Ponder: A World of Curiosities

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny ©2022, is her 18th novel in the series about the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. As a fan of Louise Penny I am familiar with her cast of characters and very much enjoy revisiting them. The characters that are old friends – second in command Jean Guy Beauvoir, wife Reine Marie, bistro owners Gabri and Olivier, book shop owner Myrna, artist Clara, eccentric old poet Ruth and her duck – beckon me to read on farther. Moreover, as a bonus, the mystery and murder motive in this book harken back to the very first case that Armand and Jean Guy work together, where their deep and lasting relationship first began. 

This novel takes place in the quaint Canadian village of Three Pines where a huge painting is found in a secret room. The mystery in this novel hinges around that huge painting, with clues sprinkled throughout the images. This painting is a parody of a real painting Paston's Treasure, which per Wikipedia

The Paston Treasure is an oil painting that serves as a historically rare record of a cabinet of treasures in British collecting. Commissioned by either Sir Robert Paston or his father Sir William Paston in the early 1670s, it depicts a small fraction of the Paston family's collected treasures.

New characters – which arouse suspicion – are strong, three dimensional, and highly developed. The climactic action scenes are well written and riveting. The mystery itself is quite convoluted. I was grateful that in the final chapters, the author has Armand Gamache explain to the villagers "what happened".  The plot and clues do all hang together, but a debriefing for the readers was welcome.

I must admit, though, that familiarity with the characters and setting are what made this book so enjoyable for me. I do not think it would fare so well as a stand alone read. I anxiously waited for it to be released and, for me, it was well worth the wait. Perhaps not so for the Louise Penny uninitiated. If I remove my fan-based bias, I feel I need to rate it three stars;  but I will still eagerly await her nineteenth novel in the Gamache series.

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time

Ponder: Outlawed

In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw.

Such is the opening sentence of Chapter 1 of Outlawed ©2021 by Anna North. Newly married, 17-year-old Ada is in love with her husband. She remembered when he was her beau and she spent "hours talking about his broad shoulders, his awkward but charming dancing, the bashful way he always said my name". The first few months of their marriage were sweet ones. "My husband and I were hungry for each other all the time." The situation changed to grim when she failed to get pregnant within a year, thereby being derelict in her duty to "produce a baby for Jesus". In this era and region, barren women were accused of being witches, believed to cause others to miscarry or similarly to fail to conceive.

Ada is forced out of her dwelling with her husband and forbidden to practice the trade she has been learning as an apprentice from her mother, who is a highly trusted and respected mid-wife in the community. Furthermore, out of fear for the wrath and harsh punishment, even execution, that could befall her as a witch – and her sisters by association –  she needed to leave her childhood home to fend for herself and keep her family safe. There is a brief sojourn in a convent with other women who also have not succeeded in becoming mothers. The path Ada's life takes is simultaneously courageous and heart-wrenching, and also unanticipated.

This novel can be described as a feminist western, complete with bank robberies, stage coach hold-ups, and the self-proclaimed group name "Hole in the Wall Gang". Although I am not a fan of western shoot-'em-up movies myself, I enjoyed the novelty of this book. Women banned from society and their communities because of infertility or sexual proclivity, or shunned because of inappropriate mannerisms, band together in a supportive pseudo family. Mutual acceptance is an overall theme and even extends to the other gender. This is not a lesbian focus nor a male bashing. This is a unique way to survive a life and live it to the extent their genetic makeup will allow them within the ignorant and cruel confines of a "Christian" society.

I will admit, this book is probably not for everyone; but, because of its uniqueness and oddly supportive nature of the relationships, I rate it 4 stars.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience