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Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10
The Long Way Home
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2014)Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he’d only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. "There is a balm in Gilead," his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, "to make the wounded whole."
While Gamache doesn’t talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache’s help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. "There’s power enough in Heaven," he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, "to cure a sin-sick soul." And then he gets up. And joins her.
Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence River. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it "the land God gave to Cain." And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.
While Gamache doesn’t talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache’s help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. "There’s power enough in Heaven," he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, "to cure a sin-sick soul." And then he gets up. And joins her.
Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence River. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it "the land God gave to Cain." And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.
373 pages, Hardcover
First published August 26, 2014
5,480 people are currently reading
21.7k people want to read
About the author
Louise Penny
74books24.9kfollowersLOUISE PENNY is the author of the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling series of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and the Agatha Award (seven times), and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In 2017, she received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture. Louise lives in a small village south of Montréal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,747 reviews
January 27, 2015
Louise , you've let us down! What a weak excuse for a book. There is no mystery here, there is just blathering on, and then uncovering something in the last pages.
I have LOVED Armand and Jean-guy, and they were UNDER UTILIZED. I am no light weight when it comes to this author. I have read the entire series at least 2x. This book is in an entirely different category from the past mysteries. There was a lot of fluff and filler in this book, all the stuff that I put up with in the other books because Gamache is so fantastic and smart.
This is like a backwards mystery. It starts off w no obvious crime, and then there is a crime at the end. Not a great model, nor one I want repeated.
Pah. I am very disappointed.
I have LOVED Armand and Jean-guy, and they were UNDER UTILIZED. I am no light weight when it comes to this author. I have read the entire series at least 2x. This book is in an entirely different category from the past mysteries. There was a lot of fluff and filler in this book, all the stuff that I put up with in the other books because Gamache is so fantastic and smart.
This is like a backwards mystery. It starts off w no obvious crime, and then there is a crime at the end. Not a great model, nor one I want repeated.
Pah. I am very disappointed.
Read
September 3, 2014I'm not sure how to rate this. It has Penny's wonderful writing, colorful characters, insightful comments about human nature, and awesome humor. However, the storyline just dragged, especially in the middle of the book.
Let's look at some paintings.
Let's look at them again.
Let's turn them upside down and look at them.
Let's tack them to the wall and look at them.
Let's look some more.
This just went on and on...oy. And the ending...I can't even. It was so predictable and cheesy, I don't know what to say.
I still adore this author, but this book was a big disappointment for me. Easily the least favorite of the series.
Let's look at some paintings.
Let's look at them again.
Let's turn them upside down and look at them.
Let's tack them to the wall and look at them.
Let's look some more.
This just went on and on...oy. And the ending...I can't even. It was so predictable and cheesy, I don't know what to say.
I still adore this author, but this book was a big disappointment for me. Easily the least favorite of the series.
December 30, 2022
The Long Way Home
(Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10)
by Louise Penny, Ralph Cosham (Narrator)
Another book in the series that focuses on art. In past books in this series, when characters are admiring good art, I've gotten lost in what they were saying about it, and I didn't understand what they saw. This story has a lot of bad art and I didn't feel lost, maybe I understand bad art, who knew? I enjoyed this story a lot and I think it's because there were so many funny parts. Penny does a very good job with subtle humor.
Armand is retired to Three Pines now and greatly enjoying the peace of his retirement. Jean-Guy is healthy now and I love being in the head of a healthy Jean-Guy because he can be funny. Armand and Jean-Guy go on a road/air/sea trip with Clara and Myrna and Clara insists she is calling the shots. For that reason, Armand and Jean-Guy have to ride in the back seat of the car with Jean-Guy playing the role of the whiny kid. The fun really begins once they are on the boat.
I've enjoyed the narration of Ralph Cosham, who narrated the first ten books of this series. He died and the books in the rest of the series are narrated by someone else. I'll miss Ralph's voice, he was always a favorite of mine, as a narrator and as a game voice actor.
Published Aug 26, 2014
(Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10)
by Louise Penny, Ralph Cosham (Narrator)
Another book in the series that focuses on art. In past books in this series, when characters are admiring good art, I've gotten lost in what they were saying about it, and I didn't understand what they saw. This story has a lot of bad art and I didn't feel lost, maybe I understand bad art, who knew? I enjoyed this story a lot and I think it's because there were so many funny parts. Penny does a very good job with subtle humor.
Armand is retired to Three Pines now and greatly enjoying the peace of his retirement. Jean-Guy is healthy now and I love being in the head of a healthy Jean-Guy because he can be funny. Armand and Jean-Guy go on a road/air/sea trip with Clara and Myrna and Clara insists she is calling the shots. For that reason, Armand and Jean-Guy have to ride in the back seat of the car with Jean-Guy playing the role of the whiny kid. The fun really begins once they are on the boat.
I've enjoyed the narration of Ralph Cosham, who narrated the first ten books of this series. He died and the books in the rest of the series are narrated by someone else. I'll miss Ralph's voice, he was always a favorite of mine, as a narrator and as a game voice actor.
Published Aug 26, 2014
May 5, 2018
This is definitely not a book to read unless you have already read the preceding books and have come to know and love all the main characters. Without that attachment to the people in the story I think things might prove very slow and perhaps a bit too technical. My knowledge of art is slim and I did not warm to the endless discussion of the meanings of paintings at all!
However I was gripped by the comings and goings of all of our favourites. There was lots of Ruth which is always a plus. Oh and Rosa of course although she doesn't say very much. Just one word really which I cannot include here:) I was happy that Reine-Marie was allowed to play an individual role as we usually only see her as an attachment to Armand.
The mystery was very mysterious indeed especially as no one knew who had done what to who until very near the end. And then what an unexpected ending! I was left stunned and a bit sad too.
However I was gripped by the comings and goings of all of our favourites. There was lots of Ruth which is always a plus. Oh and Rosa of course although she doesn't say very much. Just one word really which I cannot include here:) I was happy that Reine-Marie was allowed to play an individual role as we usually only see her as an attachment to Armand.
The mystery was very mysterious indeed especially as no one knew who had done what to who until very near the end. And then what an unexpected ending! I was left stunned and a bit sad too.
January 22, 2025
3.5 rounded up because the ending saved the novel
I love this series and Louise Penny writing. However, this story was quite boring until halfway through. Too much philosophy and talk about art. Not a real investigation. Also, the novel focuses on a character I never liked so that also diminished my enjoyment of the story.
I love this series and Louise Penny writing. However, this story was quite boring until halfway through. Too much philosophy and talk about art. Not a real investigation. Also, the novel focuses on a character I never liked so that also diminished my enjoyment of the story.
December 1, 2016
With a heavy heart I have to admit that this was not my favorite Louise Penny book. I've read other reviews that said the same thing. I just hoped that I would see it differently, that I would love it as much as her prior books that essentially took my breath away. But alas, I have to agree with everyone, it was just wasn't the same.
Let's start with the positive....
Louise Penny introduces each character with such depth that you feel that you know them, no matter how small a role that character has in the book. Many times a book can have so many characters that you start to having difficulty remembering who they are and how they fit into the story. It's because they are brought in as one dimensional. Here the author gives every person no matter how small a role, depth. You remember them because you feel like you know them. As I read the book, each character came alive. I could see them, feel their pain, their fears. They were real!
Clara Morrow, a brilliant artist looks to Armand Gamache to help her locate her estranged husband, Peter. Who, for some reason didn't show up for their scheduled rendezvous to determine if they would remain married or move on in different directions.
Armand Gamache, is the retired chief inspector of homicide from the Surete du Quebec. He moved to Three Pines with his wife Rene Marie to heal physically and spirituality. With the help of Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his former protégé, they attempt to retrace Peter's steps as he moved across the globe.
The whole group of friends from Three Pines get involved in the search, including Ruth and her sidekick Rosa the duck.
The down side...
A bit of a sleeper at times. I felt it was a little too deep into the art world for me. I found myself skipping ahead as they continued to look at Peter's art from all different directions to find a clue hidden within the sketch.
It felt like it was missing something, that magic spark. I know not every book from Louise Penny can be a home run, nonetheless I was somewhat disappointed.
Believe me...that won't slow me down from reaching for the next in the series!
Let's start with the positive....
Louise Penny introduces each character with such depth that you feel that you know them, no matter how small a role that character has in the book. Many times a book can have so many characters that you start to having difficulty remembering who they are and how they fit into the story. It's because they are brought in as one dimensional. Here the author gives every person no matter how small a role, depth. You remember them because you feel like you know them. As I read the book, each character came alive. I could see them, feel their pain, their fears. They were real!
Clara Morrow, a brilliant artist looks to Armand Gamache to help her locate her estranged husband, Peter. Who, for some reason didn't show up for their scheduled rendezvous to determine if they would remain married or move on in different directions.
Armand Gamache, is the retired chief inspector of homicide from the Surete du Quebec. He moved to Three Pines with his wife Rene Marie to heal physically and spirituality. With the help of Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his former protégé, they attempt to retrace Peter's steps as he moved across the globe.
The whole group of friends from Three Pines get involved in the search, including Ruth and her sidekick Rosa the duck.
The down side...
A bit of a sleeper at times. I felt it was a little too deep into the art world for me. I found myself skipping ahead as they continued to look at Peter's art from all different directions to find a clue hidden within the sketch.
It felt like it was missing something, that magic spark. I know not every book from Louise Penny can be a home run, nonetheless I was somewhat disappointed.
Believe me...that won't slow me down from reaching for the next in the series!
May 16, 2019
Oh Peter Morrow. You've always been a troubled character and this book is all about you even though you are almost entirely absent from it. I just wish the ending had evoked some kind of emotional reaction, but it didn't. Mainly because I was so bored by that point- the whole side trip via the boat right before was so infuriatingly pointless that I was ready for the book to end. And all the investigative work prior to the boat trip felt like random well-researched places that the author tried to shove together into a plot (the cosmic garden, the crater).
I know I am in a book funk, but I am pretty sure this book was objectively not nearly as good as previous ones in this series. This was on the level of , which is to say - not good. But 'not good' for this series is still a whole lot better than most other books out there in this genre for me lately so I am not completely putting this book down, thus with the 3 stars. I'll still keep reading this series because it's still one of my favorites. I've really enjoyed 8 out of 10 of them so far - an impressive ratio!
I know I am in a book funk, but I am pretty sure this book was objectively not nearly as good as previous ones in this series. This was on the level of , which is to say - not good. But 'not good' for this series is still a whole lot better than most other books out there in this genre for me lately so I am not completely putting this book down, thus with the 3 stars. I'll still keep reading this series because it's still one of my favorites. I've really enjoyed 8 out of 10 of them so far - an impressive ratio!
November 3, 2018
I’ll say 3.75 stars after a slight slip!
