Chartrand gives Gamache another clue towards Peter’s whereabouts: Peter had asked after No Man, someone who ran an artist’s colony in the woods. Was it No Man – or Norman? Could it be the same cruel Professor Norman who set up the Salon des Refusés at OCCA?

To find out more, Reine-Marie and Ruth go visit Professor Massey – who seems quite taken with Ruth – to ask him about Professor Norman. Massey says that Norman believed in the tenth muse: that there was a muse for art. Massey says Norman was eventually fired for being insane, and for creating the Salon des Refusés, a gallery for failures. 

Massey doesn’t have any photos of Norman – in the yearbook, instead of portraits of the professors, students chose to feature a piece of each teacher’s art. The self-portrait by Professor Norman was wild, a portrait of insanity, and the signature on the art did not say Norman, but No Man. Had the pursuit of the tenth muse turned Norman mad?

Back in Baie-Saint-Paul, the group is unsure whether they can trust Chartrand. How connected to No Man’s artist colony was he really? Was he a former member, returned to Baie-Saint-Paul after the colony folded? Or how about the owner of La Muse, a brasserie in town – was he a former member? Jean-Guy asks around and finds out the man’s name is Luc Vachon, and that he did, in fact, live at No Man’s colony for a few years. 

In these chapters, commenters point out that it’s not just Peter’s personal journey we are watching in this novel. We’re also seeing huge changes in Jean-Guy, too – in his calmness in sobriety, and in his acceptance of the villagers he used to disdain. 

Although Clara is officially in charge of this investigation, Gamache goes to the police station, where the agents recognize him from the previous year. There, he meets Agent Morriseau, who tells him that No Man’s colony was a cult. Quietly, Gamache asks the agents to arrange for sniffer dogs, to check the area for any bodies.

And then Chartrand asks them if they’d like to stay at his home that night – not his apartment above the gallery, but his remote home in the woods. Clara says yes. 

Ch. 31-end:

At Chartrand’s home, the villagers continue to inquire about No Man. Was he simply the leader of a commune – or was it a cult? Chartrand says he lectured there. Was he invited in, as an outsider – or was he already there, as a member?

Jean-Guy finds out where the owner of La Muse goes to paint: a remote village called Tabaquen, which means “sorcerer.” The only way in and out of Tabaquen is by boat or plane, so the villagers purchase tickets to fly, and at the last minute, Chartrand buys a ticket to join them. 

The plane ride is harrowing, and the pilot points out that artists typically arrive by boat – but that neither option is a smooth ride. They show the pilot a photo from the art school yearbook, of Peter and Professor Massey, and ask him if he’s seen Peter. He says yes.

Clara then asks the pilot to land in Sept-Îles. She wants to retrace Peter’s steps as he would have done it, by boat. Jean-Guy wants to get to Tabaquen as quickly as possible, and is sick of following Clara’s lead. Gamache reminds him that they’re here to support Clara, nothing more.

On the ship, the Loup de Mer, there are two cabins. Thinking it would be the bigger cabin, the men take the Admiral’s Suite, which is barely big enough to fit the three of them. Gamache asks the porter about Peter, and the porter says he recognizes him. That he watched him closely on his journey, to be sure he didn’t jump from the deck. Meanwhile, the Captain’s Suite, where the women are staying, is luxurious. 

Gamache recalls something from the flight: when the young pilot said he recognized the man in the photo he showed him, it wasn’t Peter he recognized. It was Massey who he’d flown to Tabaquen the day before.

The sniffer dogs found something suspicious, a substance buried in a container: it was asbestos, found along with the canvases. Whoever would have handled the canvases would likely die, eventually, from inhaling asbestos. The principal of the college confirms that asbestos was detected in Professor Massey’s office. Had Norman sent his asbestos-infected paintings to Massey in an attempt to slowly kill him?

