INTRODUCTION BY HOPE DELLON
I started working with Louise in October 2006, after the editor who had bought her first three books left Minotaur for another company. At the time, only Still Life had been published. A Fatal Grace was in bound galleys, and The Cruelest Month was a completed manuscript in search of a title.
Since I needed to read three books in a row, it was lucky that I loved them from the start. Although Louise had me from the acknowledgments at the beginning of Still Life, there came a scene in A Fatal Grace that gave me chills in a way that only the very best manuscripts ever have. (I describe that scene in the recap below.) I even remember where I was when I read it. In those days I had an hour-long commute on the train. I know that I started reading the galleys on the train on a Tuesday night, then continued on Wednesday morning, when we always have our editorial meetings. By the time I got to that meeting, I couldn’t stop talking about how amazing Louise was, except perhaps to ignore everyone else and keep reading more of the story.
When I’m asked what makes her books so great, I usually fall back on a quote from Emily Dickinson: “If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?” That’s how I feel about Louise’s novels.
I believe I didn’t meet Louise and her husband, Michael, in person until Malice Domestic in Crystal City, VA, in the spring of 2008. By that time, Still Life had won many awards (including the Anthony, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Dilys, and New Blood Dagger) for Best First Novel, but not the Agatha; and we didn’t want to jinx anything by expecting her to win Best Novel for A Fatal Grace. I remember how thrilling it was when she did win—but what I had forgotten, until Louise mentioned it recently, was that the awards banquet happened to fall on my birthday. Now that she reminds me—and how remarkable for her to remember—I know that she and Michael insisted on taking me to lunch on that Saturday, and made more of a fuss about my birthday than they did about her chances of winning the Agatha. They were as warm and brilliant and funny as you might imagine from reading Louise’s books, and it’s been a joy to work with her ever since.
RECAP
Chapters 1-21: The first lines of A Fatal Grace foretell the death of the nastiest woman in Three Pines: “Had CC de Poitiers known she was going to be murdered she might have bought her husband, Richard, a Christmas gift….” The doomed CC has written a self-help book that prattles about love and enlightenment, even though she is actually like the Snow Queen from the fairytale who pierces everyone’s hearts with ice.
Meanwhile, in “the snow globe that was Three Pines,” CC’s 14-year-old daughter, Crie, has sewn her own chiffon snowflake costume for her school’s Christmas pageant, “to surprise Mommy.” She has been on a diet for a month and is sure her mother will notice soon. Except her mother doesn’t bother to show up.
Clara Morrow and her friend Myrna drive to Montreal, where Clara is dying to see the Christmas windows at Ogilvy’s department store that have enchanted her since childhood. She and her handsome husband, Peter, have been starving artists in Three Pines for years, although his precisely detailed paintings have finally started to sell. No one wants to buy Clara’s wilder depictions of warrior uteruses (!) and melting trees.
Hearing that CC knows important gallery owner Denis Fortin, Clara timidly asks if she would mind showing him her portfolio—which CC disdainfully throws in the trash. “Very annoying,” she says to her lover, photographer Saul Petrov. “Imagine asking me for a favor?” CC has much more important things to do: There’s a sale at Ogilvy’s and she wants to buy a special pair of boots made of baby sealskin with metal claws.
Clara’s joy at the Christmas windows is disrupted by a filthy pile of blankets that turns out to be a beggar throwing up. Disgusted, Clara hastens inside to the book launch for her neighbor, Ruth Zardo, the bitter but brilliant old poet whose friends from Three Pines turn up to support her.
On the escalators at Ogilvy’s, Clara passes CC, who says to the man beside her, “I’m so sorry, Denis, that you think Clara’s art is amateur and banal.” It’s a heart-stopping moment. Devastated, Clara shuffles out of the store and sees the stinking beggar she’d ignored on the way in. Impulsively, Clara gives a package of food she’s just bought to the bag lady, who grasps her wrist and says, “I have always loved your art, Clara.” Whoa. This was the moment when I started to feel as if the top of my head was being taken off.
A few days later it is Christmas Eve in Three Pines, with shortbread stars (Louise’s books always make me hungry) and carolers and a midnight service at St. Thomas’s church, where a child starts to sing with angelic purity. The singer is CC’s daughter, wearing a grotesque pink sundress but with bliss on her face. After the service, the whole village can hear CC berating Crie as a “stupid, stupid girl. You humiliated me. They were laughing at you, you know.” CC’s gutless father barely utters a protest.
When Saul turns up at the Bistro on Christmas, Myrna invites him to the community breakfast and curling match on the following day. It’s a perfect setting for the last job Saul intends to do for CC, who wants pictures of herself “frolicking among the natives at Christmas. If possible he had to get shots of the locals looking at CC with wonder and affection.” A pretty tall order.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté and his wife, Reine-Marie, make their first appearance in the book on the day after Christmas, when they have a tradition of reviewing unsolved cases. “If I was murdered,” says Gamache, “I’d like to think the case wouldn’t just sit unsolved. Someone would make an extra effort.” (I love this man.) Reine-Marie notices that one of the cases is new: There was a bag lady who had hung out at the bus station for years—but was strangled outside of Ogilvy’s department store on the day Clara saw her there. Astoundingly, a copy of Ruth’s new book, signed “You stink, love Ruth,” was found with the body.
