My favourite book of the year so far is also the discovery of a new author to love. ‘A Town Called Solace’ is the fourth novel by Mary Lawson. The previous three have been nominated for, and won, many awards and much acclaim. I’m not sure how I have overlooked her but I’m now planning to catch-up.
Such a quiet book with a powerful emotional punch, the story is set in a solitary lakeside town in northern Canada in 1972. It is a story of mistakes made and paid for, longed-for recompenses, the complexities of child/parent relationships and how things can so easily go wrong. Most of all it is about deep love, understanding and forgiveness. Told through the experiences of three people - eight-year old Clara, widow Elizabeth who is seriously ill in hospital, and Liam who appears one day and moves into the house next door to Clara’s family.
Clara has a key to Mrs Orchard’s house next door so she can feed the shy cat Moses and spend time playing with him so he won’t be bored alone. Clara prefers this to being at home because her older sister Rose has run away and her parents aren’t telling her the truth of what is happening. We learn Elizabeth’s story as she lays in bed struggling to breathe, remembering her life with husband Charles and a wrong she committed decades earlier which she still fiercely defends. Liam has recently split with his wife, left his job as an accountant, and comes to the town of Solace to take possession of a house, a surprise inheritance from someone he knew long ago. These three stories are wound together with builder Jim, policeman Karl, library assistant and ice cream maker Jo, and the sullen waitress at the Hot Potato cafe.
Like my favourite authors - Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler, Penelope Lively, Jane Smiley - Lawson has the ability to write about complex emotions with an easy style set in everyday situations that are believable, that could be happening to you, or someone you know. I immersed myself in the story, only towards the end did I appreciate Lawson’s deft plotting and subtle management of character. She writes about the ugliness of human behaviour with a beauty that helps you to understand the human dilemma, to look at the whole picture and see the person behind the actions.
A novel to treasure.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

This was a surprising book. A slow and gentle burner which I thought would center around the disappearance of a young 16 year old girl named Rose, but instead was all about the peripheral people connected to her.
Told from three points of view - Clara, the missing girl’s younger sister. Mrs Orchard, Clara’s elderly neighbour. And Liam, a man who, as a boy, was a child who Mrs Orchard had wished was her own son.
Mary Lawson is so clever in the way she draws out these characters so deeply that you feel really invested in their lives.
But she is also brilliant in writing about place - although Solace is a quiet, small town, she really made me feel like I knew it intimately.
An excellently fulfilling read.
* Thanks to Random House UK and Netgalley for the ARC.

The title is both intriguing and promising and the cover, the way it zooms in on the house in a way that shows little else around it, is such an apt metaphor for the three lives it focuses on, those three windows into their worlds, and the three time sequences it immerses in to portray them.

A character driven mystery about hope and redemption, the characters and their voices are superbly portrayed, they are like closeups, snapshots of little action, complex inner worlds, all of whom have been tilted in some way and are in the process of finding their upright, their wings even and yet there is a clear, interlinked story that ties them together keeping the reader engaged and the plot moving forward at a good pace.

I came to think of these three characters, Mrs Orchard (Elisabeth), the grown up child and previous neighbour of Mrs Orchard, now adult (Liam), and 8 year old current neighbour of Mrs Orchard (Clara), as depicting narratives of past, present and future, that overlap.

When the story begins we meet Clara standing at the window of her house, watching obsessively, waiting for her sister Rose (16) who has run away from home. She is waiting for any sign of her return and is disturbed to see a strange man carrying boxes into Mrs Orchards home next door.

The Inner Journey (Anti-hero)

Rose having gone missing may appear to some as the central drama, however each of the three characters are embarking on their own inner quest that this drama brings to light. Rose and her parents are not central characters, and the mystery of Rose's disappearance is not allowed to take over the narrative.

This may prove to frustrate some, so tuned in are we to the more dramatic story pushing in to take centre stage. Here, the larger than life character, though involved in the more dangerous narrative, is made into a secondary character, kept at a distant.

More than disturbed, Clara is anxious because she has the keys to the house to enable her to feed the cat Moses while Mrs Orchard is in hospital. She'd promised she wouldn't be gone long. Through Clara observes we observe how confusing childhood can be because adults put so much effort into lying and withholding truth from them, when in reality, they are extra sensitive to everything outside the words, that tells them truth and therefore makes them mistrust adults.

The Lying Life of Adults

Clara doesn't know this yet, but Liam remembers what it was like to be that child and he is the one adult who doesn't lie to her. But in order to gain her trust, he will be required to step outside his own comfort zone and finds himself getting involved in a community and the lives of people he had no intention of knowing. In the midst of his own mid-life crisis, this unexpected event had given him a welcome distraction, however he had planned to stay 2 weeks and leave.