Louise Penny continues to explore new aspects in her Canadian police procedural series, pushing readers to open their minds once again. Major changes continue within the Homicide squad of the Sûreté du Québec, largest of all being the retirement of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. After purchasing some property in the bucolic town of Three Pines, Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, settle amongst friends to enjoy peace in rural Quebec. All this is shattered when town resident, Clara Morrow, seeks assistance in locating her husband. Peter has been gone for a year when the couple agreed that they would take some time apart, but has failed to return after the agreed-upon separation. With no note or indication where he might have gone, Clara is beside herself with worry. Gamache engages the assistance of his new son-in-law, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, to make some calls and trace a few digital footprints that may help Clara better understand Peter’s movements. The results are staggering, as it would seem Peter has been all over Europe, including making an odd stop in Scotland, something that catches the eye of the former Chief Inspector. Working an angle as he did for so long, Gamache learns that Peter has been back in Canada after some time ‘retreating� away in Scotland, having visited his old art school and liaised with some of his favourite professors. As the entire Three Pines community enters into the sleuthing business, more is discovered, only to realise that Peter’s disappearance may have something to do with an art commune, but still the questions pile up. With Clara becoming increasingly anxious, Gamache must try to determine what has happened to Peter and how all this might connect to an odd finding with some art supplies. Even after leaving his life’s work, Gamache is plagued with murder and deception. Highly recommended to series fans who have a great handle on the characters and writing style, though they will have to keep an open mind about this new narrative tangent. I hold firm in my suggestion that new readers begin where the series began and progress accordingly.
This series was forced to engage in some significant rediscovery with the numerous revelations discovered at the end of the last novel. Tying Armand Gamache with the Three Pines folks was, perhaps, the easiest thing that Penny had to do, though even that took a little massaging of what the series reader understands and can accept. As with many individuals who have left a long-held post, it is hard to fully remove them from their thought processes, which paves the way for Penny to keep using Gamache as a central sleuth. While some of the major issues for Gamache are in his rearview mirror, he is still trying to come to terms with his retirement and the newly-discovered time to spend with Reine-Marie. There is also a significant change in his daily routine, isolated from Montreal and all that he knew, while being forced to live a simple life. Penny shows that Gamache struggles with this, particularly when put in the middle of a trying issue that begs to be solved. Many of the other characters here show why Three Pines was almost an essential setting for at least part of the novel. Their quirky characteristics and banter between this central cast that series fans have come to love proves to buoy the story at times when things get highly technical. Penny has taken so long honing these people that it would have been a pity to see them fade into the background. Everyone serves their purpose and Penny is able to move the story along at a decent pace. The narrative and plots were decent, though I did have to accept less grit in the piece than I am used to, especially with this case being one based more on a missing person than one who was slain. Trying to find an established character helped keep series readers connected, as did more exploration of the world of art and how it can lead to murder, though I will admit, it did not pack the punch I have seen in many of the previous novels. I am not prepared to decry a harsh dislike quite yet, but one can hope that this was a novel crafted during a significant pendulum swing in the series and not the new ‘post-Chief Inspector Gamache� theme for the rest of the series. There are three more novels, to date, with a fourth coming out later this month. Here’s hoping we’ll get back in the swing of things soon!
Kudos, Madam Penny, for another decent novel. I need some time to see how I feel about all these changes and hope the next novel continues to aid in that transition.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: /group/show/...
Louise Penny continues to explore new aspects in her Canadian police procedural series, pushing readers to open their minds once again. Major changes continue within the Homicide squad of the Sûreté du Québec, largest of all being the retirement of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. After purchasing some property in the bucolic town of Three Pines, Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, settle amongst friends to enjoy peace in rural Quebec. All this is shattered when town resident, Clara Morrow, seeks assistance in locating her husband. Peter has been gone for a year when the couple agreed that they would take some time apart, but has failed to return after the agreed-upon separation. With no note or indication where he might have gone, Clara is beside herself with worry. Gamache engages the assistance of his new son-in-law, Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir, to make some calls and trace a few digital footprints that may help Clara better understand Peter’s movements. The results are staggering, as it would seem Peter has been all over Europe, including making an odd stop in Scotland, something that catches the eye of the former Chief Inspector. Working an angle as he did for so long, Gamache learns that Peter has been back in Canada after some time ‘retreating� away in Scotland, having visited his old art school and liaised with some of his favourite professors. As the entire Three Pines community enters into the sleuthing business, more is discovered, only to realise that Peter’s disappearance may have something to do with an art commune, but still the questions pile up. With Clara becoming increasingly anxious, Gamache must try to determine what has happened to Peter and how all this might connect to an odd finding with some art supplies. Even after leaving his life’s work, Gamache is plagued with murder and deception. Highly recommended to series fans who have a great handle on the characters and writing style, though they will have to keep an open mind about this new narrative tangent. I hold firm in my suggestion that new readers begin where the series began and progress accordingly.
This series was forced to engage in some significant rediscovery with the numerous revelations discovered at the end of the last novel. Tying Armand Gamache with the Three Pines folks was, perhaps, the easiest thing that Penny had to do, though even that took a little massaging of what the series reader understands and can accept. As with many individuals who have left a long-held post, it is hard to fully remove them from their thought processes, which paves the way for Penny to keep using Gamache as a central sleuth. While some of the major issues for Gamache are in his rearview mirror, he is still trying to come to terms with his retirement and the newly-discovered time to spend with Reine-Marie. There is also a significant change in his daily routine, isolated from Montreal and all that he knew, while being forced to live a simple life. Penny shows that Gamache struggles with this, particularly when put in the middle of a trying issue that begs to be solved. Many of the other characters here show why Three Pines was almost an essential setting for at least part of the novel. Their quirky characteristics and banter between this central cast that series fans have come to love proves to buoy the story at times when things get highly technical. Penny has taken so long honing these people that it would have been a pity to see them fade into the background. Everyone serves their purpose and Penny is able to move the story along at a decent pace. The narrative and plots were decent, though I did have to accept less grit in the piece than I am used to, especially with this case being one based more on a missing person than one who was slain. Trying to find an established character helped keep series readers connected, as did more exploration of the world of art and how it can lead to murder, though I will admit, it did not pack the punch I have seen in many of the previous novels. I am not prepared to decry a harsh dislike quite yet, but one can hope that this was a novel crafted during a significant pendulum swing in the series and not the new ‘post-Chief Inspector Gamache� theme for the rest of the series. There are three more novels, to date, with a fourth coming out later this month. Here’s hoping we’ll get back in the swing of things soon!
Kudos, Madam Penny, for another decent novel. I need some time to see how I feel about all these changes and hope the next novel continues to aid in that transition.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: /group/show/...
July 11, 2014
Oh Louise, you are a sly one. You begin your latest Gamache novel in the rural, serene setting of Three Pines. Humor is liberally sprinkled along with mouthwatering descriptions of the frequent meals enjoyed by all. I soon felt like I was hanging out with good friends, having a great time, sitting around and shooting the breeze.
But wait, there’s more! This is a mystery novel, one written by you, crafty Louise Penny. So it is not long before dark undercurrents are felt. A sense of unease surfaces and before I can finish longing for my own fresh croissant and café au lait I find myself pondering big moral questions.
In this case, it’s whether there is anyone I would kill if I could do it from a distance, without having to face them. If it was as simple as pushing a button, are there any circumstances in which I could see myself reaching out and pressing down?
I’m not going to summarize the plot, because I don’t want to give away too much and I’m too lazy to do it after reading about all that good food. I wish Louise Penny and Donna Leon (who also writes great mysteries studded with great descriptions of food) would become best friends, and offer food tours of Montreal and Venice to which they invited loyal fans such as moi.
I’ll just conclude by saying this is vintage Louise Penny, at the top of her game.
But wait, there’s more! This is a mystery novel, one written by you, crafty Louise Penny. So it is not long before dark undercurrents are felt. A sense of unease surfaces and before I can finish longing for my own fresh croissant and café au lait I find myself pondering big moral questions.
In this case, it’s whether there is anyone I would kill if I could do it from a distance, without having to face them. If it was as simple as pushing a button, are there any circumstances in which I could see myself reaching out and pressing down?
I’m not going to summarize the plot, because I don’t want to give away too much and I’m too lazy to do it after reading about all that good food. I wish Louise Penny and Donna Leon (who also writes great mysteries studded with great descriptions of food) would become best friends, and offer food tours of Montreal and Venice to which they invited loyal fans such as moi.
I’ll just conclude by saying this is vintage Louise Penny, at the top of her game.
April 2, 2020
3.5�
“Ruth sat in Gamache’s chair, grabbing his ginger beer with one hand and the last of the nuts with the other.
‘Peter was last heard from in Quebec City,� she said. ‘So what does Clouseau here come looking for? A map of Paris. Christ. How many people did you have to poison to become Chief Inspector?'
‘So many that one more wouldn’t matter,� he said, and Ruth snorted.�
Still a favourite series with favourite characters in a favourite Canadian village � Three Pines. There’s no murder to open the story, just a peaceful scene on a bench in the early morning sun. Armand Gamache has retired as Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec and now lives in Three Pines with his beloved wife, Reine-Marie.
“Each morning for the past few weeks, Armand Gamache had sat on the bench and watched the same people do the same thing. The village had the rhythm, the cadence, of a piece of music. Perhaps that’s what Henri [his dog] heard. The music of Three Pines. It was like a hum, a hymn, a comforting ritual.
. . .
Turmoil shook loose all sorts of unpleasant truths. But it took peace to examine them. Sitting in this quiet place in the bright sunshine, Armand Gamache was finally free to examine all the things that had fallen to the ground. As he had fallen.�
Joining him every morning, but afraid to speak, is villager Clara Morrow. Finally she asks for help. Her husband Peter has not returned after their agreed year’s separation and seems to have disappeared completely, so she fears the worst. Peter and Clara have been good friends with Gamache, so he can’t refuse.
Peter and Clara met at art college, where his popular paintings were always selected for shows and were good sellers. He was neat, tidy, and well brought up in a privileged family. Clara, on the other hand, was a scatty, disorganised, paint-splatters-in-her-hair, crumbs-on-her-shirt sort of girl. Her art was always chosen for the “anti-show� of the least popular, unmarketable pieces, which was hugely embarrassing for her. (It seems unnecessarily cruel!)
But for some reason, Peter liked her and made a point of befriending and protecting her. Later, married and living for many years in Three Pines, they’d made a home with separate studios and had many friends in this close-knit community. He paints landscapes, she paints people, particularly Ruth, the crazy old poet who pinched Gamache’s drink in the first quoted excerpt. There’s a spoiler here, not for this book, but just in case you haven’t read the previous novels.
So the hunt is on to find Peter Morrow. This means leaving Three Pines to investigate likely places in Europe which leads them to some interesting and remote parts of Canada. Jean-Guy Beauvoir comes along but has trouble accepting that Gamache is letting Clara run 'her
operation.
