"The service ended with a hymn and the collection followed by a silent prayer, in which Agent Morin told Gamache about his late grandmother, who smoked incessantly without ever removing the cigarette from her mouth.
'Her right eye was always winking because of the smoke,' Morin explained. 'And the cigarette just burned down. She never tapped off the ash. It hung there, this long tube of gray. We could watch her for hours. My sister thought she was disgusting but I kinda liked her. She drank too. She could eat and drink without once taking the cigarette out.'
He sounded impressed.
'Once when she was preparing breakfast the whole line of ash fell into the porridge. She just kept stirring. God knows how much ash and crap we ate.'
'Did the smoking kill her?' Gamache asked.
'No. She choked on a brussels sprout.'
There was a pause and despite himself, Gamache chuckled."
Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny, p 124
In all the pages I read yesterday, this little story stood out, and struck me as slightly funny and offbeat. I even read it out loud to both my coworkers and to Jake. (I do that from time to time-I know it must be hard for people to grasp the true essence of the excerpt, since they aren't reading the book themselves, yet I just have to share)
I like the vivid picture that Penny creates. I'm impressed with her writing, since I don't usually like Canadian authors. This mystery drama is keeping me on my toes, that's for sure. Check it out!
Love,
Ashleigh
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