After traveling through tumultuous waters, the river eventually flattens to glass and they arrive in Tabaquen. Clara stays in town – unsure of what they’d find – and Gamache and Jean-Guy head to No Man’s cabin. There, they find Peter sitting on the porch, looking unkempt. And inside the cabin, they find a body: Professor Norman. Peter says that Norman had sent him away, and when he returned he had found him dead. Luc, from the brasserie, had been there too – but Peter had sent him to call for help. 

Here, Gamache realizes that he had everything backwards: it wasn’t Norman adding asbestos to his painting to harm Massey, but the other way around. Massey had been sending him asbestos-infected canvases for years, because Norman was a threat.

And here, Peter asks Gamache if Clara had seen his new paintings, and what she thought about them. He has changed: her opinion is all he cares about now. Peter tells Gamache that he wanted to return home to her, but before he could face her, he wanted to confront Professor Norman for what he’d done to her back in school. But when he arrived, the old professor was sick, and Peter stayed on to care for him. 

“The tenth muse is not, I think about becoming a better artist, but becoming a better person,” Gamache tells Peter.

But meanwhile, there’s the issue of the dead professor. Thinking the killer would be Luc, the group heads back to town. But in town, they find Massey, holding a knife to Clara’s throat. “I love you, Clara,” Peter says, as he takes the knife for her.

Commenters seem to agree that by the end, Peter had become a brave man in a brave country – a man finally worthy of Clara’s love.

FAVORITE QUOTE

“Fear lives in the head. And courage lives in the heart. The job is to get from one to the other.”

CONCLUSION

What an amazing journey revisiting my friends from Three Pines in the pages of THE LONG WAY HOME. I can’t believe it’s been eight years since the book was published (and this website was launched!) and almost twelve years since I started working with Louise! 

The activist and journalist, Ella Winter, once said, “Don’t you know you can’t go home again?” Thomas Wolfe would then use the quote to entitle his posthumously released novel YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN. 

I, however, in the spirit of Ruth Zardo call bullshit! 

Of course you can go home again. Even if it’s a long way home. We, as readers and lovers of the World of Louise Penny, are fortunate enough to go home to Three Pines every year! 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Clara first approaches Gamache with great ambivalence: wanting (though fearing) to
    know what happened to Peter, while reluctant to disturb Gamache’s newfound peace.
    How did you feel about the decisions they both make at this point?
  1. “I thought he’d come home,” Clara says of Peter. Did you? How did your view of him
    change in the course of the book?
  1. What does it mean to you to be a “brave man in a brave country”? How does courage—or
    cowardice—feature in this novel?
  1. On the first page of the book, we hear about Armand Gamache’s repeated gesture, “so
    tiny, so insignificant.” What is the true significance of this and other seemingly
    inconsequential actions in this story?
  1. What do you think of Ruth’s role in this story? For example, consider the scene in
    Massey’s studio, where she “seemed to have lost her mind. But found, Reine Marie
    thought, her heart.”
  1. Both Peter and Gamache’s father, in a sense, disappear. What is the impact of this kind of
    loss on Clara and Gamache? Have you ever experienced anything similar in your own
    life?
  1. There is so much about art and the creative process in this book. How do we see that
    unfold in the lives not only of Clara and Peter, but also of Norman and Massey? For example, what do you make of the Salon des Refusés? What do you think it meant to the
    artists themselves?
  1. What roles do creativity and acclaim (or obscurity) play in the lives of both Clara and
    Peter? In their marriage? Do you believe that Clara and Peter’s marriage could have been
    saved?
  1. Louise has sometimes talked about the importance of chiaroscuro — the play of light and
    shadow — in her work. What are the darkest and the lightest points in this novel? What
    are some humorous moments, and how did you respond to them?
  1. Peter’s paintings look completely different from different perspectives. How does that
    apply to other characters or events in the story?
  1. In Chapter Six, Myrna observes about jealousy: “It’s like drinking acid, and expecting the other person to die.” How does jealousy play out in the lives of various characters here?
    What effects have you seen it have in real life?
  1. How does Clara’s quote from one of her favorite movies, “Sometimes the magic works,”
    play out in the story?
  1. While a number of Louise’s books end in unexpected ways, the conclusion of this one is
    particularly shocking. How did you feel as you were reading it, and what do you think
    when you look back at it now?
  1. In some ways Clara’s quest to find Peter recalls such classic journeys as The Odyssey and
    The Heart of Darkness. What are the most significant discoveries the central figures in this novel make along the way?