Then the phone rings, and the duty officer for Three Pines tells Gamache there has been a murder. So much for a quiet Boxing Day. Within minutes Gamache and his second-in-command, Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir, are on their way to Three Pines, to investigate the very odd death of CC de Poitiers.
CC’s murder seems impossible: She was electrocuted at the curling match, in the middle of a frozen lake in front of dozens of witnesses. After Gamache gathers his team in the old railway station, Beauvoir recaps the only way CC’s murder could have worked: “A: she had to be standing in water; B: she had to have taken off her gloves; C: she had to touch something electrified; and D: she had to be wearing metal on the bottom of her boots.” Sure, nobody liked CC, but who hated her enough—and had the expertise—to pull off something like that?
Then a new team member arrives unexpectedly: Agent Yvette Nichol—”the rancid, wretched, petty little woman who’d almost ruined their last case”—apparently sent by the Superintendent of the Sûreté. Gamache is furious to see her, and knows that his enemies at Headquarters are still working against him.
With or without the unwelcome Nichol, the team has much to investigate: Where is Saul and what photos might he have taken of the curling match? Why does the coroner find excess niacin in CC’s body? Can it be possibly be coincidence that CC’s book, Be Calm, has the same name as the meditation center Bea Mayer, known as Mother, runs in Three Pines? After Gamache admires The Three Graces, Clara’s painting of Mother and the two other elderly women who are her best friends in Three Pines, she tells him about her poisonous encounter with CC at Ogilvy’s—and he quietly adds Clara’s name to the long list of suspects.
Chapter 22-End: Clues and questions and suspects continue to pile up for Gamache and his team. Having learned that CC de Poitiers, who claimed to be the daughter of Eleanor and Henri de Poitiers, invented both her name and her past (Eleanor de Poitiers, better known as Eleanor of Aquitaine, actually died in 1204), Gamache needs to find out who CC really was. Are there any significant clues to be found in the video cassette of The Lion in Winter that turned up in CC’s garbage after the murder?
Meanwhile, Gamache is astonished when Clara proudly shows him the Li Bien ornament Peter gave her for Christmas, which is exactly like the ball CC supposedly used as the basis for her garbled philosophy. The glass ball is painted with three pine trees, the word Noël, and a single capital letter, L. Was it the picture of the trees that prompted CC to buy the monstrous old Hadley house in Three Pines? Awkwardly, Peter is forced to confess that while he meant to buy Clara something for Christmas this year, he actually found the ball in the Williamsburg dump.
When Gamache meets Émilie Longpré—age 82, captain of the curling team, and one of Clara’s Three Graces—and her dog, Henri, on an early morning walk, she tells him about an encounter with CC at Mother’s meditation center, where CC arrogantly proclaimed that since she was calling her own book and company Be Calm, Mother would have to change the name of her center or perhaps close it altogether. After breakfast, the tiny Émilie gives Gamache & co. a curling lesson that convinces even Beauvoir, who has always scoffed at curling as a sport, that it’s a lot harder than it looks. And Gamache, who finally grasps what it meant when the 78-year-old Mother loudly “cleared the house” at the curling match, suddenly knows how the murderer got away with it.
The questions about CC’s mother keep circling back to the Three Graces. Do they know who the L of the Li Bien ball was, or could it possibly even be one of them? And what might 92-year-old Kaye Thompson, who was sitting next to CC at the match, have seen as she was murdered?
When Saul’s photos are developed, they somehow do not include any shots from the time of the murder. And as eager as Saul seems to be to start a new, better life in Three Pines, he still has one undeveloped roll of film that he hastily throws in the fireplace when Gamache and his team visit him at the chalet he has rented.
With the help of an idea from Clara about the discarded video, the case seems to be coming together, when a raging fire breaks out at Saul’s chalet, and the unlikely trio of Gamache, Beauvoir, and Agent Nichol try to rescue him. Émilie finally tells Gamache the heartbreaking truth about CC’s mother, and the Three Graces prepare to pay the price for what they have done. And then Gamache suddenly realizes there is one last horrible secret in CC’s family.
The book ends at New Year’s, with Reine-Marie’s first visit to Three Pines. Both of them know that the plots against Gamache are growing more sinister, but as they drive home:
In the rearview mirror Armand Gamache could see Three Pines. He got out of the car and stared down at the village, each home glowing with warm and beckoning light, promising protection against a world sometimes too cold. He closed his eyes and felt his racing heart calm.
“Are you all right?” Reine-Marie’s mittened hand slipped into his.
“I’m more than all right.” He smiled. “I have everything.”
FAVORITE QUOTE
Gamache says to Clara, “When someone stabs you it’s not your fault that you feel pain.”
Gamache: “I knew then I was in the company of people who loved not only books, but words. Spoken, written, the power of words.”
CONCLUSION
I am not sure how many times I’ve read A Fatal Grace, but I still find it as extraordinary as I did back in 2006. I think it’s magnificent on so many levels: as a complex and masterful detective story, as a glorious character study, and as an exploration of universal hopes and fears. I love that it can be hilarious one minute and heartbreaking the next.
I also love the way Louise focuses on the power of words, from the literal handwriting on more than one wall, to the hidden meanings of names like Mother, Elle, and Crie (what kind of parents would name a child that?), to the ways that words can kill or heal. I also marvel that someone like me, who is at least as much of a skeptic as Jean-Guy Beauvoir, can find myself wondering about such mysteries as lemon meringue pie.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- If the village of Three Pines truly existed, would you want to live there? Why or why not? How does Christmas bring out the best or the worst in any of the villagers?
