Like Myrna herself, her bouquets were huge, effusive and unexpected. – Still Life
In just over an hour Myrna had gone from a world of complaint to a world of contentment. That had been six years ago. Now she dispensed new and used books and well-worn advice to her friends. – A Fatal Grace
Myrna smiled. She looked like a massive Easter egg herself, black and oval and wrapped in a brilliant purple and red caftan. – The Cruelest Month
Myrna was as close as their village came to a doctor. She’d been a psychologist in Montreal before too many sad stories and too much good sense got the better of her, and she’d quit. – The Brutal Telling
Myrna read the London Sunday Times Travel Magazine, moaning occasionally over the éclair and over the descriptions of the spa getaways. – Bury Your Dead
Myrna’s voice was calm. Precise. A perfect witness, as Gamache had come to realize. Nothing superfluous. No interpretation. Just what had happened. – How the Light Gets In
The large black woman took the comfortable wing chair across from Reine- Marie and leaned back. She’d brought her own mug of tea from her bookstore next door, and now she ordered Bircher muesli and fresh- squeezed orange juice. – The Long Way Home
The heat shimmered off the buildings and bounced off concrete and drilled into the pavement, which gave off the scent of melting asphalt in the heavy, humid air. Myrna found it strangely calming. Her mother’s and grandmother’s comfort smells were cut grass and fresh baking and the subtle scent of line- dried sheets. For Myrna’s generation the smells that calmed were manufactured. Melting asphalt meant summer. VapoRub meant winter, and being cared for. There were Tang and gas fumes and long- gone photocopy ink. All comforted her, for reasons that beggared understanding, because they had nothing to do with understanding. After years in Three Pines, her comfort scents were evolving. She still loved the smell of VapoRub, but now she also appreciated the delicate scent of worms after a rain. – The Long Way Home
“When I stopped being a therapist I asked myself one question. What do I really want to do? Not for my friends, not for my family. Not for perfect strangers. But for me. Finally. It was my turn, my time.” – The Nature of the Beast
“I’m worried that the advice I gave to clients years ago, when I was a therapist, was wrong,” said Myrna. “I wake up in the middle of the night, afraid I’ve led someone astray. In the daylight I’m fine. Most of my fears come in the darkness.” – A Great Reckoning
Myrna was a retired psychologist from Montréal, who now ran the shop right next to the bistro, Myrna’s New and Used Bookstore. Clara had a theory that villagers manufactured problems, just to go sit with Myrna. – Glass Houses
He’d never met the woman who’d just arrived, but already he didn’t like her. She was large and black and a “she.” None of those things he found attractive. But worse still, Myrna Landers had arrived five minutes late, and instead of hurrying inside, spouting apologies, she was standing around chatting. As though he weren’t waiting for them. As though he hadn’t been clear about the time of the appointment. – Kingdom of the Blind
But Myrna rarely looked away from some awful truth. Preferring to know rather than to live in blissful, if dangerous ignorance. It was one of her worst qualities. – A Better Man
Before arriving in Three Pines, Myrna Landers had been a prominent psychologist in Montréal, specializing in especially difficult cases. Part of her work was in the SHU, the Special Handling Unit, reserved for the worst, the most troubled offenders. The insane. – The Madness of Crowds
Since Myrna was a purveyor of books, and the young agent was addicted to them, this made the bookseller her pusher, though actually more like her priestess. – A World of Curiosities
THE GREY WOLF
And she’d tell him what it had been like to be Dr. Landers, a senior psychologist specializing in criminal behavior. Until one day she’d wandered too deep into a mind, into a cave, and gotten lost. She needed to find her way back to the sunshine. To a world where goodness existed. She’d quit her job, packed up her small car, and left the city, without a particular destination in mind. Just, away. Stopping in the unexpected village for a break, she went into the bistro, had a café and a croissant, discovered the shop next door was for rent, as was the loft above, and Myrna Landers never left. She had found her quiet place in the bright sunshine. And Dr. Landers became Myrna. – The Grey Wolf
Louise writes that villagers in Three Pines often seek out Myrna Landers, the former psychologist from Montreal who now runs Myrna’s New and Used Bookstore, to sit with her and seek her calming advice. Do you feel that these excerpts capture Myrna’s essence? What else would you add?
48 replies on “The People of Three Pines: Myrna Landers”
I love Myrna! Nothing better than imagining with her, curled up on a seen-better-days sofa or chair among the books. A simple enough response from one who has been a lifelong reader but unable to read this genre until you came along, Louise. My maternal family hailed from the townships, from Ways Mills, Fairfax and Ayers Cliff, and I still have a cousin there. An irony almost as delicious as the food that abounds in Three Pines!
I would add her romance with Billy.
Myrna is the calm amidst the ( raging) storm ….with both individuals AND the storyline .