Reading Group Guide -The Long Way Home

Now that we’ve made it Home, here are the official reading group questions for The Long Way Home. Join us in a discussion of these questions. Also, enter to win a signed first edition copy of Still Life!


The Long Way Home, Chapters 31-41

Join us for a discussion on the final chapters of The Long Way Home.


The Long Way Home, Chapters 21-30

Continuing the discussion of The Long Way Home with chapters 21-30.


The Long Way Home, Chapters 11-20

Continuing the discussion of The Long Way Home with chapters 11-20.


The Long Way Home, Chapters 1-10

Join us for a discussion on the first 10 chapters of The Long Way Home.


1,027 replies on “Series Re-Read: The Long Way Home”

The artworks from the exhibition are entrancing, I can’t stop looking. There is such variety and yet such cohesiveness with the theme. I Love them. If I lived anywhere nearby, I would be there. Each time I look, I notice more. The artists seem so thoughtful, so connected to the stories, so inspired. What a thrill this must be for Louise Penny.

I’ve just come from the website that Louise mentioned on her facebook page today – an art exhibit in one of the eastern township villages of works pertaining to Three Pines, called “Ou est Three Pines?” (Where is Three Pines) – and looking at some of the detail pictures of the artworks was fascinating. As I went through them, I saw one I’m sure is meant to be Lemieux playing the violin in the Hermit’s cabin – broke my poor heart!

http://www.ouestthreepines.org/#!oeuvres/cee5

Hi Julie, thanks for giving us that link! I just looked at the pictures and they are most fascinating! I liked the picture of the Hermit’s cabin too – however, it was Paul Morin who played the violin and fiddle. Lemieux was the one who betrayed Gamache by working underhandedly with Michel Brebeuf to bring him down. It was just because of the poignancy of the music Morin played that Gamache loved him and went through such trauma when he wasn’t able to prevent Morin’s death. Seeing him play in that picture brought back all those feelings for me.

Hi, Everyone. I’m really can’t wait for Monday so we can discuss the last of the book. There are so many ideas that come into play. Must rush, as I spent too much time playing games on the AARP Site. I enjoy them even if I don’t play some very well.

A few of the things we have in common are: We enjoy books whether hard copy, audio, or electronic. We love words whether heard or read. I think most of us read across genres. We read some books just for momentary amusement but read others very carefully. We like to learn from our reading. We are eager to share our new found information. People have been so willing to share websites and knowledge about subjects with which others are unfamiliar. We cherish and have great respect and admiration for well-written literature. We realize that authors like Louise Penney have been given a great talent and appreciate the effort and research that goes into writing these special books.
I think we are caring people. We care for the characters in the books. We care about those who are a part of the “Three Pines Club”. We care that people, like the Cree, have been mistreated.
There are other commonalities. Please, add those you think of. I just thought of several others, but what do you think ?

We have a sense of humor and don’t take ourselves too seriously.

We understand that having a difference of opinion helps us all to grow. We understand the more diverse we are, the broader our horizons.

We’ve laughed at times, cried at times, left, and returned and come into Olivier’s bistro out of the cold together.

We are, by choice, all Three Piners.

Yes, I love that idea! Olivier’s Bistro would be such a wonderful place to hang out together! Lucky Three Piners!
Barbara and Linda, I enjoyed your thoughts about what we have in common. I think we’ve become a “community” through these discussions, and I think that’s very valuable. One thing you didn’t mention is the fact that we also care about each other. We commiserate with someone who is in pain and encourage one another, especially those who have started to write. It’s pretty special that those who are now writing were able to tell us. I expect when one starts to create something, there would be a tendency to not tell anyone, so I’m really glad the the new writers told us, and I was delighted at the enthusiastic encouragement given to them!

Thanks Sylvia, as one of the fledging authors it is hard to mention starting to write and the care and encouragement is amazing.

Barbara did mention caring, for the characters of Three Pines, for oppressed groups like the Cree and for each other. Which reminds me Millie, how are the ribs and the writing going!?!?

But you both make such an important point, Caring is an incredibly big part of this world but also Louise’s writing. Her characters so obviously care for each other and for strangers. I am thinking about Lacoste talking to the dead and the smoking ceremony among so many other things.

Caring is hard though because with an open heart we are vulnerable even as it makes us strong. Caring is painful and tricky, as Clara and Peter’s relationship demonstrates, caring hurts as Ruth (and poor Lillium) reminds us.

We have developed this little place into so much more than a “book club”. We have shared the ‘why’ of what has brought us here and continue to link that to the better understanding of ourselves as we come to understand the novels. That is bibliotherapy.

Barbara – I didn’t like “The Brutal Telling” the first time through and grew to like it a lot (although it is still not my favourite) on the 2nd and 3rd read. And despite years of musical training, I didn’t love “The Beautiful Mystery”, as so many others did. I did find a lot of descriptions that resonated with me and was so sad for Gamache and Jean-Guy at the end. And while I loved most of “How the Light Gets In”, the wind-up was too fast for me – too “convenient”. This book was much slower and certainly wasn’t traditional or comfortable in many places. It jangled for me – kind of like “The Brutal Telling” did. The strange thing is, though, that I trust it will fit in and I will be able to understand it better after the next 2 books. By the way, you have been a courageous dissenter, and I certainly admire that.

I just lost 37 minutes of writing and editing. I’ll try again. I’m not going to write a paper as I mentioned but am just going to say what I feel about this group I think of as “The Three Pines Club”. I was hesitant to become involved because of what I saw as problems. We could not make “eye contact” and connect as people in the same room would. All we had in common was that we liked Louise Penney’s novels. I might accidently offend someone by commenting on a subject she/he felt I had no right to. No, I’m not paranoid. LOL. The idea comes from where I live. I worried I would not feel welcome or my ideas would be thought silly. Enough of my concerns. We can all agree they were for nothing. Later, I’ll post on the many things we seem to have in common and what this has all meant to me. Please, everyone, join in this discussion if you will.

Barbara, I feel terrible that you have been feeling so tentative about writing here. I think I embody the idea that no matter if you have nothing to say, this is a good group to say it in, hahaha. I think everyone has been so welcoming and inclusive, so respectful and friendly, that it makes me feel like I can just be me.

I lost my post three times last week. I ended up writing it in a different program and cutting and pasting it to comments!

I am interested to see what commonalities you have found in the group Barbara. I think we are here because who we are draws us to Louise’s writing and even more so to a place we can share what we feel. Louise has an extensive readership, as evidenced by her well deserved sales, but only a few venture this far and even fewer actually post. I would be interested to know from Paul how many views the site has compared to how many register and write something, just out of curiosity.

I think a lot of people find committing to print really intimidating, but then so is entering a room full of strangers where eye contact can be just as daunting.

I hope everyone feels safe here. I like that can we take this Three Pines with us.

Good idea–I wonder how many have just visited the site. I hadn’t thought of that.
I have no trouble walking into a room of strangers…if I am the speaker for the event. I have spoken to groups of several hundred and given tours to groups much better educated than I. You see, they were on my “turf” so to say. I can be an unbelievable disaster at even small social gatherings. Aren’t people amazing. No wonder I changed my major to psychology all those years ago.

Thanks Paul, that isn’t surprising. I think it should make all those who have posted feel a bit braver and stronger. Hopefully others will chime in and overcome the fear so many of us have expressed about pressing the post comment button. The more the merrier.

Barbara, I too feel hesitant at times to post here. My reason is I don’t feel as intelligent or as articulate as you people are!