�‘You heard her, Jean-Guy. Grab your things.�
‘PٰDz,� Jean-Guy started to say, but Gamache put his hand on Beauvoir’s arm to stop him.
‘Clara’s in charge. She knows what she’s doing.�
‘She once ate potpourri thinking it was chips,� said Jean-guy. ‘She took a bath in soup, thinking it was bath salts. She turned a vacuum cleaner into a sculpture. She has no idea what she’s doing.�
Gamache smiled. ‘At least if it all goes south, we have someone else to blame for once.�
‘You do,� mumbled Beauvoir, tossing his bag into the back of the van. ‘I always blamed you anyway. I’m no further ahead.��
I almost always feel cold in Louise Penny’s novels, and this was no exception. Gamache admired the solid old stone home he was staying in that looked straight up the St Lawrence river. The original builder had prepared it well
�. . . to protect himself and his family from the elements. From the approaching winter. From the monster who marched down the great river, picking up ice and snow and bitter cold. Gaining in strength and power. So few early settlers survived. But whoever had built this home had.�
I was happy to see the characters again and having a bit of a visit in Three Pines before the group took off on their hunt for Peter Morrow. It’s a slower story than usual, but I did enjoy learning more about some of the backgrounds, and I look forward to visiting again.
There is a good interview with the author about this book here:
“Ruth sat in Gamache’s chair, grabbing his ginger beer with one hand and the last of the nuts with the other.
‘Peter was last heard from in Quebec City,� she said. ‘So what does Clouseau here come looking for? A map of Paris. Christ. How many people did you have to poison to become Chief Inspector?'
‘So many that one more wouldn’t matter,� he said, and Ruth snorted.�
Still a favourite series with favourite characters in a favourite Canadian village � Three Pines. There’s no murder to open the story, just a peaceful scene on a bench in the early morning sun. Armand Gamache has retired as Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec and now lives in Three Pines with his beloved wife, Reine-Marie.
“Each morning for the past few weeks, Armand Gamache had sat on the bench and watched the same people do the same thing. The village had the rhythm, the cadence, of a piece of music. Perhaps that’s what Henri [his dog] heard. The music of Three Pines. It was like a hum, a hymn, a comforting ritual.
. . .
Turmoil shook loose all sorts of unpleasant truths. But it took peace to examine them. Sitting in this quiet place in the bright sunshine, Armand Gamache was finally free to examine all the things that had fallen to the ground. As he had fallen.�
Joining him every morning, but afraid to speak, is villager Clara Morrow. Finally she asks for help. Her husband Peter has not returned after their agreed year’s separation and seems to have disappeared completely, so she fears the worst. Peter and Clara have been good friends with Gamache, so he can’t refuse.
Peter and Clara met at art college, where his popular paintings were always selected for shows and were good sellers. He was neat, tidy, and well brought up in a privileged family. Clara, on the other hand, was a scatty, disorganised, paint-splatters-in-her-hair, crumbs-on-her-shirt sort of girl. Her art was always chosen for the “anti-show� of the least popular, unmarketable pieces, which was hugely embarrassing for her. (It seems unnecessarily cruel!)
But for some reason, Peter liked her and made a point of befriending and protecting her. Later, married and living for many years in Three Pines, they’d made a home with separate studios and had many friends in this close-knit community. He paints landscapes, she paints people, particularly Ruth, the crazy old poet who pinched Gamache’s drink in the first quoted excerpt. There’s a spoiler here, not for this book, but just in case you haven’t read the previous novels.
So the hunt is on to find Peter Morrow. This means leaving Three Pines to investigate likely places in Europe which leads them to some interesting and remote parts of Canada. Jean-Guy Beauvoir comes along but has trouble accepting that Gamache is letting Clara run 'her
operation.
�‘You heard her, Jean-Guy. Grab your things.�
‘PٰDz,� Jean-Guy started to say, but Gamache put his hand on Beauvoir’s arm to stop him.
‘Clara’s in charge. She knows what she’s doing.�
‘She once ate potpourri thinking it was chips,� said Jean-guy. ‘She took a bath in soup, thinking it was bath salts. She turned a vacuum cleaner into a sculpture. She has no idea what she’s doing.�
Gamache smiled. ‘At least if it all goes south, we have someone else to blame for once.�
‘You do,� mumbled Beauvoir, tossing his bag into the back of the van. ‘I always blamed you anyway. I’m no further ahead.��
I almost always feel cold in Louise Penny’s novels, and this was no exception. Gamache admired the solid old stone home he was staying in that looked straight up the St Lawrence river. The original builder had prepared it well
�. . . to protect himself and his family from the elements. From the approaching winter. From the monster who marched down the great river, picking up ice and snow and bitter cold. Gaining in strength and power. So few early settlers survived. But whoever had built this home had.�
I was happy to see the characters again and having a bit of a visit in Three Pines before the group took off on their hunt for Peter Morrow. It’s a slower story than usual, but I did enjoy learning more about some of the backgrounds, and I look forward to visiting again.
There is a good interview with the author about this book here:
September 4, 2014
I love Louise Penny's novels but I didn't think this one was as good as some of the others. The plot seemed thin because it lacked, I felt, the more layered plots of her previous novels. Since Gamache is retired we don't have the added tensions of his fight within the Surete while trying to solve a murder or the complications of the characters who work for him.
I found Penny's writing style started to grate on me a bit: the fragmented sentences, repetition and alliteration plus her habit of saying one idea followed by it's direct opposite for impact; perhaps because the bones of the writing weren't as well fleshed with plot and were therefore more noticeable? I also thought there was too much listing of food choices, witty banter and repetition of tiresome and, to my mind, somewhat silly themes, like the Tenth Muse. At one point it is suggested the Tenth Muse represents inspiration (for the visual arts) but the other nine muses also represent inspiration for their respective disciplines.
A small quibble, there are a couple of typos in book. Also, knowing the character of Clara it is hard to believe that the whole village (or at least Myrna) wasn't aware of her pact with Peter and wasn't asking her how's Peter, why isn't he back yet?
I still love the world of Three Pines and I am looking forward to the next one, maybe this one was just a lump in the throat?
I found Penny's writing style started to grate on me a bit: the fragmented sentences, repetition and alliteration plus her habit of saying one idea followed by it's direct opposite for impact; perhaps because the bones of the writing weren't as well fleshed with plot and were therefore more noticeable? I also thought there was too much listing of food choices, witty banter and repetition of tiresome and, to my mind, somewhat silly themes, like the Tenth Muse. At one point it is suggested the Tenth Muse represents inspiration (for the visual arts) but the other nine muses also represent inspiration for their respective disciplines.
A small quibble, there are a couple of typos in book. Also, knowing the character of Clara it is hard to believe that the whole village (or at least Myrna) wasn't aware of her pact with Peter and wasn't asking her how's Peter, why isn't he back yet?
I still love the world of Three Pines and I am looking forward to the next one, maybe this one was just a lump in the throat?
June 25, 2014
A Love Letter to Louise
(No Spoilers)
I want to thank you for yet another thrilling, engaging, thoughtful, and moving book. I found your prose so graceful (certainly not breathy as one reviewer labeled it-Really, tsk tsk) that on many occasions I stopped to re-read paragraphs, just for the sheer beauty of the work.
I was moved by the love you have for your country. It shines so brightly in this work. I only wish all readers could feel it as deeply as some of us do.
Most of all, I wish I had the words to tell you how, as I have grown to know you, and know your characters, how lovingly you create their story and include us, your readers into your story-I appreciate it all. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us, Louise. This story of Gamache, and Clara, and Ruth all tied together so neatly, and yet, not. You have created another brilliant storyline. And once again, given us a small glimpse into your heart as well.
How brave you are. How useful.
Thank you.
Your friend,
Kathy
(No Spoilers)
I want to thank you for yet another thrilling, engaging, thoughtful, and moving book. I found your prose so graceful (certainly not breathy as one reviewer labeled it-Really, tsk tsk) that on many occasions I stopped to re-read paragraphs, just for the sheer beauty of the work.
I was moved by the love you have for your country. It shines so brightly in this work. I only wish all readers could feel it as deeply as some of us do.
Most of all, I wish I had the words to tell you how, as I have grown to know you, and know your characters, how lovingly you create their story and include us, your readers into your story-I appreciate it all. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us, Louise. This story of Gamache, and Clara, and Ruth all tied together so neatly, and yet, not. You have created another brilliant storyline. And once again, given us a small glimpse into your heart as well.
How brave you are. How useful.
Thank you.
Your friend,
Kathy
September 4, 2023
Labor Day. Time to put away the white clothes and get ready for the autumn weather ahead. Tell that to Mother Nature because it’s going to be 90 degrees today and should remain hot for the foreseeable future. Not having access to a beach where I live, I chose to spend a chunk of my weekend cooling off in Three Pines, Québec. The quirky village is too cold for my liking in the winter, but I could see myself as a summer resident escaping the brutal heat. So to Three Pines I go, and, as usual, Louise Penny does not disappoint.
After quelling the attempts to destroy the Sureté that he had built up, Armand Gamache has put the events of the previous winter behind him and has “retired� to the village of Three Pines. Armand and Reine-Marie have been well regarded by the villagers since he was sent there on his first case nearly ten years earlier. The village offers him refuge from the cruel world outside and a sense of community that had been fraying due to all the turmoil at work. So, Armand is home and recovering and it also appears restless. One can take an investigator away from his profession but that is who he is: the chief inspector of homicide. After all, Gamache is only in his fifties, it appears, not old enough for formal retirement age. In the quiet village of Three Pines, murder happens to happen and it will only be a matter of time before a case happens to find Gamache.
The case at hand is that Peter Morrow has not come home on the one year anniversary arranged by his wife Clara. Peter has always been the straight forward, non creative of the two, so a year means a year, not a year and two weeks. Hence, Clara is worried having not received any contact from Peter and wonders why he hasn’t come home as of yet. It just so happens that her new neighbor is a retired investigator with time on his hands. Gamache while not saying it is eager to investigate and agrees to take on the case along with the help of his now son-in-law Jean Guy Beauvoir. After going through rehab following a horrific incident that nearly claimed both their lives, both men are now in a better place. This is the first time in three books that they have worked together without the pretense of hostility or hatred. With the demons all but purged, the men can resume their professional and personal lives. It is in this working environment that they are expected to find Peter. It also leaves one wondering that by experiencing a spark of his professional that Gamache isn’t whetting at the bit to get back in the game. One can only hope anyway.
