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People in this novel have secrets, even Gamache. What secrets surprised you?
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There are many secrets in Still Life — small ones, big ones—but all with consequences. For me, Jane Neal hiding her artwork all over the walls of her house was the biggest secret. It struck me as a revelation — that she obsessively created art yet fiercely hid it from all her friends for years. And to not feel comfortable sharing her work, especially with Clara…well, it was sad to me that she felt she had to keep it secret for so long.
I was also surprised by the simmering tensions in Clara and Peter’s marriage. What seemed like a strong partnership is revealed to have cracks. Another unexpected moment was learning that Ruth had revealed Jane’s engagement to her parents, ultimately destroying it. I hadn’t thought of Ruth as someone who would interfere in other people’s lives like that. But she was young then, and with age comes wisdom. From a reader’s perspective, though, I liked this particular secret because it led to revelations about Timmer, as well as more about Jane and Ruth’s past.
Was I surprised by the ultimate secret—who the killer was? Not so much. But the revelation of why Jane was murdered did take me by surprise.
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All of the secrets that you mentioned were revelations to me, Tara, and more. All the characters at this point were strangers to me, and learning about what they chose to hide and what they chose to reveal said a lot about who they were, and helped me form my opinion of them. Each secret influenced each characters’ behaviors– some in major ways, some in minor ways. Everyone has their secrets, and these characters are more relatable because we are invited to know some of theirs, and understand them more deeply, perhaps ponder how we would respond if we were in their shoes, and that may have ultimately led us to our conclusions about who did the crime. Of all the secrets revealed in this book, I think that Jane’s was the hardest to have guessed — I was amazed at what she had done at her house and why, and never would have seen that coming. I was most touched, perhaps, by Matthew Croft’s secret bonding with Jane over poetry, and by Jean-Guy’s secret protective worries about Gamache that even he doesn’t understand. And I was saddened the most by Ruth’s secret concerning what she’d done to torpedo Jane’s relationship with Andy; that would have been a hard one to forgive oneself for, I think.
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I like both of your reviews of the secrets, Tara and Susan. Susan, I’m glad you brought up Matthew Croft’s bonding with Jane over poetry – that was a nice touch. It’s interesting that LP extends that love of poetry to Gamache and there’s maybe similar bonding between him and Myrna and Ruth? The poetry lovers in Three Pines continues on after Jane. And rereading the book it was nice to see Jean-Guy’s concern for his boss was there right from the start. I’m glad LP decides to let us hear all her characters’ thoughts so we get to know them all better. My appreciation for all the different people would not be the same if the books had been written in first person narrative.
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While not exactly a secret, as in something one specifically hides from others, I thought it was a very poignant moment when Gamache recognized that Jean-Guy’s feeling and respect for Gamache was deeply personal as well as that of subordinate for respected superior. It seemed like something Armand would not let himself acknowledge for himself. And it opens up a different dimension of the relationship and connection between the two men.
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I think you’re right, Jane. I did wonder why it had taken so long for Armand to make this realization; they’d been working together for “over a dozen years” by now, and even though Jean-Guy is “tightly wound” as is mentioned, and keeps many of his thoughts and emotions in check at this point, I still thought that Armand, so usually astute, would have seen indications of JG’s personal connection earlier, had he let himself. He seems to have not allowed himself to believe it, to not presume on their relationship as anything more than professional, which was rather endearingly humble of him, I thought.
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