I like when Gamache woke early in the morning of their second day in Baie-Saint-Paul:
“Gamache had no idea what he’d see outside the window, and was surprised and delighted that this bedroom looked out over the metal roofs of the old Charlevoix village. And to the Saint Lawrence beyond. ”
I love views of rooftops. I would like to have a painting or photo of the one described.
Gamache, from the first book, has had a habit of rising early and enjoying the morning peace, as well as getting a feel for the place and the people. I have been thinking all day about his morning walks and what he enjoyed and what he learned from them in each book. I especially loved the one with Frere Bernard in T.B.M., talking as they gathered warm eggs from under the chickens, saying “Merci” to each hen in turn. When people are working side by side or walking together, conversation flows. Smart Gamache.

I wish I was more of a morning person Cathyrne. I do love the imagery too. Thanks for the memory of Frere Bernard and the chickens. I needed that.

Well, if Gamache is a little suspicious, we are wise to at least notice. And he does feel he has caught Chartrand out in a couple of small lies.

I think the same reason Gamache does, Anna. Until we really know his motives, it’s hard to trust someone who has really pushed his way in to your little group. This is another topic I think we might want to pursue more at the end. So many things we have to sit on our hands for right now, hahaha.

There seems to be something about him that suggests all is not as it seems. I feel we have not seen the last of him and I think he will find the way to Three Pines. I wonder if he will bring or cause a “search” or “job” for Armand and Jean Guy.

That was my feeling as well, Barbara. About the time I’m inclined to like him, I feel uneasy. I have read the ending, so am also sitting on some words, but even at this point in both readings I wondered myself if it is just my wanting to be protective of friends, or is it the few little lies that Gamache discovers?

Three Piners are friendly, are we now discovering they’re a little wary of newcomers? Of course there’s been all those dead bodies. Maybe better to be a little wary?

Yes, I think better to be wary at least until you know for sure there can be no “agenda”. While on this trip, looking for Peter, I feel like he is really butting his nose in where it doesn’t belong. He’s just met these people, and while he’s being so nice and helpful, still – his involvement, beyond just answering their questions, seems intrusive. Who is he to be doing this? At the very least, I think he’s like one of those gallery owners we met in A Trick of the Light, and wants to represent Clara as a prize for his gallery. I know that doesn’t really make sense, since he only has Gagnons in his gallery, but maybe he owns another where he could showcase Clara’s art, which would be a real coup for him.

I, too, think he is interested in Clara’s work. His studio is only for Gagnons but he could open another for Clara’s work. As you see, I’m ready for the next book.

We have become Three Piners, equally wary of new characters in the village. And yet Three Pines is so welcoming generally so there must be something a bit forced about Chartrand that has our antennae wiggling.

I am prepared to believe that he might not be a threat, just desperate about something or for something. Trying to think the best of people!

Barbara, I hadn’t thought of that at all, but now you’ve made me wonder. What if Chartrand is more interested in Gamache than Clara. Maybe he really only does care about handling Gagnon’s art. If he is unwilling to let Gamache know that he wants his help, he might pretend to be more fascinated by Clara and her art than he is. That makes more sense to me than his being infatuated with Clara, which always felt a little forced to me.

Hunh. That didn’t occur to me at all. I do think we’ll see him in the next book, but I’m just not sure in what capacity. I don’t think that he’s interested in Clara except her art – and I also don’t think Clara is really going to be interested in him (at least, I hope not – I just don’t trust him). I think she’s acting naive to get all the information she can from whatever source she can. I think she is continuing to fall in love with this “new” Peter.

I agree, Julie. Her mind is focused on one thing right now, finding Peter. I think it was out of character for her to call Chartrand at 11 p.m. to ask for help, a little embarrassing but she is past caring.

In the comments below about the commonality we have together here, caring is mentioned, and that we have this in common with the Three Pines people – they care for each other and strangers… and yet, here we are having such distrust of Chartrand. I wonder if Louise has, in all her mastery, written it that way, and it’s so subtle we aren’t noticing it? Of course – Gamache doesn’t trust him, and we know he’s got good instincts…

ODDITIES

Remember the many many times in our reread discussions we called Jean Guy Jean Luc? Did Louise introduce Luc the owner of Le Muse as a bit of a humorous poke?

Are we being introduced to a new thread to the future with the introduction of Chartrand?

Who or what is the 10th muse?

Linda, when I hear “Jean Luc”, I still see that old International Coffee commercial and laugh to myself. And I’m one of the ones who called Jean Guy by that name! 😀 We can’t be the only ones to do this, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that’s why Luc got his name… I often wonder at the sometimes-there, sometimes-not hyphen in Jean Guy’s name. It has appeared both ways, usually consistent within a book, and you’d never notice unless you were reading one after the other in a continuous run like we did. Poor Louise, having to keep track of all these little oddities.

I’m still up in the air over the 10th muse – can’t figure it out, really. I know it must be important, as it’s talked about a lot, but I can’t figure out if it’s a real person, just a feeling that you have an angel sitting on your shoulder, or a place! Would love to hear others’ ideas of that.

Julie and Linda, yes that was so funny about Ruth’s reason for not using the toilet on the plane! Perhaps if she died in the toilet at the airport, she’d at least have a little more room to move around in for her hauntings!

And Julie, thanks for telling me about the little symbols. I looked them up – they’re called text emoticons – and found a whole list of them with their meanings.

I found the place about the Turkish prison. Yes, it was Reine-Marie asking Ruth to tell her all about it, so she could take her mind off her fear of flying. And then she held her hand. What a thoughtful, dear person Reine-Marie is! She would make a great role model for anyone, young or elderly! (I want to avoid the “o” word as long as I can!)

My favourite quote is about Clara.
“But the more they discovered about Peter now, the more desperate she was to meet this man. To get to know him. And have him meet her, for the first time. Clara realized she was falling in love. She’d always loved Peter, but this was something else. Some deeper vein.”
This made me yearn to find Peter alive and well and to hope that their marriage would be stronger than ever in the future.

I’m also fascinated about the cosmic catastrophe that happened hundreds of millions of years ago in the Charlevoix area.

Yes, Sylvia, and I am finally noticing the connection Louise makes between The Garden of Cosmic Speculation and the cosmic catastrophe of the Charlevoix area, both places Peter visited, the last two places we know about.

And magic. The word “magic” appears over and over. “Sometimes the magic happens”, the stone/live rabbits, the “magic” of being able to transfer emotion to the canvas… These thoughts all come together here in this section, as we get a clearer picture of what Peter has been doing for the last year.

Yes, Julie, there’s a magical quality to the Garden of Cosmic Speculation and also to the Charlevoix region. That’s a wonderful scene where they are all standing on the cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence and even Jean-Guy is awestruck! I also loved it that Clarence Gagnon’s paintings made Armand feel like weeping and even Chartrand, who saw them every day, looked like he wanted to cry. That magical quality Gagnon was able to express somehow in his paintings. I’m sure Peter absorbed that into himself as he sat and stared at those pictures. Can’t help feeling there’s a new Peter coming to life.

I liked that Gamache has also “stepped up” here and is subtly taking over the investigation, in hopes of sparing Clara at least as long as he can. When he hangs back and asks the police captain if they will please take cadaver dogs to the site of No Man’s retreat, you can see that he knows that Clara won’t be able to handle this, so he just “makes it happen”. Plenty of time to tell her if it turns up anything. Even though I think he’s more thinking of Prof. Norman when he does this, I think he also has at the back of his mind (and has, all along) that Peter might be dead. I think it’s somewhere in this section that he says that it’s hard to completely disappear. And the three thousand dollars he’d taken from his account in April seems hardly enough to last until late August. Unless he’s earning some money “off the books”, it would be difficult to not leave a paper trail of some sort.

Another thing I enjoyed in this section is part of what annoyed others, I think, and that’s all the “art talk”. I loved that here is where we really began to get a sense that Peter is really growing as an artist. And I’m sorry, but I kind of like that Clara has to struggle with the idea that Peter might be a great artist if he can successfully get through this phase. Of course, it’s not a big struggle for her. She is so much more evolved than Peter. But still, I like that she has those feelings, and they worry her.