To find Peter, Penny takes readers on a journey through picturesque Quebec, up the St Lawrence seaway to Charlevoix toward the northern coast, halfway across a continent. Peter is an artist after all albeit a highly predictable one and is looking for a spark of magic to rekindle his professional career and his marriage. His journeys take him half way around the world until he ends up back at his art college. What Peter is searching for is the tenth muse, the forgotten muse because, although the Greeks loved art, there was never a muse for art or sculpture. Demented poet Ruth Zardo refers to the muses as a circle of Degas� dancers in a clearing at midnight, the tenth and forgotten on the outside looking in. An artistic idea, Ruth says, starts as a lump in the throat and then just takes off. As deranged and rude as Ruth is, she is a gifted poet, one who Gamache respects and uses her judgement on this case. Over the course of these books I have grown to abhor Ruth but she is who she is and as much as she needs scotch to function, I have grown to find a soft spot for her. With an artistic eye, Ruth is actually a key to solving this case, much as I would not have believed it at the opening. She would have been a liability on a journey up the St Lawrence River to the coast of Quebec but in interpreting art, she is perhaps Three Pines greatest asset, who would have thought.
Over the course of a series of books some are usually better than others. I thought that Penny created a safety valve at the end of the ninth book. Francoeur and his cronies are finally out of the way, Jean Guy marries Annie, and Armand and Reine-Marie repair to Three Pines. It would have been a tidy way to end an already excellent series filled with tension that had finally come to a head. Louise Penny still had many stories to tell, not just about Armand and Reine-Marie but about all the peripheral characters as well. There is hardly a mention of the Sureté in this tenth book but the villagers wonder if Armand is truly retired. I suspect Reine Marie wonders it herself. Fast forward nine years and Penny is still writing. The search for Peter had indeed created a spark of interest, not just for Peter but for Gamache as well. Three Pines might be home now, but Gamache is hardly ready to retire. That is clear as this book quickly comes to a denouement. I look forward to see how Penny takes this series forward in what are sure to be multilayered mysteries full of multifaceted characters. As summer comes to a close and winter sure to hit Three Pines before my neck of the woods it might be away until I visit again but when I do visit I will be sure to savor it.
4 stars
After quelling the attempts to destroy the Sureté that he had built up, Armand Gamache has put the events of the previous winter behind him and has “retired� to the village of Three Pines. Armand and Reine-Marie have been well regarded by the villagers since he was sent there on his first case nearly ten years earlier. The village offers him refuge from the cruel world outside and a sense of community that had been fraying due to all the turmoil at work. So, Armand is home and recovering and it also appears restless. One can take an investigator away from his profession but that is who he is: the chief inspector of homicide. After all, Gamache is only in his fifties, it appears, not old enough for formal retirement age. In the quiet village of Three Pines, murder happens to happen and it will only be a matter of time before a case happens to find Gamache.
The case at hand is that Peter Morrow has not come home on the one year anniversary arranged by his wife Clara. Peter has always been the straight forward, non creative of the two, so a year means a year, not a year and two weeks. Hence, Clara is worried having not received any contact from Peter and wonders why he hasn’t come home as of yet. It just so happens that her new neighbor is a retired investigator with time on his hands. Gamache while not saying it is eager to investigate and agrees to take on the case along with the help of his now son-in-law Jean Guy Beauvoir. After going through rehab following a horrific incident that nearly claimed both their lives, both men are now in a better place. This is the first time in three books that they have worked together without the pretense of hostility or hatred. With the demons all but purged, the men can resume their professional and personal lives. It is in this working environment that they are expected to find Peter. It also leaves one wondering that by experiencing a spark of his professional that Gamache isn’t whetting at the bit to get back in the game. One can only hope anyway.
To find Peter, Penny takes readers on a journey through picturesque Quebec, up the St Lawrence seaway to Charlevoix toward the northern coast, halfway across a continent. Peter is an artist after all albeit a highly predictable one and is looking for a spark of magic to rekindle his professional career and his marriage. His journeys take him half way around the world until he ends up back at his art college. What Peter is searching for is the tenth muse, the forgotten muse because, although the Greeks loved art, there was never a muse for art or sculpture. Demented poet Ruth Zardo refers to the muses as a circle of Degas� dancers in a clearing at midnight, the tenth and forgotten on the outside looking in. An artistic idea, Ruth says, starts as a lump in the throat and then just takes off. As deranged and rude as Ruth is, she is a gifted poet, one who Gamache respects and uses her judgement on this case. Over the course of these books I have grown to abhor Ruth but she is who she is and as much as she needs scotch to function, I have grown to find a soft spot for her. With an artistic eye, Ruth is actually a key to solving this case, much as I would not have believed it at the opening. She would have been a liability on a journey up the St Lawrence River to the coast of Quebec but in interpreting art, she is perhaps Three Pines greatest asset, who would have thought.
Over the course of a series of books some are usually better than others. I thought that Penny created a safety valve at the end of the ninth book. Francoeur and his cronies are finally out of the way, Jean Guy marries Annie, and Armand and Reine-Marie repair to Three Pines. It would have been a tidy way to end an already excellent series filled with tension that had finally come to a head. Louise Penny still had many stories to tell, not just about Armand and Reine-Marie but about all the peripheral characters as well. There is hardly a mention of the Sureté in this tenth book but the villagers wonder if Armand is truly retired. I suspect Reine Marie wonders it herself. Fast forward nine years and Penny is still writing. The search for Peter had indeed created a spark of interest, not just for Peter but for Gamache as well. Three Pines might be home now, but Gamache is hardly ready to retire. That is clear as this book quickly comes to a denouement. I look forward to see how Penny takes this series forward in what are sure to be multilayered mysteries full of multifaceted characters. As summer comes to a close and winter sure to hit Three Pines before my neck of the woods it might be away until I visit again but when I do visit I will be sure to savor it.
4 stars
March 27, 2018
Long story short, I forgot to post a review about this book when I read it right after book #9. I was too irritated to do much besides be super aggravated by the nonsense going on in the Armand Gamache series and this latest was just more of the same it seemed to me. The story was way too long and drawn out for the terrible payoff we get in the end. I was wondering about reading the next book in the series, and a friend said she thinks I will like that much better, so I will. But, I wanted to post my review of book #10 before I totally forgot about it.
"The Long Way Home" has Chief Inspector Armand Gamache retired and living in Three Pines. I still don't get why he and his wife relocated there after all of the insanity that seems to befall people in this village, but they do. Gamache goes to a bench everyday and reads a book (until a certain point) and seems to be waiting for someone or something to come along. Eventually, the someone does come along, Clara Marrow finally talks to Gamache about the promise that she and her estranged husband Peter made back in "A Trick of the Light" when she finally realized that for all of the lip service he was making, Peter wanted to see her do badly. The couple agrees to go their separate ways for a year, with Peter returning at the end of that year to see if they could move forward or not. Now it's more than a year and Clara believes that something truly awful had to have befallen Peter for him not to keep his promise.
"The Long Way Home" has Gamache team up with his former protege Jean Guy Beauvoir in trying to track down Peter's movements. Gamache's wife is concerned about him being pulled back into anything resembling an investigation that will leave him injured after the events in "How the Light Gets In." I really don't get why Gamache even agrees to help Clara with this besides his own curiosity. The reveal of what was going on with Peter was pretty much a letdown.
Jean Guy is blissful as anything cause he finally has capture, er married Gamache's daughter. I have already said repeatedly I don't care a bit about this romance and that still holds true here.
I ended up not liking Clara much throughout this book. She was aggressive and didn't listen one bit to what Gamache was saying. And honestly if she had listened, the events that transpired at the end of the book would not have occurred.
We do get to see Peter's messed up family a bit in this one, but I thought Penny did a disservice not showing them in the ending of the book.
The writing was typical Penny, but honestly I was bored. I just didn't care to read the symbolism behind everything that Peter was doing. The insights that everyone had while looking at Peter's artwork and figuring out his cold trail made me laugh. I don't know if maybe Penny had included drawings of "Peter's work" or something that would have helped us readers see what everyone else was looking at. But it's hard to read about what other characters are seeing when you don't see the artwork in question. I started skipping over stuff like that in this book just to get through this. I would think a look back at Clara and Peter's history and the art world in general would have been way more intriguing than this, but honestly after reading "A Trick of the Light" I just cannot anymore with the art world in Canada.
I had a hard time with the overall mystery that was solved here and how Peter was worked into that plot. It didn't make a lot of sense and the villain reveal in this one was done really badly. I liked what another reviewer said about this being a backwards mystery and honestly it was a backwards mystery. I wish that Penny had just decided to not loop in two mysteries for the price of one in this book since neither one of them were carried off very well.
The flow was not that great either. We have Clara, Mryna, Armand, and Jean Guy bouncing from location to location and meeting tertiary characters who I am sure will appear in future books. I just didn't care enough to pay that much attention to them.
The setting of this one is a little bit of Three Pines and other locations. None of them really stayed with me at the end of this book.
The ending was such a slap in the face though. I don't know how I feel about it besides cheated. I did feel like I wasted all of my time to just get this ending that pretty much thumbed its noses at the readers. I would say that this book is pretty much filler and you can skim it to get the bare bones of the story and can skip to the next book in the series.
"The Long Way Home" has Chief Inspector Armand Gamache retired and living in Three Pines. I still don't get why he and his wife relocated there after all of the insanity that seems to befall people in this village, but they do. Gamache goes to a bench everyday and reads a book (until a certain point) and seems to be waiting for someone or something to come along. Eventually, the someone does come along, Clara Marrow finally talks to Gamache about the promise that she and her estranged husband Peter made back in "A Trick of the Light" when she finally realized that for all of the lip service he was making, Peter wanted to see her do badly. The couple agrees to go their separate ways for a year, with Peter returning at the end of that year to see if they could move forward or not. Now it's more than a year and Clara believes that something truly awful had to have befallen Peter for him not to keep his promise.
"The Long Way Home" has Gamache team up with his former protege Jean Guy Beauvoir in trying to track down Peter's movements. Gamache's wife is concerned about him being pulled back into anything resembling an investigation that will leave him injured after the events in "How the Light Gets In." I really don't get why Gamache even agrees to help Clara with this besides his own curiosity. The reveal of what was going on with Peter was pretty much a letdown.
Jean Guy is blissful as anything cause he finally has capture, er married Gamache's daughter. I have already said repeatedly I don't care a bit about this romance and that still holds true here.
I ended up not liking Clara much throughout this book. She was aggressive and didn't listen one bit to what Gamache was saying. And honestly if she had listened, the events that transpired at the end of the book would not have occurred.
We do get to see Peter's messed up family a bit in this one, but I thought Penny did a disservice not showing them in the ending of the book.
The writing was typical Penny, but honestly I was bored. I just didn't care to read the symbolism behind everything that Peter was doing. The insights that everyone had while looking at Peter's artwork and figuring out his cold trail made me laugh. I don't know if maybe Penny had included drawings of "Peter's work" or something that would have helped us readers see what everyone else was looking at. But it's hard to read about what other characters are seeing when you don't see the artwork in question. I started skipping over stuff like that in this book just to get through this. I would think a look back at Clara and Peter's history and the art world in general would have been way more intriguing than this, but honestly after reading "A Trick of the Light" I just cannot anymore with the art world in Canada.
