How a fictional town in Quebec saved me

On Three Pines.

(The town of Three Pines)

In the immediate aftermath of getting laid off by CNN, I was adrift.

Not only was I in pretty bad mental space but I also struggled to fill my days. I would wake up, drop the kids at school and then stare at the clock — counting how many hours until I was going to pick them up.

It was bleak.

Then, one day, and I don’t remember which day but it was probably in January 2023, I came across Louise Penny and her “Inspector Gamache” series of mystery novels. I have always loved a good mystery and had heard good things about Penny from my mom (a committed mystery reader).

Plus, there were 19 books in the series and I, well, had a lot of time to fill. I figured I would give the series a chance.

The books revolve around a fictional town in remote Quebec called Three Pines. It is a town so small — and so covetous of its privacy — that it literally does not appear on any map.

It is idyllic. There’s a bistro that functions as the social center of the town. It’s a place that serves cafe au laits and croissants — all lovingly and deliciously described by Penny. (There’s a whole recipe book about the food Penny writes about being cooked and served in Three Pines.) There’s a bookstore managed by a former psychiatrist. A small group of homes all circled around the three trees that give the town its name.

The town’s residents — a famous artist, a famous poet and, eventually, the star of the series, the head of the the Quebec police department, Armand Gamache — seem to forever be eating and drinking, all in the comfy confines of the bistro.

I devoured — ahem — the first few books as Penny introduces you to Three Pines and its residents. It felt like a safe space for me. Things in my world were really hard. But life in Three Pines — despite all the murders! — was comforting. The rhythms of the town. The fundamental decency of the people. The politeness and respect with which they treated each other.

Here’s how Penny herself has described Three Pines:

“Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical. Then we live in Three Pines.”

Yes to ALL of that.

Three Pines was, for me, a warm blanket on a cold night. A calm space amid chaos. A state of mind. A way of thinking. A belief that I — and we — could be better.

Penny herself has returned to Three Pines as a way to deal with grief and loss. Her husband, Michael, died of dementia in 2016. In the wake of his death, she wrote that her books were about “common yearning for community. For belonging. They’re about kindness, acceptance. Gratitude. They’re not so much about death, as life. And the consequences of the choices we make.”

It’s been a year since I started my journey in Three Pines. I am on the 14th book — “Kingdom of the Blind.” I am now starting to dread the end, when I reach the conclusion of the last book and have to say goodbye to a town (and its residents) that have helped me navigate one of the most difficult periods of my life. (Good news: Penny has said there will be a NEW Gamache book coming out this year!)

I can’t recommend the books highly enough. Whether you like mysteries or not, the series is about a whole lot more than dead bodies and the efforts to solve who done it. They are about human nature. How we choose to live in the world.

And, for me, these books were about how to live through hard times. How to make struggle not an end but a beginning. I am eternally grateful to Penny (and Three Pines) for that.