Friday 22 September 2017

Book Review: The Long Way Home

goodreads.com
This is book ten in Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series. I enjoyed how this book returned to the world of art. Clara Morrow takes a central role when her husband Peter goes missing. Penny is brilliant in recreating her series with each book. No book follows a formula.

In The Long Way Home the characters research and travel from Three Pines to Montreal to Quebec City to Baie-Saint-Paul to Tabaquen. I wonder if Penny writes about these places just so she has an excuse to visit them. It certainly feels as though the reader is travelling along with the characters. It's fascinating to have the story lighting the way.

I can't recommend these books highly enough. It was another satisfying read, although I missed having the grumpy Jean-Guy from earlier books. I'm sure he'll be back. I'm glad he got to be relatively happy for one book!

I especially enjoyed this description on p. 76. "The bar was, in fact, a library. . . Where Jane Austen could sit and read. And get drunk, if she wanted." :)

Sunday 17 September 2017

Pastors' Wives Book Review

amazon.com
I found this book by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen while looking for an agent for my book After His Heart, a novel imagining King David as a modern day worship pastor in a megachurch told from the point of view of three of his wives. I was charmed by Lisa's blog and her description of Pastors' Wives. The setting is megachurch Greenleaf in Atlanta. The book begins with Ruthie and her husband moving to Atlanta to work at Greenleaf Church. The story is told from three points of view, Ruthie, Candace Green, wife of the senior pastor and Ginger, wife of Timothy Green, pastor of Newleaf Church.

The most interesting aspect to me was that Ruthie does not share her husband's faith. It was fascinating to see the inner workings of Greenleaf through her eyes. From Lisa's blog, it seems that Ruthie's perceptions are similar to the author's. Lisa discovered the lives of pastors' wives while on assignment with Time magazine. She was so intrigued that after writing her article, she says "the women (she) interviewed kept bothering (her)." She was inspired to create a TV series about Pastors' Wives which turned into this novel.

I was also drawn to this novel because I am a pastor's wife. However, I would have to say the experiences in this novel are almost entirely foreign to me. I think this if for three reasons. Number 1, we have never belonged to a megachurch. Number 2, we have always lived in Canada. And number 3, this is a work of fiction so there is way more drama. Thank goodness my life is not like theirs!

Lisa is an excellent writer and especially skilled at creating layered, realistic characters. She creates brilliant twists and turns in her plot. While this novel features a plethora of Christian characters, it is not a Christian novel. Rather than trying to bring the reader to Christ, this novel uses Christian characters and setting to tell a great story. I recommend it and look forward to reading more by this clever author.

Saturday 2 September 2017

Meeting Louise

Louise Penny appears at St. Andrew's Wesley Church on Monday, August 28
I have been a big fan of Louise Penny since my friend Dianna recommended her books in 2015. I've read the first nine books and am working on book ten. I've written several reviews for her books including Still LifeBury Your Dead, The Murder Stone, and How The Light Gets In. Penny has the gift of writing intriguing, intelligent, suspenseful and compassionate murder mysteries. They also have some surprisingly funny moments. So, when I got an email from Vancouver Wordfest saying she was coming to town, I had to go.


I invited my friend Sue who is a fellow Penny fan and we arranged to go together to St. Andrew's Wesley United Church on Monday, August 28. It was a sweltering evening, somewhere around 30° Celcius. The church filled up early with hundreds of Penny fans. Everyone looked as excited as I felt to hear from this talented Canadian author. 

The moderator for the evening welcomed us to "The city's largest sauna" and he wasn't far off. Women in every direction fanned themselves with any paper they could find. But it was worth it to hear from this well-spoken former CBC journalist. 

Here are some of the things I will remember about the evening:

Louise thinks of her characters through the lens of Helen Prejean's quote "People are more than the
Some of the incredible stained glass at St. Andrew's Wesley
worst thing they have ever done in their lives." She said this gives her compassion for her characters.

Louise said writers need to write their first draft with their playful, creative selves. Leave the critic for the revisions.

Penny does research to a certain point and then makes the story work for her, even if she doesn't get all of the facts right.

Her husband died about a year ago. Louise said she took 6 weeks to two months off of writing, but when she returned to her book, she found it comforting and healing. Her husband is the inspiration for her main character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and it feels like, through continuing to write his character, her husband remains close.

I am so glad I went and I am thankful I still have more Louise Penny books to read.