- Who is your favorite character in the book so far?
- In Louise’s books I am always stopping to admire wonderful images or jokes or observations (or descriptions of food!). Were there any lines that particularly struck you in Part I?
- What do you think of Ruth’s idea that “most people, while claiming to hate authority, actually yearned for someone to take charge”?
- Gamache tells Lemieux, “All the mistakes I’ve made have been because I’ve assumed something and then acted as though it was fact.” Have you ever made important assumptions that turned out not to be true?
- What interests you most about the two murder victims, CC and the bag lady known only as Elle, and the way Gamache conducts his investigation?
- There are so many clues hidden in plain sight in A Fatal Grace, I lost count at 6 or 7 (all of which I missed the first time through). Did you spot any of them, and did you solve any of the various puzzles before Gamache did?
- What do you make of Gamache’s relationships with the different members of his team, from Beauvoir to Nichol?
- How do you feel about The Three Graces?
- Near the end, Gamache says, “This whole case has been about belief and the power of the word.” I’ll say. What are the ways in which words have power?
- Speaking of belief, what do you make of the apparent brushes with God: the beggar who loved Clara’s art (which Em maintains she had never seen); Gamache finding God in a diner eating lemon meringue pie; Em’s road worker with the sign saying “Ice Ahead”; Billy Williams, etc.?
- Do you agree with Gamache in Chapter 33 that “when you’ve seen the worst you appreciate the best?”
396 replies on “Series Re-Read: A Fatal Grace!”
THE THREE GRACES = Part II C: – BEATRICE (MOTHER BEA) MAYER
MOTHER BEA is the youngest of the three at 76(? can’t read my chicken scratches here). Bea appears at book launch with “red and wild hair, a soft plump body ill-concealed beneath a voluminous amber caftan and chunky jewelry.”
* At the book launch, Clara notices that Bea was “overtaken by some emotion Clara couldn’t identify. Fury? Fear? Extreme concern of some sort. . . . and then it was replaced by Mother’s peaceful, cheery face, all pink and wrinkled and open.” Bea has just seen CC’s book. Seems to be quiet adept at quickly masking facial expressions. Hmmmm??
*Bea has studied Asian religions and practices and owns and runs a yoga and meditation center called Be Calm.
*At the reveillon, Bea walks out of the room when Gabri starts reading from CC’s book.
*Bea also spends Christmas Eve night at Emilie’s and hears the Tchaikovsky playing as she’s in bed. Bea has “loved it and (music) still breaks her heart. Bea is grieving too and tries to manage her pain by practicing her mantra, “Be Calm” — but is unable to do so because it has been “stolen and twisted by CC.” — For what is Bea grieving? Why does the concerto still break her heart?
* At community breakfast.Bea ‘plays mother” and pours coffee and tea and her own strange mixture – a tea or tisane? Bea also curls with her team.
* Bea’s the one who explains curling to Gamache and Jean-Guy. She’s also know for ‘Clearing the House.” Jean-Guy thinks “Mother is hiding something.” p. 134
*Bea’s interviewed in her meditation center by Armand and Beauvoir. She tells them of CC’s OCD w/ re-aligning everything in studio. She then says that CC is/was “in pain”, had come to the center once before and was “unhappy”. Mother says that CC “cobbled together a bumpy, pitted, muddy spiritual path. It reminded me of Frankenstein. She cannibalized all sorts of faiths and beliefs and came up with that Li Bien. The word ‘crap’ was implied.” p. 147-148,
* Mother also mention’s CC’s ball – central image of Li Bien. This sounds a lot like the glass ball that Peter gave to Clara as Christmas gift! p. 148
*Clara paints Mother Bea as “Faith”. So Faith and Charity support Hope in the big painting.(Deep stuff there Ms. Clara!)
BEATRICE – CLARAS FAITH
Beatrice appears in Dante’s Divine Comedy. She takes over from the poet Virgil in leading the way into Paradise. The name implies beatific love.
Our Bea also tried to lead her friends to the next life.
Linda,wow! Great info on the names of the Three Graces!
THE THREE GRACES = Part II B: – KAYE THOMPSON
KAYE is 92 and the oldest of these three friends. She’s described as “wizen and shriveled, smelling of Vapo-rub and looking like a potato.” p. 25
*Kaye “time travels” in her head to her father’s experiences in WWI & erupts with “Fuck the Pope!” p.47
* As women talk about chin hairs at Em’s, Kaye advises Ruth to “visit Mother . . . . she can meditate the crap out of anyone.” after Ruth complains about a physical issue. p.47
* Kaye stops Bea from leaving party/ cluster of friends when Gabri starts reading from CC’s book
* When party’s over, Kaye stays overnight at Em’s along with Bea. Kaye tries to sleep but feels that she is “actually becoming a ghost” when she hears Em’s music playing. She “hears music through her body, not her failing ears” and it goes “straight to her heart” for Emilie and David and Crie. p, 48
*Kaye hears an “Irish male voice” in her head saying, “You should have helped the child.” ( Does voice mean David or Crie or someone else?)
*Penny continues: “She was afraid. Had been afraid all of her life. Here it is then – the dark thing. ” “The dark thing had a name and a face and a pink dress. The dark thing wasn’t CC, it was Crie.” (Me: Say what? Is Kaye seeing poor Crie as the monster in the dark???!!)
