The acclaimed Canadian author of Crow Lake intertwines the lives of three characters brought together by loss in a quietly moving novel – touched with flashes of humour – about the tenderness and tragedy of everyday lives in a small backwater town.
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.
Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose, had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered.
Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember and within hours gets a visit from the police. It seems he's suspected of a crime.
At the end of her life Elizabeth Orchard is thinking about a crime too, one committed thirty years ago that had tragic consequences for two families and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies.
Set in Northern Ontario in 1972, A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of these three people brought together by fate and the mistakes of the past. By turns gripping and darkly funny, it uncovers the layers of grief and remorse and love that connect us, but shows that sometimes a new life is possible.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781529113433
Number of pages: 304
Weight: 216 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 19 mm
It's already one of my favourite books of the year - Rachel Joyce
She has the God-given ability to convey the complexities of human nature in everyday language... Like a magician, Lawson hides her technique, and makes it all seem as natural as breathing - Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday
A contemplative story about loss and regret, a slow burn of a read with a fire at its heart - John Boyne, Irish Times
Lawson's writing is such that it appears effortless but, as all the strands come together to create a rich and satisfying tapestry, her genius for storytelling becomes apparent - Irish Independent
The doubts, difficulties and uncertainties of the human condition are carefully examined in a way that is both heartbreaking and joyful - Scotsman
Subtle and darkly funny, this tender novel unspools the interconnected lives of her beautifully drawn characters - Daily Express
An absorbing novel - Sunday Express
Lawson has carved out a world in Northern Ontario that's vividly, absorbingly real... Carries you along from midnight to dawn, oblivious of the time - Literary Review
A Town Called Solace keeps you breathless with anxiety, then relief and finally even joy - Ferdinand Mount, Observer
Close to perfection - The Times
Mary Lawson has the great ability to conjure up images for the reader using understated language and reflective conversation, She transports the reader to the centre of the story and keeps them there. It is 1972 in... More
Those who have compared this novel by Mary Lawson to those of Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler do her a disservice, as hers is a very individual voice, and one one which can speak convincingly through the eyes of a child,... More
What a great find A Town Called Solace turned out to be. Mary Lawson's Solace, in rural Canada in the seventies, is a place of gentle reflection and healing for those troubled souls who make it their home. Each... More
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