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What parts of The Grey Wolf resonated with you the most? Why?
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The warm feeling Gamache had about the slender, elderly man entering the B&B and that sense of familiarity, the sense of calm Armand had when he’d locked eyes with the older man.
Daniel saying that he trusts his father more than his father trusts him. “Maybe one day you’ll trust me as much as you trust Mom. As much as you trust Jean-Guy. I want to help, Dad, and if helping means doing nothing, then that’s what I’ll do.”
The deepening relationship between Armand and Jean-Guy so Armand was able to tell Jean-Guy how angry he was when Jean-Guy made his choice and left the monastery with Francour, not angry with Jean-Guy, but with the situation.
I like all of these because of the humanness, intimacy and trust they demonstrate.
The fast pace of the story and Gamache feeling like he is in a competition to solve a Rubik’s cube. This image seems very apropos. Reading the book did seem like solving a Rubik’s cube.
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I love what you have picked Nancy. Those are the same scenes that I thought of.
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These are lovely points, Nancy, especially the one about Daniel. The conversation with his father shows a maturity and depth that I really liked. It’s interesting you pointed out Gamache’s feelings when he sees Dom Philippe. I had hoped there would be a deeper conversation between the two men, but they only have a brief time together. But I appreciated that the wisdom the abbot had passed on to Gamache about the two wolves has now been passed on to Jean-Guy.
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I love the parts of the book that have been selected here, and in Libby and Jane’s comments below. For me, the relationships in The Grey Wolf were very moving to me. The way the different relationships developed and the way that characters are also developing and maturing. The growing bond and trust between Daniel and Armand was my most favourite aspect of this book, but also the trust and love between all of the characters we love: Armand and Reine-Marie, as Jane pointed out, is always heartwarming and comforting, the team dynamics and trust between Armand, JG and Isabelle is reassuring and makes me feel safe that the good guys are on it and going to get the job done, and that they’re firmly together as a team (considering how fractured past relationships were in previous books), and Armand and JG and their bond, how their relationship seems to be becoming more balanced in some ways. I think that it is because in real life, relationships can be so difficult sometimes. As much as I try to avoid conflict and to form genuine, caring bonds with others, especially family, it is sometimes so difficult. And sometimes so disappointing. So when I see these bonds in others, I feel that warmth in my heart that goodness exists.
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I absolutely loved the similarity between Ruth and Claudine. Her comment to Jean-Guy, “What’s that to you numbnuts?” And Isabelle’s response – “Lacoste couldn’t quite stifle a snort and looked at the elderly woman as though in love.” We don’t often see a lot of emotional response from Isabelle. Especially showing her feelings for her team. We know how much she cares for Gamache and Jean-Guy as she put her life on the line for them. So now to see her in a more playful way was refreshing.
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Jean-Guy certainly charms the older ladies doesn’t he? Reading your comment reminded me of an earlier book too. Did you love his encounter with the older lady and cod cheeks in Long Way Home as much as I did? It almost seems like a running joke now. I thought Isabelle really shone and had a lot to do this time around, and you’re right it was refreshing to see her feelings and what she was thinking about team.
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I am going to go with all of Chapter 19. For me, this chapter includes several really heartfelt scenes. First, it covers the arrival of Armand and Jean-Guy at the monastery after their truly harrowing flight. Armand and Jean-Guy both recall their last time on that dock, in this place, the conflict between the two men at the time and their lasting feelings and memories. “They were both recalling, reliving, the last time they had stood on this dock. On this very spot. When Dom Philippe had told him about the grey wolf, and Jean-Guy had made a choice.” “What Armand saw in those familiar, those beloved eyes was shame.” “‘It’s okay. We’re okay,’ he said quietly to Jean-Guy.”
Next, the descriptions of both Armand and Reine-Marie when they initially believe Armand may have died in a plane crash after his cryptic text. Armand is initially unable to send a follow up to reassure her and Reine-Marie struggles not only with her own feelings but also with what to tell their children fixing dinner in their kitchen. As always, their concern for one another is palpable.
Finally, there is the description of the monks as they sing Vespers. It would be easy to make them caricatures, reduce them to oddities. Instead, they are described as men of purpose even if not one most people would choose; “men who believed with all their heart and soul that what they did was divine.” And Jean-Guy is able to “let the words, the music and the peace wash over him.”
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I felt strongly when I read the passage about shame. That was beautifully written. And LP always highlights Armand and Reine-Marie’s love for one another so well, you are so right about that Jane. The last part you mention about JG appreciating the monk’s music I had completely forgotten about, but I’m so glad you brought that up. There is so much beauty in this little part – appreciating the monk’s music and growth and peace in JG.
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I agree with you, Jane, about that chapter. It was a huge highlight of this book for me. That whole interlude back at the monastery, from beginning to end, was so full of touching, important moments. In Armand and Jean-Guy’s relationship, I thought it brilliant to bring them back to the scene where so much damage and hurt had occurred, and then show the healing and progress in their relationship, and the putting away those last vestiges of guilt and regret. They are indeed stronger since they were broken, and I love to see examples of that.
And the relationships with their wives is showcased, too — the first impulse of both was to contact their spouses and reassure them that they were safe after that nearly disastrous plane ride. I always love seeing examples of the wonderful relationships that Armand/Reine-Marie, JG/Annie have; those are beautiful to witness. The scene with Reine-Marie at home, trying not to jump to conclusions, trying to decide what to say to Annie and Daniel, trying to hold it together — that was so well done! I could really feel her anguish, and then her relief.
And your third example, of JG letting the music wash over him — what a difference between that and his first reactions to the chants! Another sweetly done example of how he’s found so much peace within himself after all those struggles, and has learned to allow himself to feel the beauty and healing of such things. You chose some excellent moments!
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I think the overall plot and scope of the crime that Gamache and his team had to tackle this book was the part that resonated the most with me. I think the story is very timely and prescient given what we’re seeing in world affairs. The hybrid international warfare and terrorism that LP describes is becoming an increasing threat to the current world order. World powers are using covert, underhanded means to manipulate populations and threaten other countries. They are aligning with criminal organizations to subvert democracies, launder money, plunder resources, and grab power. And there is an ever-increasing alignment between states, oligarchs, and criminality that is increasing corruption to levels that are simply unprecedented. The agencies trying to uphold the law and order need to work increasingly together and I think The Grey Wolf conveys this well with Gamache’s numerous international allies. I think LP does a good job of conveying the global scope of the menace facing Gamache and I can’t wait to read the Black Wolf.
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Depends what is meant by “resonates” because I thought there were some great suspense sequences, great character moments, and fun Easter Eggs. I loved the last few chapters when Gamache and Jean-Guy head to the water plant to stop the terrorists – nail biting, each and every scene! Daniel and his dad getting closer, Jean-Guy taking care of Gamache by buying him shoes were emotionally satisfying. Gamache outsmarting the villains and saving the day in just in the nick of time was also very satisfying. And like Jane mentioned, the lovely callbacks to Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. Gamache and Jean-Guy confronting their past experiences there was a beautiful way to bookend A Beautiful Mystery with The Grey Wolf.
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For me, it’s the parts where our core team of Surete officers – Gamache, Isabelle, and Jean-Guy – are together. There aren’t very many times that it happens in The Grey Wolf, but when it does, it’s very enjoyable. Each character has a moment where they pause and think about how much they appreciate each other, how much they’ve been through together, and how they are now truly family. It’s like a gift to the reader because we know how much they’ve struggled and gone through to get where they are.
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I’m reading all these comments and in my head going, “yes, yes, yes!” The very best parts that resonated with me are ones that you’ve already mentioned, and the best for me always involves the relationships of these core people. Armand, Reine-Marie, Jean-Guy, Isabelle, and Daniel all had stellar moments in this one. And I’ll also mention Ruth (wanting JG to come home safely-aww; and JG’s loving response to her, too). Big moments and small, the loving bonds these people share is always the biggest draw for me.
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One scene that, rather unexpectedly, reduced me to tears was in chapter 19 (already mentioned by Jane):
Reine Marie, after receiving Armand’s text, is trying to keep it together for her children. She knows she has to tell them that there is a chance that their dad (and Annie’s husband) might not be coming come, ever again. She gathers the courage to do that- and then the small ding of the second message.
“She looked at Annie and Daniel, then turned around and walked quickly back to the study, where, her back against the closed door, she slid to the floor. And wept.”
Do you feel the sheer exhaustion? Relief, yes, but the sense that she has been there too many times. That she’s had to face losing him again and again. How much longer can she do this?
I don’t relate to the scene personally. I have not been in this situation. But I felt it so deeply.-
Angie, I think that is the strength of LP’s writing and characters. I don’t need to share a similar situation or history to connect with the emotion and her description of the characters and situation. I really appreciate every element of LP’s work, plot, setting and characters but it is the last that always has the most impact, the scenes I go back to read or remember when I let my mind wander.
