Imperfections Bring the Light Among Those Affected By Cancer

Sometimes the imperfections in life can bring an unexpected beauty. A famous mystery author explores this idea.

PUBLISHED December 28, 2019

Jane has earned three advanced degrees and had several fulfilling careers as a librarian, rehabilitation counselor and college teacher. Presently she does freelance writing. Her articles include the subjects of hearing loss and deafness, service dogs and struggling with cancer. She has been a cancer survivor since 2010.

She has myelodysplastic syndrome, which is rare, and would love to communicate with others who have MDS.

I have used the books written by Louise Penny, a famous Canadian author of mysteries, several times in my articles. I am a huge fan of her work. What is unusual, however, is she does not use stories represented by violence and shocking scenes. Rather, the main character, chief inspector Armand Gamache, solves his cases by delving into the mind and exploring what causes the murderer to be desperate enough to kill. Penny also does a lot of research and has interesting historical backgrounds on various subjects.

Her fantastic descriptions add even more appeal to her readers. In the novel, “The Beautiful Mystery,” the murder happens to one of the brothers in a monastery. No one other than the monks were allowed to enter the cloistered building for centuries, until the murder happened. Gamache and his staff entered tentatively, and were amazed how beautiful the chapel was. This was in sharp contrast to the plain clothes and simple lives of the men who lived there. Gamache noted that the chapel was colorful because of light coming into high windows. The glass through which the light entered was old and imperfect, but it was the imperfections that caused the beauty. The chief inspector reflected that the daylight refracted by the imperfect glass was broken into red, purple and yellow. Taken apart, they were separate colors. Together, the imperfections made the glow “giddy” and brilliant. By the same token, the monks were known for their amazing music. The individual voices blended into a choir known all over the world.

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