In an entertaining subplot to his story, his effort to fix a leaking pipe under a sink miraculously leads to him to become the builder's labourer, in on of those familiar scenarios of "well in order to fix that, first we're going to have to fix the roof and unfortunately..."

Liam's narrative happens ahead of Mrs Orchard's and Clara's narrative occurs ahead of Liam's. It is so subtle and yet so clever as it creates a kind of mystery within the individual story of each character. So we sometimes read of the same event later from a different perspective.

Angelic Attendants

Elisabeth is in hospital (in the past because in the present we know she has already passed away) and her narrative uses the second person (You) as she is speaking to her dead husband (of many years now), who is very present for her, a sign to the reader of how close to her own passing is likely to be. As she speaks to her husband, she is recalling a period many years ago when the boy Liam lived next door with his family. Little clues drop indicating that something happened, something only Elisabeth now remembers.

The writing is superb and atmospheric, the structure is sophisticated and yet flows with ease you could read this and be completely unaware of it. The individual voices of the characters are pitch perfect and atmosphere created, remarkable. The drama is understated yet palpable and the mundane slowly gets filled with intrigue and curiosity was the layers are revealed. And it made me laugh out loud - often, little surprises and a fabulous last laugh for the closing scene.

I don't know if this will make the shortlist but I totally understand why it has been nominated. I'm excited to read more of her work, because this was brilliant.

Highly Recommended.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me this advanced reader’s copy in return for a fair, frank, and honest review.

This book was like marmite for me. I had never read anything by this author before. I liked it and disliked it in equal measure. It is a very emotive story focusing on Clara’s sister Rose that has disappeared. The language was beautiful, and I believe this may be a very under stated story. It has humor, despair, love, and grief. I do not want to spoil anything for the readers of this beautiful book. It is a magic story from start to end but not always with the happy ever after moment.

A Town Called Solace received some great reviews, but I have to conclude it wasn't for me.
Set in 1972 in Solace, a small town in Canada, it's a story with 3 separate storylines. Mrs Orchard an elderly lady looking back over her life. Clara an 8 year old girl who is trying to cope with the disappearance of her teenage sister and troubled thirty something Liam Kane, who inherits a house in Solace and intends to make his stay as brief as possible.
It's the slow pace of this book that didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I'm used to reading a lot of suspense novels that I crave some more action in a book. I also love a lot of dialogue in a story, but although the 3 protagonists are connected there is little to no contact between them or other characters. As a reader, you get to understand what each of them is thinking of or reminiscing about and they all have their reasons for keeping to themselves but it just didn't work for me.
Nevertheless, thanks to @netgalley and Random House UK for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was a complete pleasure to read A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. I loved the clarity of the narrative, focused on three main characters, each perfectly distinct and finely described and the sense of location in a small town is excellent.

It’s set in 1972, but looks back to events thirty years earlier when Elizabeth Orchard first met Liam who was then a small boy of 3 when he and his family lived in the house next door. The last time she saw him he was still only 4 years old. It was not a happy time for either of them, and thirty years later, when she is dying she wants to make amends and gives him her house.

Clara lives next door to Elizabeth, who she loves, and she is alarmed when she sees Liam moving into Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth had given her a key and she goes in every day to feed Moses, Elizabeth’s cat. She has no idea that Elizabeth is dying and is furious when she discovers that Liam is moving Elizabeth’s things and packing them in boxes. Her life is in turmoil in any case as she is devastated that Rose, her 16 year old sister has gone missing.

The narration moves between these three people, seeing events through their eyes. Elizabeth, in hospital looks back over her life, remembering her despair at not having a child of her own, and her love for little Liam that ended badly, despite her good intentions. Clara spends the time before and after school at the window looking out for Rose’s return and Liam, whilst remembering his sad childhood, is trying to rebuild his life after his marriage ended in divorce.

I loved this book. It’s about families, the things that go wrong, about memories and about friendships and the care that people have for each other. It’s moving and sad, but also filled with hope. And it’s beautifully written.

Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my review copy.

I keep saying in reviews recently "if you like Anne Tyler you'll like this"... but A Town Called Solace is definitely very similar to Tyler's novels in more than just style: a small-town setting, an intimate cast of characters, a cosy sort of read with good writing and pacing. Reading this evoked a feeling which was akin to snuggling up in a comfy chair on a cold winter's day with a cup of hot cocoa.

Told in three alternating points of view, we meet Clara, a seven year old whose older sister has gone missing; Mrs Orchard, Clara's elderly neighbour who she has become close to (and whose cat she has been feeding since Mrs Orchard went into hospital); and Liam, a man in his 30s who we meet when he inherits Mrs Orchard's house as her health worsens. The characters become inextricably linked as Liam weighs up whether to stay in Solace after fleeing his failed marriage, Clara grapples with life changing rapidly around her, and Mrs Orchard confronts her own mortality and looks back on her earlier life.

