Taking a chance

In one sense, A Rule Against Murder is a tale of two fathers. One is passionately misdirected, changes his mind, and receives forgiveness from his only son. Another remains rigid and crushes his four children even beyond the grave. Louise Penny invites us to uphold a change of course as difficult and brave, even sacred. The two first lines of the poem, High Flight, capture each father’s loving bequest: “Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth/And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.”