As the talk of other artists’ mastery of emotion comes out, and they find all the spots where Peter painted the paintings they are carrying around, we really see that Peter is stepping up and “might be great”. I loved looking at the Gagnon pictures I found online during this section – it helps me to see the paintings that evoked such wistful feelings in the Quebecois people.

I loved the art talk too. To me, it is a description of the artistic process that we don’t often get to see – kind of like Ms. Penny posting on Facebook about her writing process. My respect for Peter grew: I started to like him for the first time instead of just feeling sorry for him. Even though he knew what he was producing was crap (he was able to recognize the brilliance in Clara’s paintings and even the spark in Jane Neal’s paintings back in Still Life, even though he was a technician), he had the courage to keep on and the hope and faith that the results would improve. I don’t think I have that type of courage in me. And he had the courage to give some paintings to Bean instead of hiding them away – or burning them. That says a lot. This was the first time that I had any hope that he and Clara would be able to get back together.

Yep. I come to like Ruth more and more with each book. I will admit that I am one of the ones that was slow to warm to Ruth. I got that she was “crusty” and there for comic relief to a certain extent, but I also know that I have met one or two Ruths in my day, and I have not been able to find the “heart of gold” hidden away. In real life, people like that are hard to handle, and I guess I’ve never stuck around long enough to really see the person inside. With Ruth, I have, and I’m glad of that.

Ruth is my favourite character. I suspect that what is unknown about her plays a great part in the attraction/interest/affection (?) I feel for her. But, yes, anything about her “speaks to me”.

I don’t remember anything about that! Although I seem to recall someone asking her about it, but I thought it was a joke. “Maybe there was something in all this I missed.”

It was when Ruth (who as it turns out is afraid to fly) accompanied Reine Marie on her flight. I loved the relationship that has developed between the “old crone” and “helmet head”.

Thanks, Linda. “Helmet head” is Clara, right? Yes I love it that Ruth is actually able to express her appreciation of Clara’s gifts as an artist. I think she’s feeling a kinship with her as a creator, since she herself is an artist in words. Ruth usually expresses any affection for anyone by calling them names, like “numbnuts”. I notice she does this with men, not women. She doesn’t have a name for Myrna, and usually forgets what her name is.

I couldn’t stop laughing at the thought of going through airport security with Ruth. I could just imagine her reaction when she had to take her shoes off. I have to say Reine Marie is one brave woman. I never would have guessed that flying( or anything else) would frightened Ruth.

Yes, I think the Turkish prison question was a way for Reine-Marie to take Ruth’s mind off her flying fears, to make Ruth laugh. It made me laugh! Clever R-M.
Ruth called Reine-Marie ” Turniphead” on the flight and R-M called Ruth “You old Crone.” I love their relationship too, R-M holding Ruth’s hand as they fly to help loved ones.
I have always thought Ruth pretends to have no idea who Myrna is, as if she has never noticed the only black person within miles and can’t remember ever meeting her.
I can’t find “Helmethead,” though it sounds familiar. Which book?

Indeed! I love the relationship between Ruth and Reine-Marie, the latter being the woman I’ve always wanted to be.

Accidentally posted before acknowledging the term turniphead was correct.

I also loved the reason Ruth wouldn’t use the bathroom on the plane, I.e. If it crashed whilst she was in the restroom she wouldn’t have a suitable place to haunt.

Linda, I loved her reason for not using the bathroom on the plane, too! And why the airport would be better than an airplane makes me wonder, too, hahaha.

While I enjoy seeing more of Ruth and RM and everyone, I don’t want to know them completely. I want a bit of mystery and I like the slow reveal.

I liked that one too. NOT what my parents (especially mother) believed. But it is true (unless it becomes an excuse to go over what has already been thought out as an excuse for inaction 😉 )

Strangely my mind keeps coming back to Jean Guy as someone I connect to. He has a calmness in this book that is good to see. I hope it lasts. He certainly deserves some peace after all he has been through. I wonder where he will go next. I hope to see more of him and Annie.