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Yes, well said Angie. Lp wrote that scene so well that we, as readers, could feel Reine-Marie’s emotions vividly. I know I did too. That was an excellent chapter, as Jane pointed out so well.
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What resonated with me at the time, and even moreso now are Penny’s descriptions of Canada and how precarious our position in the world is. Jean-Guy, looking at the coasters with charicatures of politicians on them. “None, that he could see, Canadian. Since Canada, as far as America’s political elite knew, did not really exist. And if it did, it was merely an inconvenient extension of their nation. A sort of annoying younger sibling that sometimes tried to assert itself but could always be put in its place.”
She issues a clear call to us Canadians to protect ourselves. How prescient was that? That vile fascist that America has apparently embraced, and none one has the gonads to stop wants my country. Yet no one American politician (or anyone else) has spoken out about this. For exactly the reasons Penny describes. We are regarded by the US as a nice place to visit, and as polite people but there is no respect for us.
I could go on, but I won’t. I’m waiting for someone to grow a pair and speak up against this insane president and his puppetmasters.
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Kathi, I absolutely regard Canada as a wonderful place to visit but that is not the end of my view of the people or country. In general, I would agree there are plenty of people in the US who regard Canada as an afterthought rather than a critical partner on the world stage, a central trading partner and an example of good governance that many in this country would do well to emulate.
I agree with your description of the incoming US administration. They are an embarrassment as are the US voters who voted for them. I was not one of them and I am one of 48.3% of US voters who did not. I find the general lack of criticism of the ridiculous claims of Trump to be disheartening and want more robust criticism from those in elected office.
I also find LP’s writing, esp. in TGW eerily prescient and have said that in some previous comments. Having said that, there are individuals and media who report accurately on the administration and on the reaction from Canadian leaders.
A couple random and general recent examples.
Here is a link to one recent media piece.
While Trump is trolling Canada about annexing it, Canadians are in Los Angeles tonight dropping water on the Palisades fire. He’s a disgrace.
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@nothoodlum.bsky.social) 2025-01-08T13:16:08.699Z
This is satire but it makes a point.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15yBMgJSgp/-
I agree with Jane. Nor was I one of those who voted for this lunatic. I do not understand all those who are cow towing to him and his insane demands.
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As a Canadian, I consider every American on BCF a friend. A very special friend. We are all kindred spirits and have similar perspectives on current international events. Reading daily posts and comments and responses to discussion questions makes it clear in my mind that this group of Canadians/Americans is filled with very good people.
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Thank you mei lan. I would be so sad if politics destroyed my new friendships with my neighbors in Canada. Not all Americans reflect the behavior of the government.
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You will have a difficult time getting rid of us as your friends Libby. We are heading down to you on our moose as I type this. Don’t forget your offer of grammar lessons. We haven’t.
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Kathi please know that I did not vote for nor do I support our incoming government. Our soon to be leader is an insult to all that this country has stood for.
What will help me through these next four, very unsettling, frightening years will be the new friendships I have developed in this book club. -
Kathi, when I read the scene you mention from TGW of Jean-Guy in Washington and his observation about the coasters, I cringed, embarrassed for us. I doubt that the majority of us in America are very knowledgeable about your country overall (many of us are woefully ignorant about out own country, let alone anyone else’s). I can only speak for my own experience, but I wasn’t taught a lot about Canada in school, many decades ago. I knew you were our allies, and we’d fought for many of the same things throughout much of our histories. I knew your country is big, and has some spectacular scenery and wildlife, some extreme weather, and that you were “one of the good guys.” I’d heard jokes about you being more polite than us. You were strongly connected to England. We have both an American side of Niagara Falls and a Canadian side. Obviously, there were a lot of gaps in my education to be filled in, and I have put some time and effort into trying to fill them over the years, and am still learning every day. I always knew you were a separate, strong, progressive country, though, and not “an inconvenient extension of our nation.” I was surprised to see that in the book, and thought — who in their right mind thinks that? And now look what’s been happening! I am gobsmacked.
