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Louise Penny incorporates foreshadowing throughout the Gamache series, hinting at events and relationships that unfold in later books. How does she use foreshadowing in Still Life to set up future plotlines and character arcs?
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Two examples stand out for me.
The first is the continued political fallout from Armand’s actions in the Arnot case and the cracks in his relationship with his childhood friend and confidante Michel Brebeuf. Michel recalls the demands he resisted to discipline Armand for bringing Arnot back to face justice. Armand intuitively knows it is not over as well.
The second example includes the stresses and conflicts in Clara and Peter’s relationship. The dynamics which ultimately lead to their separation, Peter’s self-absorption and insecurity and Clara’s determination to be autonomous, are striking in how Clara responds to Jane’s death and Peter’s fumbling responses to her.
I am pretty sure there are more but these two seemed pretty clear to me.
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I was actually amazed how many hints and foreshadowing there are in Still Life. LP plants several seeds for storylines within the Surete that she revisits in later books. One is the hint of the incident with Arnot (as Jane mentions). We learn that Gamache was involved with the scandal in some way. And again, as Jane mentions, there’s Brebeuf, who we learn is Gamache’s friend, but there’s a hint of resentment under the surface. And Agent Nichol turns on Gamache, believing he’s to blame for her inadequacies. Her resentment towards him factors in later books.
There’s the hint of trouble in Three Pines. Clara and Peter’s marriage is fraying. There’s hints at Olivier’s greed around antiques. But there are also positive hints. There’s hints of the deeper friendship and father-son relationship between Jean Guy and Gamache. Isabelle’s thoroughness and professionalism are just at their beginning stages. And there are even small details that show up later, like Gamache enjoying sitting on a bench in Three Pines. So lots of nuggets that come out later. Just like Jane I’m sure I’ve missed some, so I’m looking forward to reading what others picked out.
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Jane and Tara, you picked great examples, and it was hard to think of something else, but I came up with two things — One, that Vincent Gilbert and his book “Being” were mentioned, and will figure significantly in the storylines in the future. The other is that after Jean-Guy made his visit to Yolande’s dysfunctional house, he “left their home wanting to call his wife and tell her how much he loved her, and then tell her what he believed in, and his fears and hopes and disappointments. To talk about something real and meaningful. He dialed his cell phone and got her. But the words somehow got caught somewhere south of his throat. Instead he told her the weather had cleared, and she told him about the movie she’d rented. Then they both hung up.” And it continues, “Driving back to Three Pines, Beauvoir noticed an odor clinging to his clothes. Lemon Pledge.” I thought at the time that it was sad that he and his wife apparently couldn’t share deep communication, and I thought the Lemon Pledge comment was a statement about the sterility of their relationship, much as Yolande’s cold house reeked of that disinfectant and was somehow just a showcase upheld to impress others. I did wonder if that’s what JG’s marriage was like, too, and have since learned the answer to that! And perhaps that mention of lemon has significance as well. Lemon meringue pie has been a symbol of a touch of grace in many of the stories; perhaps Lemon Pledge showed a certain lack of it.
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