I had a hard time with the overall mystery that was solved here and how Peter was worked into that plot. It didn't make a lot of sense and the villain reveal in this one was done really badly. I liked what another reviewer said about this being a backwards mystery and honestly it was a backwards mystery. I wish that Penny had just decided to not loop in two mysteries for the price of one in this book since neither one of them were carried off very well.
The flow was not that great either. We have Clara, Mryna, Armand, and Jean Guy bouncing from location to location and meeting tertiary characters who I am sure will appear in future books. I just didn't care enough to pay that much attention to them.
The setting of this one is a little bit of Three Pines and other locations. None of them really stayed with me at the end of this book.
The ending was such a slap in the face though. I don't know how I feel about it besides cheated. I did feel like I wasted all of my time to just get this ending that pretty much thumbed its noses at the readers. I would say that this book is pretty much filler and you can skim it to get the bare bones of the story and can skip to the next book in the series.
July 13, 2015
Oh, Louise Penny. I’m sorry, but this book is ridiculous. I hate to say this, but I’m done with Chief Inspector Gamache and his pals in Three Pines. The early books are good, but the two previous novels (The Beautiful Mystery and How the Light Gets In) displayed Penny’s irritating new writing style and began my disenchantment with the characters. A Long Way Home, her tenth in the series, is my breaking point. I don’t want to read about these irritatingly charming characters who live in the delightfully irritating village of Three Pines again. Their carefully created idiosyncratic personalities and their occasional lapses into profanity—only shocking to a very genteel crowd—are wearing thin. The story driving this book had me rolling my eyes non-stop.
Chief Inspector Gamache has retired from the Sûreté du Québec and he and his wife and their dog Henri moved to Three Pines. He was enjoying his peaceful life until one day Clara Morrow, the resident genius painter, came to him with a worry. Over a year ago, she’d asked her husband Peter to leave their house. They both needed space to see if their marriage could survive her rise to fame and his jealousy because of that. They agreed that one year later to the day of their separation, he would return and they would have dinner and discuss the situation. However, Peter is late by several months and Clara is worried. Gamache does not want to leave behind his safe, peaceful existence to search for Peter, but he does. The rest of the book is Gamache, his trusty companion Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Myrna the Three Pines bookstore owner, Clara the painter, and (for a bit) Ruth the demented profane poet tracking Peter’s journey across Scotland and Canada by looking at his paintings.
If you’ve never read any of the Inspector Gamache books, this is not the book with which to start. Penny assumes the reader is familiar with the characters and the complex relationships they have with one another. Which I don’t fault her for. If you’re going to start reading a new series with the tenth book, you deserve to be confused. If you are familiar with her characters, then at this point you either look forward to being with them or you find their lovable and quirky complexities grating and predictable. I am the latter. I’m sick of the bunch of them, particularly Gamache with his serious kind intelligent brown eyes and the Canadian Jesus aura he gives off, and Ruth and her duck Rosa. Ruth who is rude and antagonistic but really loves everyone and everyone loves her for crusty exterior which hides a heart of gold and whose duck Rosa quacks fuck fuck fuck instead of just quacking like a normal duck and everyone still finds this hilarious. Ruth, the genius poet who quotes her own poetry (which is really the poetry of Canadian poet, author and literary genius Margaret Atwood) and swaps lines with Gamache, who apparently knows all her poetry by heart. Everyone in Three Pines is so sensitive and intelligent and loving and philosophic. It’s just so�.blech. The village of Three Pines itself is grating on my nerves. It’s like a fabled city that only certain people can enter because it’s still not on any maps and doesn’t have good broadband or cable connections. Why would the villagers need it? That’d take away from the time they spend sitting in Gabri and Olivier’s famous bistro, eating their delicious (and always described in detail) food, baring their souls to each other.
Aside from the annoying characters, the plot is less than compelling. Penny always has the action of her novels develop from her characters; it’s always more about character development than a suspenseful plot. In the past, she’s managed to do both very well. This book, not so much. Much of the novel is the Three Pine main characters looking at Peter’s bad paintings and trying to find a hidden message in the paintings. They look at them side-ways. They look at them upside-down. The look at them on the floor. They look at them pinned to the wall. Then they have some wine and cheese and look at them again. While looking at these bad paintings, there are many conversations about “sin-sick souls� and seeking redemption and finding your spiritual path. Then there’s a ridiculous tangent about Peter running around trying to find the tenth Muse because apparently the ancient Greeks had a Muse for all the art forms except painting. So maybe, muses Gamache and Clara and Myrna, Peter is out looking for the Tenth Muse. Like it’s an actual person. Many conversations about what inspires art now take place. It’s so tedious. So Gamache and Clara and Myrna and Jean-Guy and an art dealer named Chartrand travel up (or down—Penny didn’t clearly describe where they were going and I’m not familiar with the area) the St. Lawrence River, first on a turbo-prop plane and then a boat—all to find Peter. They have no evidence he needs found or is in danger. They just go after him because Clara is worried. And she’s the one who kicked him out of the house in the first place. So, after tracking Peter to the Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland (this sounds ridiculous but it really does exist), to Paris, back to Toronto they do eventually find him. Of course, they can’t just find him happy and painting bad pictures of the St. Lawrence river. Oh, no. There has to be a crime and death and a moral lesson on the Troubles of the Human Soul. It’s very heavy-handed, and I think that’s my problem with all of it. If all these glimpses into the troubled souls of humanity were subtextual, I could swallow it easier. But the author spreads her philosophical musings and moral lessons on with a generous hand and they become the entire story. There’s no plot, really, and if you don’t give a shit about Peter and Clara, reading this book is slow-going, annoying, and painful.
Louise Penny’s writing style has changed from her earlier novels and not for the good. She now writes in halting, choppy sentences which point out the obvious…then expand on it. Here is a passage describing an area near the St. Lawrence river:
Dammit. I think we get the picture. Most of the book is like this. And the characters talk like this too, which is very unrealistic. Who. Talks. Like. That? This next sentence is particularly bad and if I read it out loud I laugh: “But the boat didn’t heave. It didn’t ho� (333). How did her editor not read this sentence and laugh too? The dramatic conclusion to this book is entirely predictable.
If you enjoy Penny’s constant exploration of the sensitive troubled soul of humanity and don’t mind that she practically drowns the reader in it, then you’ll love this book. I do not. I prefer my morality lessons and philosophical blathering to be subtextual. The Long Way Home takes itself way too seriously, is boring, and written in a choppy, annoying style. The characters are tedious in their charming quirkiness, Three Pines sounds like a French-Canadian Disney village, and I hope freaking Gamache finally reads the whole damn Balm of Gilead book. More words were devoted to his habit of reading this book than developing the less-than-compelling non-plot. I’ve very much enjoyed Louise Penny’s earlier novels and I found her charming and delightful in person, but I cannot read any more of these books.
Chief Inspector Gamache has retired from the Sûreté du Québec and he and his wife and their dog Henri moved to Three Pines. He was enjoying his peaceful life until one day Clara Morrow, the resident genius painter, came to him with a worry. Over a year ago, she’d asked her husband Peter to leave their house. They both needed space to see if their marriage could survive her rise to fame and his jealousy because of that. They agreed that one year later to the day of their separation, he would return and they would have dinner and discuss the situation. However, Peter is late by several months and Clara is worried. Gamache does not want to leave behind his safe, peaceful existence to search for Peter, but he does. The rest of the book is Gamache, his trusty companion Jean-Guy Beauvoir, Myrna the Three Pines bookstore owner, Clara the painter, and (for a bit) Ruth the demented profane poet tracking Peter’s journey across Scotland and Canada by looking at his paintings.
If you’ve never read any of the Inspector Gamache books, this is not the book with which to start. Penny assumes the reader is familiar with the characters and the complex relationships they have with one another. Which I don’t fault her for. If you’re going to start reading a new series with the tenth book, you deserve to be confused. If you are familiar with her characters, then at this point you either look forward to being with them or you find their lovable and quirky complexities grating and predictable. I am the latter. I’m sick of the bunch of them, particularly Gamache with his serious kind intelligent brown eyes and the Canadian Jesus aura he gives off, and Ruth and her duck Rosa. Ruth who is rude and antagonistic but really loves everyone and everyone loves her for crusty exterior which hides a heart of gold and whose duck Rosa quacks fuck fuck fuck instead of just quacking like a normal duck and everyone still finds this hilarious. Ruth, the genius poet who quotes her own poetry (which is really the poetry of Canadian poet, author and literary genius Margaret Atwood) and swaps lines with Gamache, who apparently knows all her poetry by heart. Everyone in Three Pines is so sensitive and intelligent and loving and philosophic. It’s just so�.blech. The village of Three Pines itself is grating on my nerves. It’s like a fabled city that only certain people can enter because it’s still not on any maps and doesn’t have good broadband or cable connections. Why would the villagers need it? That’d take away from the time they spend sitting in Gabri and Olivier’s famous bistro, eating their delicious (and always described in detail) food, baring their souls to each other.
Aside from the annoying characters, the plot is less than compelling. Penny always has the action of her novels develop from her characters; it’s always more about character development than a suspenseful plot. In the past, she’s managed to do both very well. This book, not so much. Much of the novel is the Three Pine main characters looking at Peter’s bad paintings and trying to find a hidden message in the paintings. They look at them side-ways. They look at them upside-down. The look at them on the floor. They look at them pinned to the wall. Then they have some wine and cheese and look at them again. While looking at these bad paintings, there are many conversations about “sin-sick souls� and seeking redemption and finding your spiritual path. Then there’s a ridiculous tangent about Peter running around trying to find the tenth Muse because apparently the ancient Greeks had a Muse for all the art forms except painting. So maybe, muses Gamache and Clara and Myrna, Peter is out looking for the Tenth Muse. Like it’s an actual person. Many conversations about what inspires art now take place. It’s so tedious. So Gamache and Clara and Myrna and Jean-Guy and an art dealer named Chartrand travel up (or down—Penny didn’t clearly describe where they were going and I’m not familiar with the area) the St. Lawrence River, first on a turbo-prop plane and then a boat—all to find Peter. They have no evidence he needs found or is in danger. They just go after him because Clara is worried. And she’s the one who kicked him out of the house in the first place. So, after tracking Peter to the Garden of Cosmic Speculation in Scotland (this sounds ridiculous but it really does exist), to Paris, back to Toronto they do eventually find him. Of course, they can’t just find him happy and painting bad pictures of the St. Lawrence river. Oh, no. There has to be a crime and death and a moral lesson on the Troubles of the Human Soul. It’s very heavy-handed, and I think that’s my problem with all of it. If all these glimpses into the troubled souls of humanity were subtextual, I could swallow it easier. But the author spreads her philosophical musings and moral lessons on with a generous hand and they become the entire story. There’s no plot, really, and if you don’t give a shit about Peter and Clara, reading this book is slow-going, annoying, and painful.
