How the Light Gets In

Louise Penny

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-11

Chapters 12-16

Chapters 17-23

Chapters 24-27

Chapters 28-31

Chapters 32-37

Chapters 38-42

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Three Pines

The village of Three Pines is the setting for most of the Inspector Gamache series. In How the Light Gets In, it becomes more than a setting—it is the last frontier of innocence and goodness. Contrasting against the corrupted Sûreté headquarters, Three Pines is a place that nurtures and restores: “What Three Pines had wasn’t immunity but a rare ability to heal” (117). Three Pines healed Constance by helping her find peace and community. It serves as a fortress for Gamache and the Brunels. Not only is it a logistically ideal place for them to work because there is no internet or cell reception, but it is also a spiritually ideal place to work. As scenes jump back between the Sûreté and Three Pines, it becomes obvious that the conflict will come to Three Pines: The village has to prove that its quiet, humble way of life can hold up against the violence of Francoeur’s men.

Three Pines is not just powerful because of the lack of cell reception but the people who make it a refuge. As this small but loyal group of villagers takes on Francoeur’s men, it symbolizes the power of goodness to resist and triumph over evil.

Henri

Henri, Gamache’s adopted German shepherd, has appeared in several prior novels but takes a more prominent role in How the Light Gets In, where he symbolizes innocence and goodness in contrast to the turmoil around him. In this way, Henri is an exaggerated version of his owner, Armand Gamache, whose kindness and goodness are different from the culture of the Sûreté. This novel is a showdown between good and evil, integrity and corruption. While his surroundings are full of fear and evil, Henri’s innocence cannot be tainted. He bravely follows Gamache without question, trusting that Gamache will keep him safe. As the conflict begins, everyone is afraid. In a chapter where Beauvoir sits in his car, hoping that it will be alright and the Brunels lie awake, hoping it will be alright, when Gamache tells Henri “It’ll be alright” (68), Penny adds, “And Henri believed him” (68). In the midst of conflict, Henri is at peace because, “He knew he was loved. And he knew how to love” (111).

Just as Henri is at peace in the midst of conflict, he gives love in the midst of hate. In the elevator at Sûreté headquarters, he reaches out and kisses Beauvoir’s hand. This gesture shows Henri’s loyalty, and through him, Gamache’s enduring love for Beauvoir, even when Beauvoir recoils from them both. In the midst of a tumultuous showdown, Henri symbolizes the power of innocence and goodness.

“Alas” by Ruth Zardo

“Who hurt you, once,

so far beyond repair

that you would meet each overture

with curling lip?” (9).

Louise Penny often repeats lines of songs, poems, or bible verses as motifs in her novels. They ruminate in Gamache’s mind as he either relives moments of his life or sorts through the complex emotions of the murder case. This poem, called “Alas,” is repeated throughout the series and accredited to the character Ruth Zardo. In How the Light Gets In, we discover that she wrote this poem for Virginie Ouellet, the quintuplet who mysteriously died when the girls were teenagers. This motif supports the theme of appearances and reality. To solve Constance’s murder, Gamache needs to find who hurt the Ouellet quintuplets “so far beyond repair,” and then he needs to discover why the murderer was so wounded that he resorted to killing an old woman to keep a secret.

This motif also connects to the theme of isolation and connection. When people like Beauvoir, Constance, or even Peter Morrow, Clara’s estranged husband, are wounded, they can become reclusive and bitter. To meet an overture with “curling lip” implies a deep, isolated cynicism without the tenderness of human connection. For Beauvoir to overcome his addiction, he needs to go back to the moment he was abandoned in the factory. Similarly, for Constance to heal, she needs to overcome the assumption that openness is a weakness.