My favourite line from this section is:

“If love was compass enough,” said Armand quietly, “there would be no missing children.”

It is such a beautiful thought. If Love were enough, how different many outcomes and lives would be. Not only would missing children not be missing, estranged adults would be reunited with their families. If only, Love were enough.

So much for my not commenting again till the end… But I too have enjoyed this new side of Jean Guy. Now that he feels ‘safe and secure’ and he can really show his love-him-as-a-father feelings for Gamsche, we’re starting to see the child-like, playful side of Jean Guy. “I have to go pee.” “I’m hungry.” “Finding bathrooms is my super power.” “Get in line, sister.”

He has finally let that tiny ball secretly hidden in the farthest corner of his heart come out to play with joy. Not one mention of his obsession of looking GQ. Love may not be enough, but it sure has helped JG. Not much has been revealed of his childhood, but it too seems it lacked ‘something’ which is now being filled.

Has anyone in Three Pines had a happy childhood?

All the people with happy childhoods grew up and left for the big city, hahaha. They’re the only ones strong enough to handle it! 😀 You notice that while there are children to play hockey games in the winter for Ruth to “coach”, they are otherwise unseen in Three Pines (unless they killed somebody, or we think they did!) Of course, I’m just joking about this.

Meanwhile, this section really does Jean Guy proud, doesn’t it? We really get to see how much he’s grown – how much more comfortable he is in his own skin. He likes the Three Piners – and it shows. He jokes with them, helps them, and even has some understanding of Peter and an affection for him that we’ve not seen before. I love this section for just that reason.

Yes, Jean-Guy certainly didn’t like the 3-Piners in the early books because most of them are Anglos and he despised the Anglos and thought they were all crazy. But over time, he has come to appreciate them, and I love the bond between him and Ruth. There is a sweeter side of Jean-Guy able to come out now, and it’s a delight to see.

May I ask an off-topic question? I notice some of you use little symbols. Julie, you have one in this posting above. It is :D. Some others used were =, :-), ;-), :-)), :~D, and :~P. What do they mean, and what’s the difference between – and ~? This is new to me, I’m sorry to ask about something that isn’t in our book. If anyone knows a link where I can find out about these little symbols, I’d be happy to know it.

Hi, Sylvia, I’m sure if you Google emoticons, you’d find a list, but basically, they just represent little faces (on their sides). So 😀 is a smiley face, and so is 🙂 😉 is a wink and a smile, and ;-p is a wink with your tongue stuck out. I don’t think there’s any difference between – and a wavy line (my Kindle doesn’t have one on its keyboard). The others I don’t know, though I’d usually figure them out from context. A list will have lots of them. They are, to me, a way to soften the written word – to make it more like a casual conversation.

Jean-Guy showed great wit and sense of humor before his world fell apart and I have enjoyed him in this book too. He does seem to feel safe to have fun while still using his detective skills and mindset (if not his badge and gun!). But I was glad to notice him remaining careful, as an alcoholic:
“Beauvoir scanned the other servers, and his eyes fell on a middle-aged man who’d just appeared out of a door by the bar. Jean-Guy picked up his drink and moved to one of the stools. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable. Or, worse, it felt too comfortable. Too familiar.
He stood up.”
Vigilance, good thinking.

I know – I am re-reading and just finished next week’s chapters and realized that most of what I might discuss this next week, will have some important resolution the following week – so many things we might assume early on are changed near the end of the book. This is kind of difficult to have a meaningful discussion about without spoilers…

Totally agree with you on that, Julie. For me, the ‘meaningfulness’ is achieved by looking at any piece of literature as a whole, not as separate clusters of chapters. Tho I’m sure it worked for the re-reads, I’m with Barbara. I’ll wait till last week also to comment further (at least I think that way today! 😉 Tho I find myself taking notes of things that touched me, things that intrigued me, things that tickled me and things that frustrated me. And I can’t say a word yet for fear of giving too much away for those who haven’t finished reading. I have loved the intimacy of this group so I’ll wait with pleasure.

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