Reply To: Still Life: Other than a murder mystery, what else is this book about?
Louise Penny always takes a larger view of the nature of humanity and the murders are a doorway into that. Her books explore larger themes of what it means to be human. Still Life introduces many themes that she explores in greater depth throughout the series.
In Still Life I think secrets and how they impact our lives is explored, namely how we reconcile our secret selves with what the world sees. There’s Jane Neal, who hides her art and is afraid of revealing it to the world. There’s Phillipe who hides his sexuality from his parents. Agent Nichol hides her fear of failure with resentment and smugness. Ruth’s secret impacted Jane and Andreas but it also impacted Timmer, because she carried around the secret with her. Clara holds back Ben’s story of the snakes and how she’s feeling from Peter. And of course Ben who holds the darkest secret of all. That to me was the biggest theme.
LP also explores the nature of good and evil. There’s a lot of moral complexity in her stories. There’s hints of darkness, jealousy, smugness, resentment, greed in the residents of Three Pines. There’s also generosity, empathy, forgiveness, kindness.
Belonging and community also comes up. What makes a sanctuary? What makes a community? Three Pines is depicted as an idyllic place offering safety and community for those who find it. But darkness still finds its way in. The town fits in more broadly with the themes of choice and morality that Gamache often ponders.
Gamache frequently talks about choices and how they impact your life and the life of those around you. “We choose our thoughts. We choose our perceptions. We choose our attitudes. We may not think so. We may not believe it, but we do,” he says. He goes on to say, “Life is choice. All day, every day. Who we talk to, where we sit, what we say, how we say it. And our lives become defined by our choices. It’s as simple and as complex as that.” So that theme comes up a lot in the book and the series.
Finally, I think to a lesser extent is the nature of art and its role in society. Art if often a reflection of people’s inner truth. Although Peter and Clare are artists, it’s Jane’s artwork that is central in this book. Her work not only reveals the truth about who killed her, but the deeper relationships and truths about the residents of Three Pines.