Louise Penny’s writing style has changed from her earlier novels and not for the good. She now writes in halting, choppy sentences which point out the obvious…then expand on it. Here is a passage describing an area near the St. Lawrence river:
It was here, on this very spot, that a meteor had hurtled to earth. Had hit the earth. Three hundred million years ago. It had struck with such force that it killed everything beneath it, and for miles and miles around. It struck with such violence that even now the impact site could be seen from space.
Earth, thrown up in waves, had petrified there, forming smooth mountains and a deep crater.
Nothing lived. All life was extinguished. The earth laid to waste. For thousands of years. Hundreds of thousands of years. Millions of years.
Barren. Empty. Nothing. (195)
Dammit. I think we get the picture. Most of the book is like this. And the characters talk like this too, which is very unrealistic. Who. Talks. Like. That? This next sentence is particularly bad and if I read it out loud I laugh: “But the boat didn’t heave. It didn’t ho� (333). How did her editor not read this sentence and laugh too? The dramatic conclusion to this book is entirely predictable.
If you enjoy Penny’s constant exploration of the sensitive troubled soul of humanity and don’t mind that she practically drowns the reader in it, then you’ll love this book. I do not. I prefer my morality lessons and philosophical blathering to be subtextual. The Long Way Home takes itself way too seriously, is boring, and written in a choppy, annoying style. The characters are tedious in their charming quirkiness, Three Pines sounds like a French-Canadian Disney village, and I hope freaking Gamache finally reads the whole damn Balm of Gilead book. More words were devoted to his habit of reading this book than developing the less-than-compelling non-plot. I’ve very much enjoyed Louise Penny’s earlier novels and I found her charming and delightful in person, but I cannot read any more of these books.
November 14, 2015
A perfectly appropriate title!
I am not sure why Clara's relationship with her husband, Peter, has been kept as one of the final moments of this series. While Three Pines are back in the picture, my honest impression was that the author ran out of steam. The tedious, extremely slow moving plot, encompassing the inner-workings of the art world, was presented more like a never-ending travel journal of a group of friends, promoting tourism in Canada. It lost me within the first ten chapters of the book. I couldn't help but jump-read most of the next chapters, which, for a devoted series-reader, were filled with never-ending repeats, repeats, repeats.
The author introduces the theme of the book as follows:
"And, as always, I have been inspired by the setting, by the history and geography and nature of Québec. And, specifically, by memories of my travels along the glorious St. Lawrence River. By the haunting coastline of the Lower North Shore. And the villages and villagers there. I have traveled a lot in my life, as a journalist and as a private person, but I have never, ever met kindness so profound, and integrity so deep, as I did in kitchens and porches and front rooms along that coast.
...I won’t discuss the themes here, or the reasons I wrote this book in this way, but I do want to mention a few influences, including Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Homer’s Odyssey. And the remarkable Marilynne Robinson’s book Gilead. As well as the old spiritual “Balm in Gilead.�"
Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, and his wife were happily retired in Three Pines, battling his own past.
"…Armand Gamache had sat on the bench and watched the same people do the same thing. The village had the rhythm, the cadence, of a piece of music. Perhaps that’s what Henri heard. The music of Three Pines. It was like a hum, a hymn, a comforting ritual."He is trying to find healing in a book that his dad left behind when the latter passed away.
(From the blurb)"On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. "There is a balm in Gilead," his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, "to make the wounded whole.""Armand struggled to read passed the bookmark his dad has left in the book. It was as though he could not leave his father behind and therefor could not pass the bookmark.
Clara was concerned about her husband who left the previous year as part of their agreement to a trial separation, and did not return on the decided anniversary date to discuss the future of their marriage. She calls in Armand's help. They leave on a journey to follow Pete's trail and become entwined with the dark side of the art world.
(From the blurb):"Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence river. To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it The land God gave to Cain. And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul."I might be wrong, but my impression was that the book centered around the journey of every human being to find the muse in their lives and conclude with inner peace after a long battle with the demons and mistakes of the past. A philosophical journey becomes the focus of the tale. Chapters and chapters and chapters filled with it. And right at the end, as a sort of consolation, a murder is hastily thrown in and solved on the spot, to guarantee the murder mystery readers a thrill.
The story is atmospheric, dramatic (in the last few chapters), and filled with the results of vigorous research into the art world with the philosophies surrounding it. The endless discussions simply just did not capture me! A confession: I was bored to death! Peter's journey to find himself, becomes Gamache's inner journey to find peace. Like with all the other books in the series, there is a dual purpose and multi-layered plot to vanish into.
Well, now for the last book, no.11. I am going to make it my last book anyway. The ninth book in the series, How The Light Gets In, was definitely my favorite so far to conclude this entertaining, informative, thrilling series. The eight book, The Beautiful Mystery, was the highlight of the series, for me, at least.
However, Louise Penny remains my all-time favorite murder mystery author. This series explored more than just the life of Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The reader experiences the full spectrum of humanity in all its ups and downs. What a journey for us all, and how colorful our memories will be. It was indeed a long way home!
I am still in love with Three Pines. The ending was sad, but beautiful. We have come full circle through lyrical prose.
July 21, 2019
With Clara Morrow’s husband Peter not turning up for the promised reunion on the twelve-month anniversary of their separation, Clara was concerned. When she requested the help of Armand Gamache, recently retired to Three Pines from the Sûreté du Québec, he was reluctant. Armand and his wife, Reine Marie, were enjoying their new life in Three Pines, and gradually Armand was coming to terms with his past. But he knew he had to help Clara find Peter.
Armand, along with Clara, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Myrna began a long and arduous journey, following Peter’s footsteps to where he was last known to be. And then he had vanished. Would they find Peter? Did Clara really want to know? She was tormented but determined�
The Long Way Home is the 10th in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny and although much different to the previous books, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. No longer Chief Inspector of Homicide, with him enjoying his retirement with his wife by his side, Armand was reflective, gradually beating his demons. As was Jean-Guy. And Ruth is an absolute delight � she and Rosa 😊 I think it’s important at this stage to say this series should be read in order. This book in particular wouldn’t work as a standalone. Highly recommended.
Armand, along with Clara, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Myrna began a long and arduous journey, following Peter’s footsteps to where he was last known to be. And then he had vanished. Would they find Peter? Did Clara really want to know? She was tormented but determined�
The Long Way Home is the 10th in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny and although much different to the previous books, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. No longer Chief Inspector of Homicide, with him enjoying his retirement with his wife by his side, Armand was reflective, gradually beating his demons. As was Jean-Guy. And Ruth is an absolute delight � she and Rosa 😊 I think it’s important at this stage to say this series should be read in order. This book in particular wouldn’t work as a standalone. Highly recommended.
February 1, 2023
The ten books I have read in this mystery series have been well written. All have been enjoyable, some more so than others. For some known and some unknown reasons, this was not one of my favorites.
Clara and Peter are artists living in the quaint village of Three Pines. When Clara receives the notoriety that Peter has been denied, fissures begin to grow in their relationship. A one year separation is agreed upon. Peter can energize his wavering talent and find new creativity. He will return to Clara on a set date and they will then determine if their marriage can be saved. He never shows. The just retired Gamache, Clara, and their entourage begin the very long, the much too long, search.
This is not a mystery in the traditional sense. It is more of a travelogue through art communities, art schools, and the creative and sometimes devious minds of artists. That was interesting and much of it new to me. But it was deceptive. I feel I was led astray. It lacked excitement. It wasn’t gripping. Long before the story finally got to Peter, I had lost whatever interest I may initially have had. It definitely was a meandering and tedious way home.
February 25, 2017
The previous book in this series was such a good finale to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache's career as Quebec's Head of Homicide, ending with his retirement to the little village of Three Pines that he has come to love so much where he can start to recover his physical and mental health. I couldn't imagine that a sequel featuring Gamache in retirement could be as good and postponed reading this book for a long time and unfortunately it does not live up to the rest of the series.
The picturesque, perfect village of Three Pines where everyone is friendly and clever seems too good to be true, except that we know from previous books that there have been dark currents running through the town and everyone harbours a secret or something in their past they are not proud of. In this novel, Clara the recently celebrated artist is distressed because her husband Peter, also an artist and jealous of her success, has failed to make contact as promised after 12 months of a trial separation. She asks Gamache to help her find her missing husband, roping in his former colleague and son-in-law Jean-Guy Beauvoir and her friend Myrna and so begins a journey to trace the missing Peter Morrow's wanderings over the last year.
While Louise penny's writing was as good as usual, sharp and often wry and the characters leap from the pages, the plot was slow to get going. The cosiness of Three Pines is almost cloying and I wanted Gamache to escape that and return to what he does best, hunting down criminals. Eventually he does escape in the closing chapters of the book and the plot starts to move at a good pace as Clara and Gamache start to close in on Peter and uncover a great crime committed years ago, but it was too late to save the book as a whole. I will probably give this series another chance because it has been so brilliant up to now and read the next book, but I will be really disappointed if this series starts to turn out to be more cosy-crime than thriller.
The picturesque, perfect village of Three Pines where everyone is friendly and clever seems too good to be true, except that we know from previous books that there have been dark currents running through the town and everyone harbours a secret or something in their past they are not proud of. In this novel, Clara the recently celebrated artist is distressed because her husband Peter, also an artist and jealous of her success, has failed to make contact as promised after 12 months of a trial separation. She asks Gamache to help her find her missing husband, roping in his former colleague and son-in-law Jean-Guy Beauvoir and her friend Myrna and so begins a journey to trace the missing Peter Morrow's wanderings over the last year.
While Louise penny's writing was as good as usual, sharp and often wry and the characters leap from the pages, the plot was slow to get going. The cosiness of Three Pines is almost cloying and I wanted Gamache to escape that and return to what he does best, hunting down criminals. Eventually he does escape in the closing chapters of the book and the plot starts to move at a good pace as Clara and Gamache start to close in on Peter and uncover a great crime committed years ago, but it was too late to save the book as a whole. I will probably give this series another chance because it has been so brilliant up to now and read the next book, but I will be really disappointed if this series starts to turn out to be more cosy-crime than thriller.
September 27, 2024
In this 10th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the former police detective helps search for a 'lost' husband. The book can be read as a standalone.
Clara and Peter Morrow are residents of the lovely village of Three Pines near Montreal along with a cadre of other interesting and eccentric characters, including former Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec (Quebec Homicide Bureau). Both Clara and Peter are artists, but Peter became jealous of his wife's increasing success and impossible to live with, so Clara asked him to leave for a year.
After that time Peter was supposed to return so they could re-evaluate their marriage. Peter didn't come back (or communicate in any fashion) so Clara asks Gamache to help her find out what, if anything, happened to her husband.
It's a promising beginning that doesn't pan out. The story wanders much too far from a detective novel, being mostly a treatise on art and muses. Even visiting with familiar, well-liked characters was unsatisfying because they mostly just blabbed on and on about art. I like and appreciate art but I wanted to read a mystery, not an art book - and this book didn't deliver. I don't recommend it.
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April 21, 2020
Ms. Penny made me laugh out loud, made me smile, and made me cry. This one was an emotional roller coaster. Only a good storyteller can rip your heart out and tear it up into a million pieces. It is with the utmost compliments intended that I say she broke my heart with the ending of this one. To say anything more is a huge spoiler.
This plotline actually began several books ago, so you must read them in order. I highly recommend the audio book version.
This plotline actually began several books ago, so you must read them in order. I highly recommend the audio book version.
June 26, 2022
3.5 artistic stars
This one continues the series and features the characters I have come to love. It's a bit different, but I will keep reading these. I'm a little sad that I will be caught up someday!
Armand Gamache is happily retired in this one, but how could he really retire from the homicide department? He's living with his wife in Three Pines and healing his body and soul. Jean-Guy has healed too, and I love his healthy character!
As Armand settles in Three Pines, he's approached by Clara to solve the mystery of why her husband didn't turn up at the one-year separation mark. Peter has always been a hard character for me to love because he's always so jealous.
Armand and his friends dive deep into the art world to track Peter's activities over the past year. What will they discover when they finally catch up to him?
I really like buddy reading these with Marilyn and following along the lives of these characters. They feel like friends now! Can't wait to see what the group is up to in the next book.
This one continues the series and features the characters I have come to love. It's a bit different, but I will keep reading these. I'm a little sad that I will be caught up someday!
Armand Gamache is happily retired in this one, but how could he really retire from the homicide department? He's living with his wife in Three Pines and healing his body and soul. Jean-Guy has healed too, and I love his healthy character!
As Armand settles in Three Pines, he's approached by Clara to solve the mystery of why her husband didn't turn up at the one-year separation mark. Peter has always been a hard character for me to love because he's always so jealous.
Armand and his friends dive deep into the art world to track Peter's activities over the past year. What will they discover when they finally catch up to him?
I really like buddy reading these with Marilyn and following along the lives of these characters. They feel like friends now! Can't wait to see what the group is up to in the next book.
March 5, 2016
3.5
The ending is a bit of a stunner. Without giving too much away, Peter and Clara's relationship is examined; but along the way so is the art world in depth, Gamache himself, the nine muses of Greek mythology, and the best scenery to be found in Canada.
I always learn something from these books. The ending does open up the possibility for a change to come to Three Pines. Not the best in the series, but I'm hooked.
The ending is a bit of a stunner. Without giving too much away, Peter and Clara's relationship is examined; but along the way so is the art world in depth, Gamache himself, the nine muses of Greek mythology, and the best scenery to be found in Canada.
I always learn something from these books. The ending does open up the possibility for a change to come to Three Pines. Not the best in the series, but I'm hooked.
October 10, 2014
Hurry up August 26, 2014! Can't wait to read it.
Finally! It's here and I'm starting it today. Can't wait to start it, but already hate that it will have to end.
I finished reading it and was not disappointed. A great story.
Now I have to wait for number 11 to be written and published. I hope it's not too long of wait!
Finally! It's here and I'm starting it today. Can't wait to start it, but already hate that it will have to end.
I finished reading it and was not disappointed. A great story.
Now I have to wait for number 11 to be written and published. I hope it's not too long of wait!
September 6, 2014
I had eagerly awaited this title but found myself disappointed and underwhelmed. Penny delivered her usual beautifully descriptive prose but without the tightly woven plotting that usually makes her novels so compelling. The coincidences and artistic "insights"that advanced the plot felt forced and ludicrous at times. Sigh....
March 20, 2022
4.5 stars
Peter Morrow has always been my least favorite character of the series, so this high star rating on a book centered on his story is an incredible flip for me, but wow—this installment was good.
Spoilers for the previous novels below!
Armand Gamache has retired to the town of Three Pines with his wife, Reine-Marie, following the incredibly high-octane ending of the previous book, How the Light Gets In. Given how intense that novel was, I was expecting this one to be quieter, more introspective, and slower.
It definitely was most of those things.
Peter Morrow left Clara Morrow behind in Three Pines. The Morrows knew their marriage was breaking, and Peter had broken it. (Honestly, this was why I never liked Peter. Watching him break apart their marriage in each book leading up to his exit was so terrible and infuriating!) Instead of cleaving their marriage in two, they decide that Peter needs to leave for one year. 365 days later, he can return, and they can see where they are.
Peter doesn't come home.
Clara is determined to know what happened to Peter, because even if he's found something—or someone—else, she deserves to know where he is and why he broke his promise. Knowing this will break Gamache's newly found retirement, Clara asks for his help. It's time to don the detective hat again, and Gamache is willing to do so for Clara.
The Long Way Home is essentially a hunt-and-find story, complete with our motley crew traveling across Quebec and beyond in search of Peter, retracing his steps from the previous year. It's also an interesting emotional journey. I really don't want to say anything else, but will say that the ending wrecked me. Louise Penny, why do you hurt me so? Agh.
Looking forward to seeing where things fall in the next one.
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Peter Morrow has always been my least favorite character of the series, so this high star rating on a book centered on his story is an incredible flip for me, but wow—this installment was good.
Spoilers for the previous novels below!
Armand Gamache has retired to the town of Three Pines with his wife, Reine-Marie, following the incredibly high-octane ending of the previous book, How the Light Gets In. Given how intense that novel was, I was expecting this one to be quieter, more introspective, and slower.
It definitely was most of those things.
Peter Morrow left Clara Morrow behind in Three Pines. The Morrows knew their marriage was breaking, and Peter had broken it. (Honestly, this was why I never liked Peter. Watching him break apart their marriage in each book leading up to his exit was so terrible and infuriating!) Instead of cleaving their marriage in two, they decide that Peter needs to leave for one year. 365 days later, he can return, and they can see where they are.
Peter doesn't come home.
Clara is determined to know what happened to Peter, because even if he's found something—or someone—else, she deserves to know where he is and why he broke his promise. Knowing this will break Gamache's newly found retirement, Clara asks for his help. It's time to don the detective hat again, and Gamache is willing to do so for Clara.
The Long Way Home is essentially a hunt-and-find story, complete with our motley crew traveling across Quebec and beyond in search of Peter, retracing his steps from the previous year. It's also an interesting emotional journey. I really don't want to say anything else, but will say that the ending wrecked me. Louise Penny, why do you hurt me so? Agh.
Looking forward to seeing where things fall in the next one.
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August 26, 2014
First Sentence: As Clara Morrow approached, she wondered if he’d repeat the same small gesture he’d done every morning.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has retired and moved, with his wife Reine-Marie, to the village of Three Pines. There he is seeking peace and recovery from recent events. However, he can’t ignore the plea from one of his neighbors and friends. Clara and her husband Peter decided to separate for one year. That year has now passed, but Peter has neither returned nor contacted Clara. The search for Peter sends Gamache, his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy, and other residents, to Montreal and into isolated regions of Quebec.
From the very first, we are as intrigued by the actions of one of the characters as are other characters in the story. We, too, want an explanation. At the same time, we are brought into the beauty and seeming tranquility of the Village of Three Pines…”The village had the rhythm, the cadence, of a piece of music. Perhaps that’s what Henri heard. The music of Three Pines. It was like a hum, a hymn, a comforting ritual.�
The reader learns of the characters through their personalities, rather than their backstories. It is particularly clear how close are Gamache and Reine-Marie, and how solid is their marriage.
One of the many wonderful things about Penny’s writing is that she makes you stop and think, even when it’s a simple phrase easily passed over; ”Surprised by joy.� There are so many small truths in Penny’s writing; lines and passages that make you stop, think and read again and again. They don’t interrupt the flow of the story, but enhance it and cause one to savour it. Yet only Penny could so effectively use a German Shepherd as a vehicle to convey loss and healing. She puts emotions into words. And then, she throw you a plot twist.
Penny’s descriptions are so evocative, one can not only envision the scene, place or object, but you yearn to physically be there. She takes you places you’ve never been and of which you’ve never heard. This is a story that makes you want to travel; to see and experience places for yourself. But, at the very least, you find yourself running to the internet.
The characters are wonderful. They are people you want to know; what to have as friends and neighbors. You find yourself both wanting to know these people and, in some cases, wanting to be them. The dialogue is so well done, with an easy, natural flow and, occasionally, delightful humour.
Ms. Penny is an intelligent author who includes poetry, literature, art, mythology and psychology into the story, yet she doesn’t, in any way, write above her readers or seek to demean them.
To say “The Long Way Home� is an excellent book is almost an understatement. The book certainly has all the elements of a mystery are there, including a plot which is unusual in its structure, but it is also so much more than that that. It is a journey that keeps drawing us down the road.
If you've not read any of the books in this series, please do start at the beginning with "Still Life." It is hard for me to restrain myself when talking about the quality of Ms. Penny's writing. She is an author whose work will stand the test of time.
THE LONG WAY HOME (Trad Mys-Armand Gamache-Canada-Contemp) � Ex
Penny, Louise � 10th in series
Minotaur Books, 2014
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has retired and moved, with his wife Reine-Marie, to the village of Three Pines. There he is seeking peace and recovery from recent events. However, he can’t ignore the plea from one of his neighbors and friends. Clara and her husband Peter decided to separate for one year. That year has now passed, but Peter has neither returned nor contacted Clara. The search for Peter sends Gamache, his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy, and other residents, to Montreal and into isolated regions of Quebec.
From the very first, we are as intrigued by the actions of one of the characters as are other characters in the story. We, too, want an explanation. At the same time, we are brought into the beauty and seeming tranquility of the Village of Three Pines…”The village had the rhythm, the cadence, of a piece of music. Perhaps that’s what Henri heard. The music of Three Pines. It was like a hum, a hymn, a comforting ritual.�
The reader learns of the characters through their personalities, rather than their backstories. It is particularly clear how close are Gamache and Reine-Marie, and how solid is their marriage.
One of the many wonderful things about Penny’s writing is that she makes you stop and think, even when it’s a simple phrase easily passed over; ”Surprised by joy.� There are so many small truths in Penny’s writing; lines and passages that make you stop, think and read again and again. They don’t interrupt the flow of the story, but enhance it and cause one to savour it. Yet only Penny could so effectively use a German Shepherd as a vehicle to convey loss and healing. She puts emotions into words. And then, she throw you a plot twist.
Penny’s descriptions are so evocative, one can not only envision the scene, place or object, but you yearn to physically be there. She takes you places you’ve never been and of which you’ve never heard. This is a story that makes you want to travel; to see and experience places for yourself. But, at the very least, you find yourself running to the internet.