“She’d had a chance this night to redeem herself for all of those moments of cowardice in her life. All she had to do was defend the child. Kaye knew the signal would soon be given to crawl out of her trench and face what was coming.” ???
( Meg Q: Is Kaye psychic, or nuts & hearing voices or is something very real ‘eathing at’ her??)
*At breakfast and curling tournament, Kay helps to serve food. She has one of the three aluminum lawn chairs. CC sits in Kaye’s chair. (Does this mean that Kaye might have been intended victim instead of horrible CC?)
*Kaye is napping at Em’s when the three friends gather for pea soup & corn bread when Gamache arrives to question the ladies about events of curling day. Kaye was the closest to CC when she died. (I’m confused. Was Kaye sitting in one of the other’s chair? Kaye deliberately ignores Bea’s greeting of “Namaste.”
*Clara’s painted Kaye as “Charity”. In the group portrait, she’s helping to support Emilie who leans back laughing.
KAYE – CLARAS CHARITY
The name Kaye means pure. In the bible, in Timothy, charity comes from a pure heart.
Her last name is also interesting. Thompson is the English translation of MacTavish. The MacTavish Clans motto is “Not Forgetful.”
THE THREE GRACES = Part II A: – EMILIE LONGPRE
EMILIE is 82 and the elegant one; slim & tiny; hair dyed light brown & perfectly styled, make-up perfect too. wearing slim skirt, shirt & silk scarf at book launch. pp. 25-26
* Clara notices Em was weeping before guests arrive & knows why. “At Christmas, homes were full of the people there and those not there.” Emilie’s the reveillon’s hostess. p. 43
*A member of the removing chin hair club.
* Knows some of Ruth’s story & is empathetic with Clara p.47
* When guests leave, Clara pulls out record and plays Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D Major” She sits alone and listens to it. (Went to YouTube to play this. Heard about 1/3 of it. Found I had to “be still” and “calm” and close my eyes to listen to this. Violin initially reminded me of a small flock of butterflies flittering through pink and white cosmos flowers or brown-eyed Susans. The next movement reminded me of little kids giggling and furiously spinning to make themselves happily dizzy and reeling. Then, it reminded me of women in gowns with full skirts swirling in waltz movements. Strangely, each musical passage & my imagined images were of happy moments.) I wondered if piece also had pleasant effect on Em.
*Em also takes a mitten from the same drawer, holds it “as though it still contains a hand.”
(we learn from Bea or Kaye that she’s grieving/remembering her son David). Em only does this concerto-mitten ritual on Christmas Eves. pp48-49
*”Em listened as the notes of the violin visited familiar places. They played around the tree, searched for gifts, laughed at the frosted window looing onto the brightly lit pine trees on the familiar green. The concerto filled the room and for a blessed moment, her eyes closed, Em could pretend it wasn’t Yehudi playing, but someone else. Each Christmas Eve was the same. But this was worse than most. She’d heard too much. Seen too much. She knew what she must do.” What has Em seen and heard? What must she do???? p. 50
* During community breakfast, served food and curls with her team! pp73-74; has one of 3 aluminum lawn chairs at curling match
* Clara seems Emilie as “Hope” and sold Em’s portrait to Dr. Susan Harris the coroner.
Em is the central figure in Clara’s painting of the three friends. Em is in the middle, “leaning back precipitously, laughing with abandon.” Kaye and Bea support her and laugh too.
Meg, I loved the line about Christmas Eve being full of those who were there and those who were no longer there. It captures so much and just makes you want to weep.
Me too. Any one who has ever lost a family member or someone we’ve dearly love – knows exactly what Clara means.
EM – CLARAS HOPE
The name Emilie is derived from an old Roman name. It is generally taken to mean to excell or rival. In Teutonic it means hardworking; in Latin industrious; in Spanish flattering. It can be someone to be jealouse of, or someone from whom to seek safe haven.
I also found her last name interesting. Longpre les Corp Saints is a place in northern France. It got its name from the relics of the saints that were brought back from the crusades that were paraded through the streets on festivals and holidays.
Our Emilie also keeps precious relics.
THE THREE GRACES – Part I B
We basically see these ladies in six episodes:
—–1. At Ruth’s book launch at Ogilvy’s
—–2. At Emilie’s reveillon
—–3. After Emilie’s reveillon
—–4. During community breakfast & curling tournament
—–5. When interviewed by Gamache or his team
—–6. In Clara’s single and group portrait
I’m going to try to list what we learn about these gals individually via these scenes. Wish I could do a three column chart here to keep similar traits on same line.
Great book requiring many varied comments. Fun to just read what different readers had to say about characters, places, and events. Look forward to reading this book again as I have already read all in the series. We had a tornado in our area about 10 days ago, so my reading has been interrupted as we do clean-up. So good to just get lost in the words and especially the poems.
Sandra, sending good thoughts your way. Know the heart and body aches that result from trying to clean up, patch up, repair and recover from something like this. Major fire in parents’ house years ago. Louise Penny’s writings are a wonderful – though temporary and needed escape from facing and dealing with all of that. Sending a figurative bouquet of daffodils, white daisy mums and lilacs to cheer you. – Meg R
Just discovered that Posting process eliminates paragraph indents! Sorry about that. Was trying to keep text a little more readable.
THE THREE GRACES – Part I
There are six brand new characters (well really seven if we count Saul) introduced to us and Gamache in this book. The first trio is that of CC, her husband R. Lyon (what’s his first name? Robert? Don’t think it’s Richard as he’s not lion-hearted!) and their unfortunate daughter Crie. The second trio first appears at Ruth’s book launch in Ogilvy’s.
