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

by Louise Penny

“If you’re expecting remorse you won’t find it. She was a hateful, vindictive bitch.” Gamache nodded. “I know. But she was trying to get better. She might not have said it as you’d have liked, but I think she really was sorry for what she’d done.” “You try forgiving someone who ruined your life, you smug bastard, then come and lecture me about forgiveness.” “If that’s the criteria, then let me lecture you.” Everyone turned to a dark corner, where there was just the suggestion of an outline. Of an odd woman, with mismatched clothing. “She’s a natural,” said Suzanne in a whisper, still heard amid the din outside. “Producing art like it’s a bodily function. I managed to forgive that. And you know why?” No one answered. “God forgive me, not for Lillian’s sake but my own. I’d held on to that hurt, coddled it, fed it, grew it. Until it had all but consumed me. But finally I wanted something even more than I wanted my pain.” The storm seemed to have slipped out of the valley and was slowly lumbering away, to another destination. “A quiet place,” said Chief Inspector Gamache, “in the bright sunshine.” Suzanne smiled and nodded. “Peace.”