A Town Called Solace

By: Mary Lawson

Narrated by: Maggie Huculak, Tajja Isen, Ian Lake

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 30 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.

©2021 Mary Lawson (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"I've been trying to tell everyone I know about Mary Lawson.... Each one of her novels is just a marvel." (Anne Tyler)

Brilliant

A brilliant , emotional and suspenseful novel . A little gem of a book. I was invested in these characters and their stories that it was so sad to finish the book . Read beautifully by 3 narrators .

Pleasant easy to listen to story.

This is the sort of book that I like to listen to while I am gardening or doing crafts. The plot rolls on with no great surprises. The characters are plausible and the plot is quite well constructed.

Dull

One publicist's "brilliant and emotionally radiant" is another person's "dull and mildly corny"
Narration of the 7-year old Clara was annoyingly shrill