A Journey to Three Pines - Episode 3: The Cruelest Month
Currently Reading
Meredith Schwartz
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2023
⏱️ 87 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We are so excited to journey with you to Three Pines, the fictional French-Canadian village created by Louise Penny for her Three Pines series, featuring Armand Gamache. This spin-off podcast series will tackle each of the books in the series in turn, in a spoiler-FILLED format. Be sure you’ve read the book before listening to the episode.
As you’ve come to expect with all Currently Reading content, Meredith and Roxanna will follow a regular episode format, with regular segments, so you know what to expect each and every time. We love staying focused on the book, rather than conversational rabbit holes.
Show notes for this series will not be time-stamped, but will include links to Bookshop dot org or Amazon for any books or resources referenced in the episode. These are affiliate links, so they kick back a small percentage to us if you buy through them, and help support the work we do on Currently Reading.
1:56 - The Set Up
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (one L simply due to demographic of readers? Please don’t fight me over this!)
3:05 - Putting the Book Into Context
Publication date
Seasonal setting - Spring, around Easter
Book Awards: Agatha Award for Best Novel in 2008, Nominated for: The Anthony Award, The Macavity Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel of 2008
Critic Reviews
Alternate Title: Cruelest vs Cruellest - that’s the only difference dependent on geographic location of publishing.
Meredith’s and Roxanna’s encounters with the book
Currently Reading Season 5: Episode 45 w/Ezeekat
8:46 - A Deeper Exploration
Setup and first few paragraphs
A seance as the driving source of the mystery
Still Life by Louise Penny
One note character in Madeline/lack of care for her as a character
Gamache not introduced until chapter 9
Pg. 69 - Make note for future reads
Gamache as a father and grandfather figure versus an inspector
The pacing of the novel
Quality of writing itself
Themes: Regeneration, Resurrection and its unpredictability, jealousy, equanimity, grief, platonic love,
Character Development - Gamache’s Pride, Beauvoir
The Fear Factor
55:58 - What Do We Need to Know?
Village of Three Pines - The Hadley House, Hazel’s House
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
Homes as a driver for the plot/characters
The Oddness Factor
Gamache’s accented English
1:06:00 - Superlatives
Favorite scene
Character MVP
Biggest loser
Best food description
1:16:32 - Within the Series
Is this book skippable?
Setting the foundation
Favorite quote
*Does the reading of passages take you out of the conversation or help enhance it? Let us know at the socials below!
Next episode’s read: A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
No Spoilers this episode!
Connect With Us:
Please note the change in Meredith’s Instagram handle. This was recorded prior to the change.
Meredith is @meredithmondayschwartz on Instagram
Kaytee is @notesonbookmarks on Instagram
Roxanna is @roxannatheplanner on Instagram
@currentlyreadingpodcast on Instagram
Support us at patreon.com/currentlyreadingpodcast and www.zazzle.com/store/currentlyreading
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey readers, welcome to a Journey to Three Pines. |
| 0:20.8 | In this special limited edition series from the currently reading podcast, we're doing |
| 0:25.1 | a deep exploration of each book in Louise Penny's three-pine mystery series, and we are |
| 0:31.3 | getting deep into it. |
| 0:33.1 | We'll delve into the mysteries, of course, but we'll also talk about the characters |
| 0:37.4 | we love so much, the delightful village of three pines, and probably even chat about |
| 0:42.5 | all the delicious meals they feast on. |
| 0:44.8 | Wash down with a bowl of cafe au lait. |
| 0:47.2 | We'll discuss everything from the themes Penny explores to why we love Armand Camache |
| 0:52.1 | and all the rest so very much. |
| 0:54.7 | I'm Meredith Munde Schwartz, co-host of the currently reading podcast, and the three pines |
| 0:59.7 | series is my favorite book series of all time. |
| 1:03.1 | And I'm Roxana Casemcara, a Canadian reader and show regular on the currently reading |
| 1:07.5 | podcast. |
| 1:08.5 | I'm making my way through the series and loving it. |
| 1:11.4 | Alright, we want to say at the top of the series, when we tell you guys every time, |
| 1:16.0 | that this series is for people who have read the book that we are diving into. |
| 1:21.6 | There will be spoilers about book number three, the cruelest month, so if you haven't read |
| 1:27.6 | it yet, you may want to press pause and come back when you've got that reading in. |
| 1:32.0 | We will be discussing each book in context of the series as a whole, but if we feel there |
| 1:37.3 | will be spoilers to the rest of the series, we'll save those portions for the end of |
| 1:42.0 | the episode, and we'll let you know when that's going to happen. |
... |
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