Revisiting an old friend

Louise Penny's
How the Light Gets In

I discovered the author Louise Penny one day while searching the bookshelves at my local Barnes and Nobles for something new to read. I picked up, The Cruelest Month, the third in her Armand Gamache detective series. Opening to the first page to test read the opening paragraphs I saw my uncle's very unusual name - Télesphore. Never had I seen it in print, but I took it as a sign that I should buy and read this book. I'm ever so glad I did. The story is set in the province of Quebec, home to many of my ancestors, and the peppering of French words and the unique expletives of the Quebecois (reminiscent of those used by my father) made me love the story and its characters even more. Of course once hooked, I had to read the first two books in the series and then continue on. Then came that fateful day when I put down the series. I was angered and frustrated by the direction the storyline was taking and I needed a break. I will not provide spoilers here today.

Some time has past and I found myself once again needing a new book to read and my local library had How the Light Gets In featured in a display of holiday/winter themed books (this story takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas). What the heck, I thought, why not try again? And like her other novels, Penny had me sucked into her fictional village of Three Pines and the intrigue and corruption that was running rampant in the police department that Gamache loves so dearly.

It was nice to visit with an old literary friend. The characters and the scenery were familiar and quickly memories of previous novels in the series floated to the surface from my memory. I should have trusted that Penny would eventually make everything all right once again. But even "happy" endings come with a price. The good guys prevail but they are bruised, left with demons to battle, and still ever hopeful.

Sometimes a break can be a good thing for a friendship. Each friend taking off to explore the world, meet new people, engage in new experiences, but when the time comes to be able to pick up the threads of friendship and return to the old intimacy. Lucky for me there are more books in the series and I can spend more time getting reacquainted with my old friend.