When I saw that the three old women were called The Three Graces, something tinkled or started niggling at the back of my brain. Wasn’t sure what that was about until I came to chapter 21 when Clara calls them that & assigns each woman one of the graces’ characteristics. Clara associates her three portrait subjects as “Faith, Hope and Charity.” That jangling in the back of my brain got louder. Thanks to four years of Latin many decades ago in high school with the incredible Dorothy Doerr, I knew that the three graces weren’t originally three ‘Christian virtues.’ They were the three daughters of Zeus & some minor diety. They were Euphrosyne, Aglaea (or Aglaia) and Thalia. They represented Beauty, Charm and (gets a little scrambled here – Creativity, Delight, Blossom and or Joy) They were the three gals who were invited to enliven parties of gods & mortals.
Do Em, Kaye & Bea sound like three party-hardy gals to you?
Then, I remembered that we also saw three old ladies who grew up together in Three Pines (?? hmmm number 3 repeating?) They were Timmer Hadley, Jane Neal and Ruth Zardo. Ruth’s the only one of those three left. Two of our current three don’t think they’ll be around for the next Christmas.
We do know that Emilie, Kaye and Bea are three very close and loyal friends who do know each other’s stories – even though we- as readers – don’t know them yet . . . . just like we don’t really know what Ruth’s stories are. Hmmm?
Don’t think I can organize what I’ve compiled in one long post, so I’m going to devote one to each of these three ladies.
THREE GRACES. Meg, as you said, the Greeks depicted the three graces as beauty (Aglaia), mirth or delight (Euphrosyne), and blossom/abundance (Thalia).
The three that Ruth painted were Em, Kay, and Bea.
When Gamache saw the painting of the three, he felt there was a 4th person missing. When he asked Clara about it, she explained that she liked to leave spaces in her paintings to “let the light in.”
So the real question would seem to be who is missing? Who would represent Aphrodite?
I think that’s revealed in the second half of the book.
WOW, Linda! I’m not at my house, so I don’t have my Edith Hamilton or other mythology book with me. Aphrodite a 4th grace? For some reason or other I don’t recall her as being a fourth member to this trio. Hmmmm. I bought Clara’s explanation of leaving spaces in all of her works. Strangely, I didn’t go there. Didn’t think of a missing person as Clara had previously painted the three as individual portraits.
Going on a limb ( & Gamache seemed to raise this too when he asked if Clara ever painted Ruth) – it would seem logical that the 4th old & other original villager, Ruth, maybe should be in that gap. But then, she’s not a part of their tightly bound circle of friendship. Ruth’s always seemed autonomous to me. They wouldn’t be Clara’s titled Three Graces then. (Laughing!) You’ve started that tingling in the back of this old broad’s brain! Have to think about this one some more. To be honest, I read this book months and months ago and sometimes they run together for me. I honestly don’t remember what happens in second half. Reread last night up to Saul’s photos finally coming to Incident Room. Thanks for the mental prod!! I love it when someone else makes me think about something in a new or different way!
APHRODITE. No, The graces were attendants to Aphrodite. The four were usually together b
RUTH. I think of Ruth as more of a (sometimes guilty) conscience rather than a Grace. Or often a muse.
I am still reading this book #2. It’s my first time reading these books. I will eventually read the entire series.
Just wanted to share a couple of phrases (moments in the book) i LOVED LOVED LOVED!
Chapter 18. THE ASSHOLE BELIEVED HER! now i most certainly did NOT expect this. But thank you for it Louise Penny.
Chapter 19. In the meditation room, Gamache sits on a pillow. Beauvoir doesn’t. Then suddenly this sentence: BEAUVOIR THOUGHT MAYBE HE WAS GOING TO THROW UP.
Another surprise….I can just see Beauvoir rolling his eyes up towards the heavens 🙂
I will not read the posts on here just yet….don’t want to see any spoilers. I’ll be back soon for more fun.
Until then…THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Louise Penny and this group for making me part of it all.
THE “REVEILLON”
This term and custom was totally unfamiliar to me. Also, never took French – so at a loss there. Went to Google’s translation site & ‘translation’ came up as “New Year’s Eve.” Well, we know that Emilie was holding hers on Christmas Eve, — so that didn’t work. So – I googled the word and learned quite a bit! It’s root “reveil’ means a ‘waking’, i.e. staying awake until midnight and beyond. It is celebrated in a variey of places across the globe, just not in Three Pines. Reveillons are held in Belgium, Brazil, France, Portugal, Romania, Province of Quebec (of our story), Northern Ontario and the city of New Orleans! In many places, it’s what most of us associate with an exuberant New Year’s Eve party and celebrated only on that night. In some places, it is celebrated on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The first is traditionally celebrated only with family, the second with family and friends. Just thought it speaks volumes that Emilie’s gathering includes the villagers on the reveillon night that traditionally is a family event.
A MISHMASH OF STUFF!!??????
