Reply To: Still Life: Three Pines community after murder
I think a number of the villagers are devastated, especially Clara. As a result, many of them are grieving. Clara is the most overt in her grief, but Matthew Croft, Lucy, and Ruth, they grieve too. Jane’s death also brought forward lots of secrets in the community into the light, from the boys involved in vandalizing the bistro to Ruth’s secret to Ben’s villainy (and the others Jane mentions). It made many of them rethink what they thought they knew about each other, especially when they found Jane’s artwork in her home. On a positive note, I think that once these truths come to light and the evil is rooted out, the community is brought closer together.
I’m not exactly sure what Clara meant by having Surprised by Joy engraved, but I think it’s to honour her friend. Certainly the original proposed inscription would be far too sombre and negative for such a loving person like Jane. I also think it’s a callback to Clara finding the CS Lewis book of the same name on Jane’s bedside and to the William Wordsworth poem.