The characters are wonderful. They are people you want to know; what to have as friends and neighbors. You find yourself both wanting to know these people and, in some cases, wanting to be them. The dialogue is so well done, with an easy, natural flow and, occasionally, delightful humour.
Ms. Penny is an intelligent author who includes poetry, literature, art, mythology and psychology into the story, yet she doesn’t, in any way, write above her readers or seek to demean them.
To say “The Long Way Home� is an excellent book is almost an understatement. The book certainly has all the elements of a mystery are there, including a plot which is unusual in its structure, but it is also so much more than that that. It is a journey that keeps drawing us down the road.
If you've not read any of the books in this series, please do start at the beginning with "Still Life." It is hard for me to restrain myself when talking about the quality of Ms. Penny's writing. She is an author whose work will stand the test of time.
THE LONG WAY HOME (Trad Mys-Armand Gamache-Canada-Contemp) � Ex
Penny, Louise � 10th in series
Minotaur Books, 2014
August 25, 2022
Perdón por tantas dudas, Louise, pero me costó mantener el interés durante la primera mitad del libro. Jamás negaría que, fiel a tu costumbre, creaste ambientes deliciosos...literalmente "deliciosos" porque nunca vi personajes que coman tanto como los tuyos, pero también por la magia de tus atmósferas increíbles: cerré los ojos ante el aroma intenso del café, me revelaste el misterio de una obra de arte, me emocioné con una inscripción tallada en un banquito de madera y los pájaros me cantaron para celebrar el amanecer. También es cierto que me costó encontrar la chispa que tan bien encendiste otras veces y que las motivaciones de los personajes me resultaron inverosímiles y hasta me enojaron un poco. Sin embargo, ahí estaban todos, y por eso valió la pena. Si, mujer, ahí la bordaste de nuevo: tu pueblito inventado es un pequeño refugio para los viejos conocidos. Una pequeña puerta al paraíso a la que siempre quiero volver. Chapeau, Louise. Hasta la próxima.
May 18, 2021
"There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole."
The now retired Gamache is reading (a book Penny made up) A Balm in Gilead when he is approached by Clara, estranged from Peter for a year, with no contact, but Peter has missed the agreed-upon one year meeting time. Gamache agrees to look for Peter, which is for much of the book all that happens and it is a long book. No murder early on that needs to get solved. Mostly a meditation on art and professional jealousy and muses and goodness and a lot of reflection about Clara and Peter. I love him/I love him not. Eh.
We don’t like the jealous jerk Peter, so we are maybe less interested in this story than most Three Pines mysteries. But Clara insists on going along as the professionals do their work, following the trail of paintings Peter has left all over the place. The paintings are clues to his transformation. One question the book addresses: Can an old dog (Peter, in this case) learn new tricks (for example, become a different artist and better person)? I think for the always hopeful Penny, the answer is yes, that it can happen. And does.
One thing that is interesting across all these books is the use of motifs she tries to include in every book: Descriptions of bistro entrees, flowers, art, the song “Drunken Sailor,� Ruth’s duck quacking “fuck, fuck fuck,� Scotch, and of course literature, usually poetry, to frame things thematically. A Balm in Gilead is that text here, healing from trauma, which Gamache must do (but doesn’t get focused on so much as happening here) and Peter must do, though we also reference a real and a favorite novel, Gilead, by Marilyn Robinson, in part about the return of a prodigal son, so Penny gets points for this from me.
Also mentioned throughout is the CS Lewis title/phrase, "Surprised by Joy," and a Somerset Maugham short story, "An Appointment in Samarra" (with Death).
At one point we see that the composition of a poem such as Ruth constructs is not much different than the composition of a painting such as Clara does nor the solution to a case such as Gamache does. I like that. Penny is herself a kind of intuitive, heart-based writer, where the motifs function in a painterly or poetic way.
We see evidence that Peter is becoming a different, more intuitive artist, with a heart (vs the rational, safe guy/artist he had always been). Will we find Peter? I think the answer is obviously yes, so why does it take so long?!
So after so little action happening over so much time, much dramatic action does actually happens in the very last pages, tying another related mystery to the mystery of the missing Peter, and yes, alas, murder finally happens in the end.
Penny says this is one of her favorite books in that has so much balm and love and friendship and healing and redemption in it, and is so calmly reflective, and she likes the plot inversion in it (murder at the end instead of the beginning), she says, too, and I get that, but she and I are not quite on the same page on that assessment. We have too long a wait for that somewhat surprisingly anguished conclusion.
The now retired Gamache is reading (a book Penny made up) A Balm in Gilead when he is approached by Clara, estranged from Peter for a year, with no contact, but Peter has missed the agreed-upon one year meeting time. Gamache agrees to look for Peter, which is for much of the book all that happens and it is a long book. No murder early on that needs to get solved. Mostly a meditation on art and professional jealousy and muses and goodness and a lot of reflection about Clara and Peter. I love him/I love him not. Eh.
We don’t like the jealous jerk Peter, so we are maybe less interested in this story than most Three Pines mysteries. But Clara insists on going along as the professionals do their work, following the trail of paintings Peter has left all over the place. The paintings are clues to his transformation. One question the book addresses: Can an old dog (Peter, in this case) learn new tricks (for example, become a different artist and better person)? I think for the always hopeful Penny, the answer is yes, that it can happen. And does.
One thing that is interesting across all these books is the use of motifs she tries to include in every book: Descriptions of bistro entrees, flowers, art, the song “Drunken Sailor,� Ruth’s duck quacking “fuck, fuck fuck,� Scotch, and of course literature, usually poetry, to frame things thematically. A Balm in Gilead is that text here, healing from trauma, which Gamache must do (but doesn’t get focused on so much as happening here) and Peter must do, though we also reference a real and a favorite novel, Gilead, by Marilyn Robinson, in part about the return of a prodigal son, so Penny gets points for this from me.
Also mentioned throughout is the CS Lewis title/phrase, "Surprised by Joy," and a Somerset Maugham short story, "An Appointment in Samarra" (with Death).
At one point we see that the composition of a poem such as Ruth constructs is not much different than the composition of a painting such as Clara does nor the solution to a case such as Gamache does. I like that. Penny is herself a kind of intuitive, heart-based writer, where the motifs function in a painterly or poetic way.
We see evidence that Peter is becoming a different, more intuitive artist, with a heart (vs the rational, safe guy/artist he had always been). Will we find Peter? I think the answer is obviously yes, so why does it take so long?!
So after so little action happening over so much time, much dramatic action does actually happens in the very last pages, tying another related mystery to the mystery of the missing Peter, and yes, alas, murder finally happens in the end.
Penny says this is one of her favorite books in that has so much balm and love and friendship and healing and redemption in it, and is so calmly reflective, and she likes the plot inversion in it (murder at the end instead of the beginning), she says, too, and I get that, but she and I are not quite on the same page on that assessment. We have too long a wait for that somewhat surprisingly anguished conclusion.
September 23, 2014
This is going to be a difficult review to write. The prose, natural world descriptions and placements in this unique locale of haggard and isolated sea villages of the far North in Canada, like Tabaquen, were excellent. Everything else, not so much.
This book is never, for more than 5 pages out of 373, a mystery as much as it is an analysis. An analysis both in aesthetics and in psychology, of the Peter Marrow character and the relationship he has within the work of his art (painting) and the context of his love/marriage to Clara. Moving extremely slowly within dialog between the characters from Three Pines, headed by Clara and Gamache, who seek him (Peter) out when he did not return after his year away, as he had promised.
There were entire ten page lengths of this book that I thought akin to lectures in Art Appreciation. But was most upsetting to me was the tone of Gamache. Not just his spoken tone, but his maudlin contemplative "Balm" pamphlet or whatever it was seatings. Plus the number of erudite asides and poetry reciting redundancies throughout this book by numerous other of our Three Pines' friends! Oh, even our Bistro owners were crying real tears while remembering and reciting, into their perfectly layered croissants and flavored, infused olive oils.
There was a point about 7/8ths of the way into the book when they were all in a prop plane and bored at the pilot's speaking of his fruit logistics on fly-ins for his deliveries. Myrna or Clara or one of the guys got him to change the subject because they were all so bored. My thought right then being, oh yes, what a good idea. My thoughts right then spoken aloud, "Hey, how about instead we talk about turning the "dog's breakfast" paintings of Peter's around again, or pin them up sideways this time, and talk about that "emotion" for 25 more pages."
What a disappointment! Sincerely, this was the most disappointing long awaited singular novel of this entire year for me, absolutely. I STRETCH to give it a three. But the most pitiful reality, is that after all that travel, snarking at each other, and various other sage amounts of wisdom from the professors in the mix and nasty Ruth- some in Latin- we get the most stark and sappy (yes, both- and I know that's difficult)cold fish ending in 2 pages that I think I have ever come across in writing. I actually read it, the last 3 pages twice slowly, as I just could not grasp or believe such brevity to cliché after such verbosity.
Louise Penny- what possessed you to go into this direction?
This book is never, for more than 5 pages out of 373, a mystery as much as it is an analysis. An analysis both in aesthetics and in psychology, of the Peter Marrow character and the relationship he has within the work of his art (painting) and the context of his love/marriage to Clara. Moving extremely slowly within dialog between the characters from Three Pines, headed by Clara and Gamache, who seek him (Peter) out when he did not return after his year away, as he had promised.
There were entire ten page lengths of this book that I thought akin to lectures in Art Appreciation. But was most upsetting to me was the tone of Gamache. Not just his spoken tone, but his maudlin contemplative "Balm" pamphlet or whatever it was seatings. Plus the number of erudite asides and poetry reciting redundancies throughout this book by numerous other of our Three Pines' friends! Oh, even our Bistro owners were crying real tears while remembering and reciting, into their perfectly layered croissants and flavored, infused olive oils.
There was a point about 7/8ths of the way into the book when they were all in a prop plane and bored at the pilot's speaking of his fruit logistics on fly-ins for his deliveries. Myrna or Clara or one of the guys got him to change the subject because they were all so bored. My thought right then being, oh yes, what a good idea. My thoughts right then spoken aloud, "Hey, how about instead we talk about turning the "dog's breakfast" paintings of Peter's around again, or pin them up sideways this time, and talk about that "emotion" for 25 more pages."
What a disappointment! Sincerely, this was the most disappointing long awaited singular novel of this entire year for me, absolutely. I STRETCH to give it a three. But the most pitiful reality, is that after all that travel, snarking at each other, and various other sage amounts of wisdom from the professors in the mix and nasty Ruth- some in Latin- we get the most stark and sappy (yes, both- and I know that's difficult)cold fish ending in 2 pages that I think I have ever come across in writing. I actually read it, the last 3 pages twice slowly, as I just could not grasp or believe such brevity to cliché after such verbosity.
Louise Penny- what possessed you to go into this direction?
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