My first read by Mary Lawson, but I'd be interested in checking out more of her writing for when I'm in the mood for this type of book.

Easy to read, straightforward and honest.
Enjoyed this, not too many characters and all very different. Eight year old Clara has lots of responsibilities and worries, she is curious and can be infuriating, but her struggles are mostly because people are not honest with her.
A new neighbour Liam moves in next door, he is an introvert and finds the small town of Solace too intimate, although he gets drawn in to the life of the town and its inhabitants.
Mrs Orchard, Clara's previous neighbour relates her past from her hospital bed, the tragedy and shame that never leaves her.
The search for Rose gathers speed with Liam playing a vital if unwilling role.
A page turner.

In a town called Solace, a teenage girl - Rose -goes missing and Liam inherits the neighbouring house from a woman he barely remembers.
Told through several narrators including Rose’s eight year old sister Clara, this is an intriguing and well-written novel.
We gradually piece together the story of Liam and his link to Solace, and what happened to Rose.
This is a novel full of secrets, and it is both sweet and uplifting and utterly heartbreaking.
It is not a thriller although there is a missing girl, but explores relationships and smaller domestic dramas with a sure hand.
Lawson shapes her characters with such skill that I found then utterly believable and really cared about their fates.
Thoroughly recommended for those who like a well-observed, touching and absorbing novel.

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 main character from young, inquisitive Clara to socially awkward Liam and, even, the loveliest neighbor with a secret Mrs. Orchard are broken in one way or another but looking for redemption and living in hope. I found the delicate nature of the story soothing and it warmed my soul to journey with these characters as they take their lives forward.

Heartbreaking but enriching, too, the sadness made the intertwining of their stories deeply emotive and proves that the people in your life are there for a reason. A Town Called Solace is a beautiful story and the first of many I hope to enjoy from this gifted author.

Mary Lawson’s 4th novel is set in the early 1970s in a small town with the wonderful name of Solace in Northern Ontario. This is a town where everyone knows everyone else and where life moves at the same slow, predictable pace. The story is narrated from the perspective of 3 people; Clara a 7 year old, Elizabeth an elderly lady dying in hospital and Liam a stranger who mysteriously moves into Elizabeth’s house one night. There are shades of Elizabeth Strout and Kent Haruf in the style of Lawsons writing which I enjoy. Her first 2 novels ’Crow Lake’ and ‘The Other Side of the Bridge’ were both remarkable books.. Very much in the same vein as Strout & Haruf, Lawson focuses on the wonderful ordinariness of everyday life. The older I get the more I ‘get’ this and the more I enjoy reading books that capture the simple beauty of the everyday.
Isn’t it often the seemingly ordinary moments in life that can hold the most extraordinary meaning?

Don’t expect any high drama or complex plots in this book. This is more of a contemplative book exploring family, relationships and the intertwining of lives. It also evokes a real sense of place. You can feel the bitter cold of Northern Ontario as Winter rolls in and a sense of the solitariness of the small town and its inhabitants. If you haven’t read Mary Lawson before, I would highly recommend her to you. This is a beautiful book to begin with.
4 stars

Many thanks to @netgally and @vintage books for this e-book in return for my honest review.

I did like bits of this but I really struggled to concentrate on this as the pacing and the tone wasn't always there are. The characters were ok but I feel like they could have been in pushed further and developed a bit more. The world was built ok ok but there were times when the writing could've made the world more realistic. This wasn't a bad book by any means but this had the potential to be much better.

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, a man and an elderly woman, all equally believably characterised. The book is set in the fictional town of Solace in Northern Canada, and follows the lives and dramas of three of the town’s residents, with disappearance, divorce and death, all treated with the same clarity and empathy, whilst conveying both the warmth and small mindedness of small town living. This is an exceptional book - easy to read, absorbing and a real warm hug in these pandemic times. Highly recommended.

Author, Mary Lawson, certainly has a knack that makes the mundane, unremarkable daily happenings, of small Canadian town Solace, appear much more interesting than it has any right to.

It’s 1972, and Clara’s 16 year old sister Rose has gone missing. Rose is quite rebellious, and a heated exchange took place between Rose and her mother - nothing new about that, and it wasn’t the first time Rose had left home, however, she’s usually back after a couple of days, just enough time to put her mother through the mill, cause her anxiety, this time though, she doesn’t come home - just as she’d promised she wouldn’t this time.

Clara is very astute for a seven year old child, good at assessing people and situations, and one of the people she assessed and loves, is her neighbour Mrs Orchard. The elderly lady has had to go into hospital, but she leaves Clara a house key, and asks her to feed her cat Moses, in her absence, and Clara takes her responsibilities very seriously, and besides, the familiarity of Mrs Orchard’s belongings reassured her that it would be just a matter of time before Mrs Orchard would be back home.