Blame this on a sleepless night due to horrific toothache that’s been taken care of – finally! Couldn’t sleep & 3 or 4 things kept rumbling around in my head:
1. The Three Graces
2. The ‘reveillon’ – which was totally unfamiliar to me
3. Reader’s Guide Q #3 that asks about “different meanings” of “Be Calm”
4. The ‘monster’ which appears/occurs under a number of guises.
So, this cranky old broad’s gonna try to tackle some of these in separate postings. I went back to beginning of book looking for first reference to Three Graces. (Thought this might be important because book is called ‘A Fatal Grace’. Don’t think Ms. Penny chose those words lightly for some reason. I could be assuming here & wrong – but will have to wait until I reread second half this weekend.) Kept my trusty yellow legal pad at hand & just started taking notes.
If you get tired of my blather, I have absolutely no problem with someone hollerin’ “Shut Up, Meg! – or totally disagreeing with my interps. – Skin’s pretty thick. Sometimes something gets stuck in my head & I just can’t let it go until I find answers – so – you get results of what happened that night I couldn’t sleep! Enjoy them — or throw your books at me! Either way, it’s okay! :~D
Haven’t had a chance to read through all the posts yet,but wanted to respond to #3. Louise’s descriptions are what drew me into the series. I received the first 5 chapters of book #1 (in audio) by email as part of a library membership and fell in love. I love how, instead of the usual descriptions (At 5 ft, 6 in, the blonde, blue-eyed X…..), I was introduced to the personality of the character first. I sometimes think she goes overboard in describing the meals, but it does make my mouth water.
I also love the history involved in the background. I have a few Canadian online friends and, when they happen to mention something Louise has written about, I am amazed at the work she does in her research.
I love how she goes into depth about issues that effect us all, even though we may not realize it. She makes us look at our feelings and reactions to situations that make us uncomfortable.
Ganyah–I think Louise’s descriptions were what drew me into the story too, along with the depth and emotional power of the issues she confronts.
Way back on the first page of STILL LIFE, I was floored by the description of Jane’s death: “Miss Neal’s was not a natural death, unless you’re of the belief everything happens as it’s supposed to. If so, for her seventy- six years Jane Neal had been walking toward this final moment when death met her in the brilliant maple woods on the verge of the village of Three Pines. She’d fallen spread-eagled, as though making angels in the
bright and brittle leaves.”
And then there was Gamache’s reaction: “He was surprised to see her. That was his little secret. Not that he’d ever seen her before. No. His little secret was that in his mid-fifties, at the height of a long and now apparently stalled career, violent death still surprised him. Which was odd, for the head of homicide, and perhaps one of the reasons he hadn’t progressed further in the cynical world of the Sûreté.”
Boom. In just a few paragraphs I was hooked.
I love the description of Jean-Guy at the murder scene.
Beauvoir shoved his black ski hat further down his head and tugged the ear flaps into place. It was the closest thing he could find to an attractive hat that was also almost warm. Jean Guy Beauvoir was constantly at war with himself, at odds over his need to wear clothes that showed off his slender, athletic build, and his need not to freeze his tight ass off. It was nearly impossible to be both attractive and warm in a Quebec winter. And Jean Guy Beauvoir sure didn’t want to look like a dork in parka and stupid hat. He looked at Gamache, so composed, and wondered whether he was as cold as Beauvoir, but just didn’t show it. The chief was wearing a gray tuque, a yellow cashmere scarf and a long Arctic-weight parka in soft British khaki. He looked warm. And Beauvoir was struck by how attractive warm looked at minus ten,parka, funny hat, bulbous gloves and all. He began to suspect maybe he was the one who looked funny. But he pushed that unlikely thought away as a gust of wind tore through his attractive bomber jacket and lodged deep in his bones.
I do love Jean Guy. I guess I’m a psychology addict, too.
I also like the references to Leonard Cohen. Thanks also for the part toward the end of the book where Jean Guy is listening to La complainte du phoque en Alaska sung by Beau Dommage on the radio. Now I’m enjoying my own Beau Dommage CD’s.
Oh yes! I love Jean-Guy too. And her descriptions of him make him come alive. It’s so easy to be right there with him…freezing on the ice. Reminds me of high school (back in the dark ages) when you didn’t wear a scarf because it wasn’t cool. Instead your ears froze. Ugh. Didn’t take long for me to decide that warm was more important than cool but I still can feel for Jean-Guy. Just one of many delightful descriptions that keep me hooked on Louise’s books.
Know what I forgot, Nancy & Patricia, until I read your post? Our dapper & insecure Jean-Guy is also married & has bought or is considering purchase of a lava lamp — until he goes to Mother’s meditation center with Gamache! That made me chuckle! Thanks for triggering this! :>D
Yes, yes, yes, loved that description of Jean Guy! And he sees that Gamache looks warm and how attractive “warm” looks at -10, but he’s sticking with fashion.
1 – I would love to live in Three Pines. A mix of incredible creativity – painting, books, cooking, poetry. Creativity that has found a home in a host of flawed people – who see each others flaws, and often their own, clearly. Good food, a beautiful setting, creative and interesting people, great humor, compassion and honest friendship couldn’t be beat in my book.
2 – I like many of the characters. But Gamache and Ruth are my favorites. My favorite quote in this book about Gamache is “…he was willing to go into his own head alone, and open all the doors there, and enter all the dark rooms. And make friends with what he found there.” That’s the trick…to make friends with what lies in the dark rooms of the mind. Ruth is my other favorite because I strongly connect with this woman who can see so deeply into the human soul and be willing to live there and write about our darkest feelings. She writes what my heart often feels. But I am afraid to tell anyone how dark my thoughts are….because who wants to be with all that darkness?
