Booker Prize long-listed A Town Called Solace opens on a family in crisis: rebellious teenager Rose has been missing for weeks with no word, and Rose’s younger sister, Clara, keeps a daily vigil at the living-room window watching for her sister’s return.
Enter Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small Northern town. Liam moves into the house next door and unbeknownst to him, is being watched by Clara and is also sharing the house with a shy cat who is hiding from him. Clara’s elderly friend, Mrs. Orchard, was sent for a short stay in hospital, and Clara promised to keep an eye on her neighbour’s house and take care of the cat. As the novel unfolds, so does the mystery of what has transpired between Mrs. Orchard and the newly arrived stranger and why he is occupying her house!
The story is narrated by three distinct compelling voices (Clara, Liam, and Mrs. Orchard) each from a different generation. Set in Northern Ontario, Canadian author Lawson carefully explores topics like belonging and family connections, both the ones we are born into and the ones we choose. The book steadily builds towards a satisfying conclusion. A beautifully written hopeful and redemptive novel by an author who knows how to make ordinary life compelling.
Any book by Mary Lawson gets full marks from me. Some may want a faster pace in a novel, but books like this draw me in completely and are page turning in a more thoughtful way. I really cared about the vivid characters in this story and I appreciate the author’s simple, straightforward style in developing them.
Mary Lawson grew up in Northern Ontario but lives in England. People from Toronto may think Muskoka (‘cottage country’) is the North, but as she says “it isn’t and never was the North.” Recently we did some camping in the region and it’s true what she says. The North she describes is so much more remote and has a character all its own, which Lawson captures so well.
Joanne's Reading Blog 
Love the book!,
I’m really enjoying it too, I was looking for a gentle read after a reading drought and thought I’d try this new to me author and was pleasantly surprised to then discover it has been longlisted for the Booker.