One day however, a strange man turns up at Mrs Orchard’s house and starts moving some of his things in. Clara is furious, how dare he! Besides it’s her job to feed Moses, and he’s a very nervous cat when it comes to strangers.

Liam Kane has been left the house by Mrs Orchard, and with his marriage all but finished, it gives him time to decide his next move. Clara doesn’t know yet that her neighbour has died, and sees Liam as an intruder, someone who has no right to try and take over Mrs Orchard’s home.

As we meet Elizabeth Orchard, she’s coming to the end of her life. Many years ago, Elizabeth made a mistake that had tragic consequences, and though she knows her days are numbered, she hopes she has enough time to make amends.

Clara, Liam, and Elizabeth’s lives, come together in love, grief and hope, as we the readers look on with a poignancy that tugs at the heart. Told from the POV of all three protagonists, it’s told beautifully!

A colleague of mine has always recommended Mary's books, so I finally decided to give her a go. I loved it. If you like Elizabeth Strout or Ann Patchett then you'll love Mary Lawson. This is a beautifully written book about 3 families interconnected, about marriage, divorce, children, a missing child and about that choice we all have - where to go in our lives. I love stories set in small towns where everyone's business is known by everybody else, and the microscope the author holds up for us to study the minutiae of their lives. If you want a quiet, character driven book, then this is for you.

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson
Having read this wonderful novel by Mary Lawson I am wondering why I have not read any of her other books. This book was an absolute delight. It is written from the viewpoint of three different characters. There is Clara, seven years old and confused about where her sister is and why people do not trust her with the truth. Rose her older sister has gone missing after another bitter row with her mother. Clara is amazingly well drawn and her worries become heightened with every passing day. Her inability to focus on anything else apart from her missing sister is conveyed beautifully.
The other narrator is Mrs Orchard, the next door neighbour who is in hospital and we discover gradually about her life and her deep and lifelong bond with Liam who arrives in Solace to take over her house. Liam and Mrs Orchard are coming to terms with the things which have gone wrong in their lives. There is no fantastic plot twist it is just people beginning to understand the important things in their lives.
The third narrator is Liam who was an important fixture in Mrs Orchard for a short period when he was a boy. He has few recollections of her, as he was so young at the time, but gradually he begins to unearth the depth of feeling they shared for a short time.
I am delighted to have been able to read this wonderful novel and will search out Mary Lawson’s other work. I would like to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is such a comforting and heartwarming book, telling the story of friendship through the years and focused on a small Canadian town where nothing much happens.

Liam is left a house by a woman he can barely recall, and reeling from a messy divorce and career frustration he visits on an impulse before he plans to sell the property and start a new life when he has decided what he wants to do.

We hear the Elizabeth, the woman's story, Liam's story and seven-year old Clara's story mixed in together, as the little girl cares for Elizabeth's cat until Liam arrives at his new house, just as Clara's older sister has run away from home and is missing.

The stories are told in such a tender way, the characters are very human, and this was as enjoyable as a warm hug and a hot chocolate on a cold day - loved it.

Canadian author Mary Lawson ranks among my favourite contemporary authors. In a literary landscape where many other writers aim to produce plots that race along at break-neck speed, Lawson offers gentler, deeper plots that stay with you long after you close the pages of her books. A Town Called Solace is her first release in several years and I was delighted to receive an ARC in review for this honest and unbiased review. Once more, we are transported to a Northern Ontario setting where the year is 1972. Lawson’s plot centres on just three characters: seven year-old Clara who keeps a dual watch on her neighbour’s cat and her older sister Rose’s eagerly awaited return, elderly neighbour Elizabeth, and newcomer Liam, whose purpose in the town called Solace is not originally clear. These three neighbours of different ages and characters are drawn with a warm humanity and just the right amount of humour, and the links between them are gradually revealed. Whilst I would not recommend A Town Called Solace for readers in search of gritty, fast-paced thrillers, this novel has much to offer to people willing to engage with the slices of Canadian family lives that Lawson creates.

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 Northern Ontario and 6 year old Clara is holding a vigil for her missing 16 year old sister. Next door, a strange man has moved into Elizabeth's empty house and Clara needs to get in the house to feed Moses the cat.

I read Crow Lake many years ago and I am over the moon to be reacquainted with her work. If you enjoy books that allow you to read between the lines and become part of the story, then this is for you.

Read and enjoy

This is the first book I’ve read by Mary Lawson, chosen on the strength of the recommendation by Anne Tyler whose novels I love. I’m so glad I did!

A Town Called Solace is a quietly hopeful book set in 1970s rural Canada. The three main characters, Clara, Liam and Mrs Orchard, were all beautifully drawn and fully believable. The story is compellingly told, although at a measured pace rather than rushing like a breathless thriller. I really cared about each of the characters and their story arc.

A recommended read for fans of thoughtful character-led fiction.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.