I was intrigued by a review a friend left, probably book 6 or 7. I asked her about it and she encouraged me to start at the beginning. I now own all of them and have read the entire series twice. In about 4 months. As soon as I finished I started again, I NEEDED these people. Myrna I relate to because I’m a bibliophile, love tea and comfy chairs, am a retired OBGYN physician who both misses patients terribly and is relieved to not be responsible for them anymore. I think anyone who knows me well would agree my defining trait is fierce loyalty, and I think I share that with Myrna.
Oh, but I have to admit my favorite is Ruth! She calls BS when she sees it, and every time I read her I see Shirley MacLaine. Perfect voice for Ruth!
I love Myrna! She is my ideal woman—warm and caring, educated and brilliant, fun and funny.
We need more Myrna’s in our lives!
I’ve been a Louise Penny fan for years, so in preparation of the anniversary of Still Life and the upcoming Black Wolf, I decided to reread all the series this summer. I’m almost done with Greg Wolf and can’t wait to get my hands on the new Still Life out in September. I love Myrna and am so glad she’s there for Armand when he needs someone to talk to. I really can’t say I have a favorite character because each one speaks to me at some point, usually when I need them most. Keep writing Louise. And writing. And writing. As long as there is love there will be Three Pines!
So true
I love the books. Three Pines is where I want to live. I want to go to Myrna’s book store and read all her books. Have a tea with her and just breathe the essence of her store. I am patiently waiting for the next book, to be with the people of Three Pines. I cannot tell you who my favourite character is. I loved reading all the comments
As a retired clinical psychologist and a lifelong lover of books, I have found Myrna to be one of my favorite characters in the series, and have in fact envied the life that she has found. I can certainly relate to her need to flee her profession and build a new life in a calmer place surrounded by books and (mostly) kindly people.
Myrna is the soft welcoming presence who you can snuggle up to with your book safe in the knowing her she -bear self will let no harm or evil near you.
For many of us book loving and book selling folks Myrna would be the very best friend to have.
As a psychologist, I can certainly emphasize with Myrna’s need to escape to a place of calm and peace to save herself. She found it, and more, in Three Pines. I love her relationship with Clara, who desperately needs a true friend. And I am so glad that others brought up how wonderful and important, to both of them, her relationship with Billy is. It is so important that love and kindness be reciprocated. With someone like Myrna, it is so easy to always be the “giver” and not be seen as someone who also needs to receive love and kindness in return. And, of course, who could not love a purveyor of books?!!
Many years ago a good friend introduced me to Louise Penny the Gamache series. I was grateful then and even more grateful now as years and books have been added. I look forward each year to a new story. It is like hearing about beloved and close friends. Myrna is a great balance to Armand. She is a wisdom figure who everyone has come to rely on and isn’t that a wonderful thing to be able to say about a fictional character. Thank you, Louise Penny. God bless everyone.
The exercise of examining the Three Pines inhabitants has spurred me to reread from the beginning, Still Life, in anticipation of The Black Wolf. I suspect, rather anticipate, that I’ll fall in love with all the characters even more than I already am. LP has a gift for extracting human characteristics, parsing them into a single persona, and wrapping it all up into a nice, neat, bundle with a singular name; Myrna embodies this effort and is beloved as are all in Three Pines.
I crave each new book. Get lost in Three Pines.
So true! When I read your “get lost in Three Pines,” I mentally added “And don’t come looking for me.”
I want to curl up in Myra’s comfy chair, read from her library, discuss my reading with Myra, share hot chocolate and a biscuit and gossip about Ruth and issues going on at Three Pines!!! Myra is a fun, creative, special friend!!!
One of my favorite characters. Would love to spend some time with her just talking about nothing special.
Am in my 86th year. Still want to be Myrna when I grow up.
Love Myrna, want to sit quietly with her after getting a huge warm friendly hug!! One of my favorite characters-
Me, too!!
LP has created Merna as a good counter balance to inspector Gamache. While they are both good listeners, she outwardly expresses her fondness for others through her smiles, hugs and encouragement. She is admired by the characters and readers alike. Will LP continue to develop Merna revealing a fault or admission under duress? Can someone realistically be as good as Merna all the time?
Yes, I know lots of good people who are good all of the time. They are good to their core. They are born and brought up that way.
Myrna accepts people as they are. We all need more acceptance
I have loved Myrna since I first met her years ago. She was one on the outside and the love and acceptance within Three Pines changed that after folks got to know her and see her for who she is and heard her story. As we today often treat those on the outside, homeless, colors, size, any differences until we take time to listen and hear their story.
Myrna adds so much to these books!! And we continue to learn more about her as we do each of our Three Pines family. Thank you Louise Penny!!
Myrna is that kind of friend we all need so badly in today’s world. Living, kind, compassionate. She is a calm comfort, yet is gently honest and helps you see things for what they are. She is a true treasure.
I’ve always loved how Myrna found Three Pines, but I’ve also felt we really know less about her than any of our other friends in the valley. And I love she and Billy are together. I think he’s a good anchor for her.