The village of ree Pines doesn't exist. at's a shame, because it is pretty and ...
ree Pines exists in the imagination of award-winning. Canadian mystery writer ...
Surprised by joy
LITERATURE Louise Penny
Love letters to Quebec: author Louise Penny
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Spotlight 11|11
Missverständnisse können sehr wohl das Leben bereichern, findet Louise Penny. MARGARET DAVIS hat mit der erfolgreichen Krimiautorin über die Begegnung der zwei Kulturen in Kanada gesprochen.
T
he village of ree Pines doesn’t exist. at’s a shame, because it is pretty and filled with charming villagers like Myrna, who runs a bookshop, and her friend Clara, an artist. On the other hand, the little community in the province of Quebec has a worryingly high murder rate. In the real world, that would be very bad for property values — not to mention public safety. ree Pines exists in the imagination of award-winning Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny. Fortunately, for the past seven years, she has shared that imaginary world with a growing number of readers worldwide. ey have come to know and love the villagers, and especially the charismatic yet kind Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. ree Pines is fictional, but its location, a little-known part of the province called the Eastern Townships, is not. e area is close to the US border and was originally settled in the late 18th century by United Empire Loyalists, colonists who refused to join the American fight for independence from the British Crown. English place names — Sutton, Knowlton and Granby, for example — are the norm. It is an area of great natural beauty, which Penny describes lovingly yet realistically. Few writers have captured so well the look
Fotos: Random House
Location as character: Penny’s novels paint a realistic picture of the province and its people
and feel of a Canadian winter in all its sunny white glory — and icy misery. e interaction between members of the minority Anglophone and majority Francophone communities in Quebec is a frequent theme in Penny’s novels. It’s a subject she knows well herself. Born in Toronto, she was in her 30s when she came to the province to work as a radio journalist. She spoke little French at the time, which led her to order souris flambées (flaming mice) in restaurants instead of cerises flambées and to ask a taxi driver to take her to the guerre (war) instead of the gare (station). (“Which war, Madame?” the driver asked calmly.) Linguistic misunderstandings are a frequent source of comedy in the novels. In her second book, Dead Cold, a character named Billy Williams puzzles the French-Canadian police officers with comments like “Whale oil beef hooked!” (Try saying it aloud.) Meanwhile, an elderly Anglo character speaking French in Bury Your Dead calls the English “bonnes citrouilles” (good pumpkins) instead of “bons citoyens” (good citizens) and offers to help Gamache with his research into matelas (mattress) warfare instead of matelot (seaman’s) warfare. Penny’s earthy humour is one of the strengths of the First novel: Still Life became novels, but it’s not all laughs an international best-seller, in her fictional world. And but Penny had trouble finding a publisher although it would appear that Penny herself lives an idyllic life, she is no stranger to the dark. She spoke to Spotlight by telephone on a cold winter day. cerises flambées Fr. citizen [(sItIzEn] mattress warfare [(mÄtrEs )wO:feE] mouse (pl. mice) [maUs] not to mention [)nQt tE (menS&n] pumpkin [(pVmpkIn] puzzle [(pVz&l] war [wO:] Whale oil beef hooked! vulg.
flambierte Kirschen Bürger(in) Matratzenkrieg Maus ganz zu schweigen von Kürbis verwirren (➝ p. 59) Krieg Well, I’ll be fucked!
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