3 – I always laugh out loud at the brutal repartee….especially between Ruth and Gabri. The quit wit and brutal humor, insults and name calling. One of my favorite moments is when Ruth explains that FINE means Fucked Up, Insecure, Neurotic and Egotistical. She says “I’m FINE.” “You certainly are, ” agreed Gamache. Perfect.
4 – Absolutely, Ruth is right about people wanting someone to take charge. It is why we are all so vulnerable – for there is always someone who will lead and most people prefer to follow – even while resenting being lead. But will they be lead wisely? The hardest thing is to take responsibility for one’s choices, one’s happiness and the state of one’s life…to lead oneself…to consciously choose a direction to move in. To take the time to decide what you want your life to be. I keep trying. Sometimes I succeed.
5 – I have often had paranoid and accusatory thoughts of others – sure that something missing was stolen by a certain person. Or sure that some chemical at work had been stolen for the purposes of poisoning me. Crazy, crazy thoughts. Thank goodness some part of my mind was sane – and I refrained from sharing my paranoia. Good thing – those wild thoughts have NEVER been right. : )
6 – I think it’s interesting that CC neither treasure or appreciated anything – not her daughter, not her husband, not Clara’s art, and not Three Pines. Elle, on the other hand, carried her treasure with her. She was the richer of the two, because she could still be grateful. CC destroyed those around her…Elle destroyed herself. I love how Gamache looks for the murderer by looking for an event from the past. What drove the murderer? He understands that the murder is the final moment – the final act of something much greater with roots in the past. I love his relentless pursuit of understanding the genesis of the murder and his use of his knowledge of human behavior. Candy for a psychology addict!
Maureen,
Your comments made me think more about CC and that the more we learn about her, the more we find what a fraud she was. The saddest thing to me is that she’s really lying to herself the most. I mean, the woman seemingly has not the slightest ability to carry through any part of her grandiose scheme. That’s a perceptive remark you made, about how she hadn’t even made any improvements to the Hadley house, but yet she’s trying to sell herself as some kind of design guru, in addition to her half-baked life philosophy. The only talent, sadly, that she really shows is the ability to make people feel small and to make herself disliked.
Meg R, thanks for reminding me about the hints we get about Ruth’s past. I think Penny sort of drops them in, not carelessly, but without emphasis, so that as a reader, and engrossed in the plot line of what’s going on, it’s easy to miss those clues. That’s why a re-read, especially with other people discussing the book, can be so fruitful.
Meg R,
I, like Hope, really like that line you wrote about Ruth, ” I don’t know if she is so much anti-authority as anti-stupidity or incompetence.” Too many times, elected (and sometime un-elected) officials or leaders don’t give much sign of intelligence. I agree that Ruth has low tolerance for stupidity. However, I also think that sometimes she assigns stupidity, at least outwardly, when she knows differently. I was set to give several examples of this but then realized that we haven’t started discussing part 2 yet, and those might be spoilers for someone, so I will refrain for now. I see Ruth as crusty on the outside, but she’s hiding a more decent side of herself. I don’t know if this is because she was hurt at one time when she revealed her emotional side to someone, or if this is just natural for her now. Maybe she thinks that people who show their emotions in public are weak. But, for whatever reason, she is not willing to let it be known in general that she’s got a soft inner core. Probably protective coloring.
Jane,
I included that re-formatted dialog post from Emilie’s Christmas party as an example of Penny’s humor, but – as we know, comedy can often hide the mask of tragedy or pain. Go back and look at what Ruth said there about her addictions through out the years as Myrna & Clara poke fun about gobbling up so many sweets. Ruth doesn’t give us specifics, but she does give us some clues. :~}
Random Comment: I was struck by the ironies within the family inhabiting the Hadley place. CC herself is the antithesis of her book–obviously so to anyone in her presence. She had owned the house for a year, and had presumably done nothing to stage it for her designing career. She married a man because his name was Richard Lyon, but he was the lion with the missing heart–no strength or fortitude at all (perhaps that was what CC really wanted?). She despises her daughter for her obesity and gives her candy as gifts–again illustrating her own imbalance–why would she want a daughter who could rival her in anything? And poor Crie–I couldn’t figure out why she insisted on wearing summer clothes in the height of winter, but then we see her great fantasy. My greatest wish for her is that she will find her voice again and use it to build herself up–make herself whole and healthy.
Brava, Maureen. You made me look at this family’s contradictions in a richer way!
Well, as much fun as I have been having discussing question #3, I think I should probably move on to #4.
What do you think of Ruth’s idea that “most people, while claiming to hate authority, actually yearned for someone to take charge”?
I agree with the other book club members who observed that people in general, like dogs, and other animals, really do need some kind of structure in their lives. In families, ideally the leaders are the mother and father, and the children take their cues from them. In A Fatal Grace, we see what happens when the family unit does not meet the standard of normalcy. Yes, I mean the poisonous unit of CC and Richard Lyon and the abuse/neglect that Crie grows up in. It’s all the more tragic as Crie obviously has intelligence(she makes straight A’s in school, and has an outstanding voice). Her mother is the proverbial “mother from hell,” who fails to give Crie the structure she so desperately needs. Changing the focus a bit, I find it interesting that Ruth is the one that makes that comment. Of course, she usually has some different kind of slant on things, but I have to wonder, since she’s an acclaimed poet, and as an artist, whether it would be normal for her to rebel against authority. I wonder also if in her younger years she wasn’t extremely anti-authority, but has become someone who has, in her adult years, come to grips with her leadership abilities and duties. We get glimpses of that in the fact that she’s the leader of the volunteer fire brigade, and what that says about her commitment to the villagers.
