![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/e2c00358-3da4-4faa-a9bb-8271deca6e72-1642-000000e40c2ede79_file.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1)
Dear Reader:
I am close to the ending of The Madness of Crowds ( Louise Penny) and I am falling back on my usual unique reading habit -slowing down and only allowing myself so many chapters a day! I don’t want the mystery to end… and to have to say goodbye to Gamache and all my friends for another year. Yet… I really want to know if my guess at ” who dunnit” is right! Sweet agony!
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/3e1411cb-aa4d-4b71-9320-3b8145faee41-1642-000000e7152475b3_file.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1)
In Penny’s first mystery novel –Still Life-she wrote ” In the bedroom Clara picked up the well-worn book beside Jane’s bed, C. S Lewis’ s Surprised by Joy. It smelled of Floris.”
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/87c7ce9b-6e09-40e0-8bad-b50b33ea95ed-1642-000000e924d3d864_file.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1)
Originally the phrase first came from a sonnet ” Surprised by Joy-Impatient as the Wind” written by William Wordsworth in the wake of his three-year-old daughter’s death.”
At face value, a strange comparison -joy and death-but the world of Three Pines, as summed up by both readers and reviewers alike, is just that, a place where light contrasts dark, goodness exists with evil, innocence engages experience, and hope flourishes with fear.
Louise Penny admits that she was ” surprised by joy” with a miracle-sobriety.
…”To find happiness and the freedom that comes from not having to drink every day and finding friends, and finding myself, and finding real joy.”
Louise also had a bench made and adorned with a ” Surprised by Joy” in 2007 for her husband Michael’s birthday. ” When I met and fell in love with him I was, indeed, surprised with joy. He was the most joyous person I’d ever met.”
Sadly Michael passed away a few years back. Penny had a rendition of the plaque made to be placed on a bench in New York’s Central Park. The bench sits on an idyllic hill and faces Louise’s apartment.
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/537dbdde-dddf-498b-831a-cce920cb2f9b-1642-000000f0a555ad86_file.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1)
So until tomorrow …shouldn’t we all surround ourselves with friends and beauty that bring us joy… even surprise us with it!
” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
Surprised by all the beauty in my September garden
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/36ae26c7-7b49-4092-b10a-0bb5f88dbee1-1642-000000f2973e1e1a_file.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/d097d860-2ddb-4978-922f-9cff0681e64e-1642-000000f2d5d5fe84_file.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4bfa856c-dfef-4436-ad6e-0293de03ca5e-1642-000000f30a31866e_file.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/263e7966-6413-4066-8814-575b3f660b41-1642-000000f347e4580a_file.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1)
Kaitlyn is temporarily keeping a precious little dog named Chicken. She was abandoned in Columbia with a KFC note tied to her that she like to eat chicken.
Kaitlyn says she likes all food, potty trained, loves children and other pets! She needs and deserves a loving home. If interested in knowing more… Email [email protected]
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/0fed282a-0064-4c50-8194-82a320818933-1642-000001305b80e180_file.jpg?resize=640%2C853&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/chapelofhopestories.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1acb2d21-dbff-4e89-bc2c-95dd8854bd1e-1642-000001310d84c4b3_file.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1)
Hey Becky! Wow I love this blog entry… You’ve got me intrigued about the mystery novels from Louis Penny! I am definitely going to pick one up! Which one should I start with?
I realized that same thought that life which includes parallel tracks of good things and bad things that happen in your life simultaneously … and you have to have a foundation of joy to get through the hard times… There’s a great book that highlights this concept called Choose joy because happiness is not enough by Kay Warren.
Lisa….I did it….used another computer!!!!
Thank you for your sweet note. I love reading your blog. So thankful Mandy and crew gad a safe and good trip to Mexico. We are in the mts for a few days.
Have fun!!!!