A Town Called Solace (Hardcover) | Released: 18 Feb 2021

Product DescriptionSet in the frozen north of Canada in 1972, this is a beautiful Booker Prize longlisted novel about painful histories that need reckoning with and the moments in life when we can change for the better.'I've been telling everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each of her novels is just a marvel' ANNE TYLER Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Seven-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. 'Poised, elegant prose, paired with quiet drama that will break your heart. The sort of book that seems as if it has always existed because of its timeless perfection' GRAHAM NORTON'These interwoven stories of three people at different stages of life...will stay with me the way good friendships stay with you. It's already one of my favourite books of the year' RACHEL JOYCEReviewBeautifully written and so finely crafted; told in the kind of prose I most admire because it takes what appears to be complicated and makes it clear . . .These interwoven stories of three people at different stages of life, and yet each struggling with their own form of loss and grief, will stay with me the way good friendships stay with you. It's already one of my favourite books of the year -- Rachel JoyceMary Lawson writes with a pure simplicity... she has the God-given ability to convey the complexities of human nature in everyday language... It was only on a second reading that I came to realise quite how intricately plottedA Town Called Solace is:like a magician, Lawson hides her technique, and makes it all seem as natural as breathing... she possesses an instinctive feel for when to withhold information, and when to release it -- Craig Brown ?Mail on SundayLawson's books area pleasure to read - they conjure a space where quiet reflection and owning your past mistakes bring gentle rewards; they feel kind and wise and brimful of empathy -- Siobhan Murphy ?The TimesThis is Mary Lawson's fourth novel and I'd recommend a binge immersion... Lawson has carved out a world in Northern Ontario that's vividly, absorbingly real; she captures tones and voices with exactitude in writing that's idiomatic but never flashy andcarries you along from midnight to dawn, oblivious of the time. -- Nooni Minogue ?Literary ReviewPoised, elegant prose, paired with quiet drama that will break your heart. The sort of book that seems as if it has always existed because of its timeless perfection -- Graham NortonAnne Tyler is a big fan of this Canadian author and so am I ?Good HousekeepingA lovely, gentle novel with edge, worthy of Anne Tyler ?SagaThere's a beauty and simplicity in her [Lawson's] stories set in small-town Canada -- Nina Pottell ?Prima[An] absorbing novel -- Charlotte Heathcote ?Sunday ExpressCompletely absorbing... A Town Called Solace pleases at every level. It's a captivating tale suffused with wisdom and compassion -- Brett Josef Grubisic ?Toronto Star[InA Town Called Solace] doubts, difficulties and uncertainties of the human cond