I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t a fan of the last Gamache book, The Madness of Crowds. I won’t say I breathed a sigh of relief when I read the eighteenth book, Louise Penny’s A World of Curiosities. A reader can’t breathe a sigh of relief until the last page because Penny ratchets up the tension as much as she has ever done. However, I felt as if I had returned to a familiar world with this latest novel, and the last book left me feeling uncomfortable and disjointed. Perhaps it was meant to do that, but it was the first time I had been disappointed in a book in this series. Now, Louise Penny takes readers back in time, thirty years, twenty years, to terrible crimes and unforgettable killers.
On Dec. 6, 1989, Gamache was a police officer but one who also trained as a paramedic when a gunman struck at Ecole Polytechnique. That day thirty years earlier lives in Canadian history as a misogynistic attack on women. The gunman only targeted women who dared enter a man’s world and become engineers. Fourteen died, and thirteen more were wounded. The event changed Canadian history, as women fought for gun control. It also changed the direction of Armand Gamache’s life as he applied for the homicide division.
A World of Curiosities takes us back to the first time Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir met twenty years earlier. Although Beauvoir had been relegated to the basement of an outpost of the Sûreté du Québec, Gamache suspected there might be something in the angry, disrespectful man. They were at the scene where a Clotilde Arsenault’s body had been washed onshore, and Beauvoir insisted she had been murdered. Her children had reported her missing, but the thirteen-year-old girl and ten-year-old boy were alone when Gamache went to inform them of her death. It didn’t take long for Gamache to determine that Fiona and Sam Arsenault had been groomed and pimped out. There was evidence to show local involvement. There was also evidence to reveal Clotilde Arsenault’s killer.
A lot has changed in twenty years, especially Gamache and Beauvoir. Gamache and his wife, Reine-Marie, sponsored Fiona Arsenault to receive her engineering degree at Ecole Polytechnique. She’s stayed with them multiple times in Three Pines. Now, while Myrna, the bookstore owner, welcomes her niece who also graduated with an engineering degree, Fiona brings her brother, Sam, to the village. But, it’s a letter that actually causes the biggest turmoil in the village.
In a letter that is over one hundred fifty years old, a stone mason tells of a room he bricked up in Three Pines. When the villagers open that room, they discover an astonishing painting, based on a historic one. The painting of a world of curiosities is filled with items to represent all kinds of wonders. But, Gamache recognizes that the world also holds enormous danger.
As always, there reaches a point in any discussion of Penny’s books that a reviewer must cut the summary short so as not to give away too much. A World of Curiosities is a study in contrast, as all her books are. There is mercilessness and hatred, and there is forgiveness. There is depravity and violence, but there are moments of love and laughter. Most of all, there are always moments of hope, sometimes a last second reprieve, and the knowledge that “All will be well.”
Louise Penny always includes the reader in a world of knowledge, a world of curiosities, as she discusses art and music, poetry and history. Over the course of the series, we’ve observed as Gamache saw the worst in society. This time, he has to dig and see the worst in himself, as well as his deepest fears. But, Penny points out that it’s the acts of courage, of decency, that provide those moments of hope in life.
For me, it was a contrast in time periods, in actions, in history, that stood out in A World of Curiosities. The events of Dec. 6, 1989 at the Ecole Polytechnique actually happened. That tragedy changed Canadian women forever. And, it might not be what Penny herself saw as the message of the book, but I was moved by the role of women in this one. Watch for the women who take back their power.
Louise Penny’s website is http://louisepenny.com/
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny. Minotaur Books, 2022. ISBN 9781250145291 (hardcover), 400p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley to review for a journal.
I read a different Louise Penny a long time ago, cannot remember the name of but I never read another. My cousin loved her book. Guess we are all different?
Yes, Carolee. And, I know Louise Penny’s books are not for everyone.
Excellent review, Lesa!
Thank you, Kaye. I didn’t want spoilers, but I had to mention what I saw with the women in this book.
I love it when we’re on the same page about a book. And, we both cut off the description at the same point. Excellent review, Lesa!
Thank you, Kathy. I haven’t had time to go back and read yours, yet, but I know you reprinted your review. I’ll be checking in.
I really liked Louise Penny’s books then about six or seven years ago one of them did not engage me so I stopped reading them. This has intrigued me so I will try again. I still recommend Still Life to friends who ask for recommendations.
I know, Jeannette. There have been a couple I wasn’t crazy about, and I didn’t care for last year’s at all. This one was much better.
I didn’t get it. It seemed so unlikely
I don’t know if this would be a spoiler but what do you think happens when Reine-Marie sees Fiona at the very end of the book?
SPOILER ALERT– SPOILER ALERT
Laureen, I don’t want to give anything away, but most people who were going to read the blog have already read it.
I’m “guessing”, totally a guess, that Reine-Marie had the same thought I did when I saw Fiona show up. I suspected Fiona was going to side with her brother. It came as a surprise to me when she did not. That’s one reason I really would have liked to have talked about the women in the story, women who took back their own power, including Fiona. But, I knew I couldn’t talk about that without spoiling the book.
I just finished the book last night and I had the same question! I can’t find any discussions online but I am not on Facebook so they may be there. I would love to know others thoughts.
Interesting. At least you and Lisa asked the question. Whereas I was just blank and couldn’t remember John Fleming at all.
I assume Fiona apologized and explained why she did what she did. Did I miss who killed the mother all those years ago? That was never stated, was it?
Spoiler. Spoiler. Spoiler.
Gamache suspected both children were involved, but only Fiona served time for killing their mother. She took responsibility.
I don’t know, but am very curious. Don’t see any suggestions on a search of the net.
SPOILER ALERT***
But I have a question — I may have missed this, but when did John Fleming get married? Was it before he went to prison the first time? I’m wondering how long he was married to Sylvie and what her back story was — why she went along with all of the killing? Or did she not know who she was really married to? Did John Fleming really attend the school to become a preacher? Thank you!
Oh, Lisa. I’m afraid I don’t have answers for you. I can honestly say I didn’t even remember John Fleming from the series, so his whole background was really lost on me. I’m sorry.
I have the same question. I am thinking of rereading the book for more info on Sylvie!
Spoiler Alert: I remember Gamache calling the Bishop (?) to ask about the background of their new pastor in Three Pines. Gamache was told his background and it sounded legit. How did Flemming pull that off?