TAKING CHARGE
Miss Jane,
Just loved your observation about Ruth when you said, “I find it interesting that Ruth is the one that makes that comment. Of course, she usually has some different kind of slant on things, but I have to wonder, since she’s an acclaimed poet, and as an artist, whether it would be normal for her to rebel against authority. I wonder also if in her younger years she wasn’t extremely anti-authority, but has become someone who has, in her adult years, come to grips with her leadership abilities and duties.”
We really don’t know much about Ruth’s background, except what we learned in “A Still Life.” She grew up in Three Pines and told teenaged Jane Neal’s parents about her plan to elope with her lumberman. We also know that she’s the equivalent of Canada’s poet laureate (?) and known as such with a different surname. We also know that she’s a bit of a cranky old biddy who loves her liquor and is very observant.
I don’t know if she’s so much anti-authority so much as anti stupidity or incompetence.
.
Ruth is a very intelligent woman and I suspect she has absolutely no patience for repeated displays of stupidity or incompetence. She deals with Gamache, Jean-Guy, Gabri etc.– pretty much the same way. Gal’s got a smart mouth on her, but she’s also smart enough to know and recognize if something needs to be done now and no one else steps forward – that she will. She IS an old lady! The fact that the village sees her as being in charge of their EMT/fire department speaks volumes as you mentioned.
Sometimes, it’s just easier for one person to step up and be the director, be the responsible one, be the organizer when everyone else is just not sure of what to do next. That’s Ruth, Myrna, Gamache, Isabelle
Lacoste – & others too at different times. Does this make any sense?
“I don’t know if she’s so much anti-authority so much as anti stupidity or incompetence.” YES — that’s our Ruth. No wonder I like her so much.
I think people who hate authority often become leaders themselves. They have seen what happens when leadership is incompetent or completely absent. Most authority is misused – hence a very good reason to hate it. Still, hating it doesn’t mean ignoring that it is necessary. No authority = anarchy. A kind of necessary evil? And there is something wonderful about a truly great leader.
Meg,
I love that scene you wrote about, too. The place where the women are discussing chin hairs and Kaye says that the three of them made a pact years ago that if one of them was unconscious in the hospital, one of them would pull it, and Ruth asks “The plug?” And Kaye says, no, the chin hair, and then goes on to tell Ruth she’s off the list, and tells Mother to make a note, and Mother says she made a note years ago, is hilarious to me. I note that all the women here are all comfortable enough with each other that they can discuss something as potentially embarrassing as chin hair(don’t think many women would discuss that in front of men, for example!) and that Kaye and Mother can joke around with Ruth says a lot about their acceptance of each other.
Doing this re-read, I am amazed and overwhelmed at the amount of foreshadowing in the books. I see it much more clearly in the second reading (of course it helps to know what is coming in future books), but I am really impressed with the little seeds of future action and future sorrow that I skimmed over in my first reading. How does she do it? What wonderful writing!
Ceci, this was my thought too–I feel as though Louise has sprinkled bread crumbs a la Hansel and Gretel throughout her novels. It seems as though before starting she had created her world, plotting it all, knowing what ultimately would happen. And yes, it’s much clearer on a re-read, but that’s also a thrilling part about re-reading. Aside from re-visiting beloved friends, we get these AHA moments, these glimpses of understanding that we would likely have missed before. But even within this novel (I read it as Dead Cold and find the title very appropriate), even knowing what comes later, there are still puzzlers. Louise Penny is a very bright woman, apart from being a captivating writer.
Ceci B,
I enjoyed very much reading your comments about the foreshadowing that we find in Louise Penny’s books. Didn’t get around to mentioning this particular name in the reading of Still Life, as I became aware that others in the discussion may not yet have read all the books. So, spoiler alert here. If you are just starting with Still Life and A Fatal Grace, STOP READING HERE! For those who HAVE read all the books, did any of you notice that a guy by the name of Old Mundin got up to answer questions by Gamache and Beauvoir? At the time I first read the book, it meant nothing to me except Penny identifying one of the villagers.
In A Fatal Grace, Penny has frequent references to A Huron Christmas Carol. I’d never heard of this before, so I looked it up. Guess who the transcriber was who put Indian and English words to an old French Carol! Some guy by the name of Brebeuf! No, I am NOT kidding! Of course, this knowledge may be common to those residing in Canada, but it was certainly news to me, and with the fact that it’s the last name of the Superintendent who is Gamache’s friendly superintendent, I think it’s another little tidbit that Penny drops into her writing.
Jane — that pickup about the name Brebeuf is amazing. This might be a discussion for a future book, but I wonder whether Louise intended a connection between that character and the Huron carol (which I’d never heard of either) or the name just happened to pop into her head?
Am somewhat confused by the title as I thought I’d not read it before, only to discover when reading everyone’s comments that in the UK the title was different to the US and Canadian title. I enjoyed the book, although couldn’t stand CC and was pleased that she was killed. The method of murder was original.
I would like to live in Three Pines, but only in spring and summer. I like the community aspect of the village. The descriptions of food are very appealing. perhaps Louise could create a Three Pines cook book so we could have a go at creating some of the recipes at home.
My favourite character is Ruth, and I agree with her sentiments about people wanting someone else to take charge of things.