The Resistance Man by Martin Walker: A review

Chief of Police Bruno Courrèges is feeling broody. He has recently remodeled and expanded the size of his house after a fire damaged it, and now he would like to add a wife and children to fill up all that empty space. Unfortunately, both of the women with whom he is currently sexually involved are not interested in marriage or children. One is married to her career and is focused on getting ahead in it. The other is an independent woman who wishes to stay that way. As far as their relationships with Bruno are concerned, they are only in it for the sex and the companionship.

And then there is Bruno's boss, the mayor of the little village of St. Denis. His wife is currently in the hospital, dying of lymphatic cancer, but that doesn't stop the mayor from auditioning a replacement for her. In this case, it is an attractive writer/professor/historian who is currently writing a book about the World War II period in France, a period when the French government surrendered and formed the Vichy administration. The French people, however, never surrendered; they kept fighting by whatever means they could find. One center of their resistance was the Perigord region, where St. Denis is located. Those who fought in the Resistance are still honored and considered great heroes there.

Time and age have already taken most of them, of course, and now one more has died. A veteran named Murcoing has died in his home and Bruno is notified. The death appears natural, not suspicious in any way, but, in time, events surrounding it become connected to a series of burglaries in the area. Someone is burglarizing vacation homes while the occupants are away and stealing valuable antiques and other belongings. It begins to appear as though Murcoing's beloved grandson Paul may be involved in those burglaries.

Things take a more serious turn when an antiques dealer is murdered and Bruno suspects that this is connected to the burglaries. The situation becomes even more tangled when Bruno realizes that the victim, who was a homosexual, was one of the victims in a gay bashing case that he investigated several years earlier and it seems that Paul may have been another of the victims. The case was never satisfactorily resolved and continues to nag at Bruno.

The French judicial system works inexorably to solve the entangled cases and bring the perpetrators to justice, and Bruno, as usual, while performing his investigatory duties also finds time to socialize with his friends, play with his Basset puppy Balzac, ride his horse Hector, feed his chickens and his two geese Josephine and Napoleon, and cook and serve gourmet meals from his garden and his surrounding land. The great charm of this series is really the descriptions of the countryside and the laid-back lifestyle of Bruno and the other residents of St. Denis. I can feel the pounds packing on just reading about all this wonderful food and wine, and it's almost as if I've taken a vacation among the sights of the Dordogne.

At the same time, the book, which was published in 2013, also manages to educate us a bit about the history of the region and to include social commentary that seems particularly relevant to our times. I think we could take some important lessons from the Resistance men and women of France. Perhaps the most important lesson is "Never surrender!"

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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