A Trick of the Light (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #7)

by Louise Penny

“What was she?” Myrna asked. She’d heard the broad strokes, but now she wanted to hear the details. And Clara told her everything. About the young Lillian, about the teenage Lillian. About the woman in her twenties. As she got further into the story Clara’s voice dropped and dragged, lugging the words along. And then she stopped, and Myrna was silent for a moment, staring at her friend. “She sounds like an emotional vampire,” said Myrna, at last. “A what?” “I ran into quite a few in my practice. People who sucked others dry. We all know them. We’re in their company and come away drained, for no apparent reason.” Clara nodded. She did know a few, though no one in Three Pines. Not even Ruth. She only drained their liquor cabinet. But Clara, oddly, always felt refreshed, invigorated after a visit with the demented old poet. But there were others who just sucked the life right out of her. Lillian was one. “But it wasn’t always like that,” said Clara, trying to be fair. “She was a friend once.” “That’s often the way too,” nodded Myrna. “The frog in the frying pan.”