The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

I am like a broken record when I say that the Louise Penny Three Pines Series just keeps getting better and better and The Beautiful Mystery the 8th book in the series is excellent.  I rated it five stars on goodreads and after I did I wondered should I reserve five stars for the classics and national book award winners.  But then I thought no.  A book should be judged within its genre and by that criteria The Beautiful Mystery is a five star read.  

And what makes The Beautiful Mystery different than the prior seven novels in the series that I have read is that the fictional little village of Three Pines and its residents: Clara, Peter, Ruth, Olivier, Gabriel, Myrna do not appear in this novel.  Instead this book is set in a monastery Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups located on an island in a remote part of Quebec.

Twenty-four monks live at the Saint-Gilbert--Entre-les-Loups.  They are entirely self sufficient and were living in isolation with no one knowing of their existence until they decided to make their beautiful music, the Gregorian chants, available to the outside world.  

The monks became famous overnight with money from CD sales pouring in but they continued their cloistered life not allowing anyone from the outside to enter the Saint-Gilbert--Entre-les-Loups.  But then one of the monks, the choir director Frere Mathieu, is found murdered in the garden.  Chief Insp. Armand Gamache and his first lieutenant, Insp. Jean-Guy Beauvoir, make their journey to the monastery to find out which of the monks committed the murder and why. 

We learn in The Beautiful Mystery about the monastic life, Catholic Church history, the Gregorian chants and so much more.  There is also a sub plot involving Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir and that sub plot interested me a good deal.  We get a deep dive into the character and insecurities of Jean-Guy Beauvoir and though he is not an easy character to warm up to, I am starting to find him fascinating and will be eager to get on to the ninth book in this marvelous series.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

These days if you are looking for an out-of-print book it's often a click away on Amazon.  But in 1949 for Helene Hanff, a free-lance writer living in New York, finding the out-of-print books she loved was not easy.

But then Helene saw an ad from an antiquarian bookstore Marks and Co located at 84, Charing Cross Road London, England.  Helene sent off a letter inquiring if they had three books she had been trying to find.  The manager, Frank Doel, wrote back letting her know that he would be sending Helene two of the books she requested.  The Leigh Hunt essays would be harder to find but he would do his best to locate that book as well.

And so began a twenty year correspondence (1949 - 1969)  between Helene Hanff, Frank Doel and the staff at Marks and Co.  Their letters are collected in the book 84 Charing Cross Road published in 1970 which has gone on to be a much loved classic.  Most of the letters in the book are from Helene and here is part of a letter dated March 25, 1950 she wrote to Frank:  

"I require a book of love poems with spring coming on.  No Keats or Shelley, send me poets who can make love without slobbering - Wyatt or Jonson or somebody, use your own judgement.  Just a nice book preferably small enough to stick in a slacks pocket and take to Central Park" 

In the years after World War II Helene discovered that foods and products were still being rationed in England and so as a thank you for the books they had been sending her, Helene began to send gift packages that the Marks and Co staff really appreciated.  

At the heart of 84 Charing Cross Road is Helene's friendship with Frank and the Marks and Co staff and also her love for English literature. Helene Hanff didn't care for fiction but she had a deep knowledge of English poetry and essayists and it's a pleasure to read her interesting and opinionated views about books and authors.

Frank and his staff were always hoping Helene would come to England to visit and she wanted to go but as a struggling freelance writer it was not affordable. She finally did make it to England but by that time Frank had passed away and the bookstore had closed down.  But the book 84 Charing Cross Road has become a classic to treasure and reread.  Also the movie starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins is wonderful.  I have seen it more than once and it's available online.