Please do understand that when you think of Americans, we are not a “THEM,” any more than all Canadians are “THEM.” We don’t all think alike; we don’t all vote alike. This past election shows our division. I have my political beliefs and convictions, and I use my vote to voice them. Sometimes, I’m absolutely delighted with the results; sometimes I am thoroughly disgusted and dismayed. It’s a frustrating situation to be in, and I often despair about the state of our nation, and the state of the world. We who have certain freedoms like the ability to vote are fortunate, but it also means that we can’t (or shouldn’t try to..) control the outcomes if too many others disagree. That’s democracy in action. But we have to keep trying, and hoping that there are enough sane people left in the world to keep things in balance, and try to put them into positions where they can make a difference. It is, and always was, and always will be, an uphill battle, I’m afraid; as history has shown us.
And I can’t speak for others, but just so you know– I have enjoyed several visits to your country, and yes, I found the places I went nice to visit — but I haven’t been everywhere there, and I’m sure you have some places that I wouldn’t want to visit or be stuck in, just like here in the U.S. Not everybody I met in Canada was polite, any more than anywhere else in the world I’ve visited, but you seem to have a lot of nice people, yes. I have certainly found that to be true on this website! As for disrespecting you –no way. I can’t think of a thing that I would disrespect you about. I don’t idealize you as a nation any more than I do any other nation, including my own, because I don’t believe that Utopias exist on this planet, but I have always felt particularly good about having Canada as my next door neighbor, and I hope that nothing will ever jeopardize that!
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Thanks, Jane. Yes, we know what it is to have devastating wildfires, something else that LP mentions in The Grey Wolf. And overall, we are helpers. We send hydro workers when you are without power and we send firefighters in situations like this. We housed tens of thousands of people stranded here by the events of 9/11 (for which George Bush never even thanked us, although he thanked everyone else). We aren’t perfect, but we try to look after each other when the going gets tough.
Are you on Bluesky? I’m going to search…
Kathi
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The folks in Canada are still stepping up!
“Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s emergency preparedness minister, said Thursday that he had spoken with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and offered to deploy 250 firefighters as well as other equipment to Los Angeles as early as Thursday night.
“Canada stands ready to support our American neighbors during this challenging time,” he said in a post on X.”
from WaPo.
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As we are a wonderful Canadian-American (and possibly others) community here, I feel safe to step into this as well. I was reluctant to, because I am feeling very raw at the moment, but re-reading The Grey Wolf at this moment in time is hard without seeing its current relevance. For example (202-205):
“Armand forced himself to look down at the vast, seemingly endless stretches of forests and waters. And once again thanked God his children and grandchildren lived in Quebec, where the resources, while increasingly vulnerable, were still plentiful. Canada might not be the most powerful nation on earth, but power was shifting from weapons to resources. And Canada was resource-rich. Which was tipping the balance of power….”
Keep reading, it will send a chill down your spine.
“The other, a black wolf, wanting him to be vengeful. To forget no wrong. To forgive no slight. To attack first. To be cruel and cunning and brutal to friends and enemies alike. To spare no one.”
The black wolf wants our resources. Including water.
I returned to Canada in 2022 after living in Texas for 22 years. I have the best, kindest, social justice and peace-loving friends in the United States. None of them are to blame for the current situation. And yet it is hard for me to feel the same about the country where I lived for much of my professional life.
I wonder if Louise Penny’s knowledge of Canadian politics (she was a journalist working for CBC at one point) and her friendship with the Clintons has given her some insights and ideas for scenarios that are now playing out in ways she could not have imagined. Or could she?
My heart is breaking for Los Angeles. I was evacuated in my first summer here due to a fast-moving wildfire. Strong winds sent burning embers across Lake Okanagan. We had 10 minutes to pack up our loved ones and belonging and get out. I was lucky to be able to return to my house 8 days later. I am not surprised that Canadian firefighters are helping out. Americans (and Australians and South Africans and and ) helped us in 2022. That’s the world I want to live in.-
I have often suspected that the Clinton’s have informed Louise’s understanding of US politics. She really nails it quite often.
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I’ve often wondered the same thing, Jane.
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You are in a very safe space here Angie. This community has some of the kindest, most compassionate and respectful individuals I have ever seen online in one space. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and perspectives. I agree with Jane that LP’s writing with respect to global issues and American politics reflects a deep understanding, no doubt due to her close friendship with HRC.
Did you get a chance to read Jane’s post on the home page? I think it speaks to your last point. I would like to live in that same world that you described; one in which we can count on our friends to help in times of need. Maybe it’s not possible on a large scale or consistent manner, but maybe it’s possible in smaller communities. Communities like this one.
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I want to live in that world, too, Angie. Maybe we start one person at a time, one day at a time, one group at a time, like Susan W. suggests. Like the fireflies that Armand considered, shining their light in resistance of the vast darkness!
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