A Town Called Solace is only Canadian author Mary Lawson's fourth novel. She has published novels only in 2002, 2006, 2013, and 2021, and that's kind of a shame considering the critical success she's always enjoyed and how well her books have sold around the world. Lawson, now 77 years of age, lives in England but is said to be a frequent visitor to Canada where she grew up in a small Ontario farming community.
The author set A Town Called Solace in one such northern Ontario 1972 farming community where everyone knows everyone else, something that has probably not changed in generations. It's the kind of place that depends on one shared law enforcement officer mainly because something criminally serious rarely ever happens there. Even so, Solace is lucky enough to have a cop who is smart and completely dedicated to keeping the town's citizens safe.
The novel has three distinct narrators: a little girl whose teenaged sister ran away from home one night and has not been seen or heard from since, the elderly lady who lives next door to the little girl and her anxious family, and the stranger who comes to town to claim the old lady's home after she gifts it to him. Of course, in such a small town, readers will expect that the stories overlap in ways both subtle and not so subtle, and that is certainly the case in Solace, Ontario. In the present, the little girl has come to depend on whomever is living in the house - and the cat that lives there - for emotional support. The old woman is suffering a personal grief of her own, and she spends much of her time reliving the one tragic mistake she made as a younger woman. And the stranger who has come to town to claim her home is struggling with a personal crisis all his on, one he brought to town with him.
All the while, the local cop is doing everything in his power to locate and bring the missing teen home before it is too late to save her.
A Town Called Solace is not my favorite Mary Lawson novel, but of the four, this is the one I found to be easiest to engage with quickly. Too, the limited number of characters, along with the distinct narrators, makes the novel generally read rather faster than those that preceded it. Mary Lawson is a truly wonderful literary novelist in my estimation, and I'm pleased to hear that she is still writing; I just hope it doesn't all take so long next time around.
It sounds quite a desolate book. Did you feel that? A funny thing for me is that when I see the title, I hear Town Called Malice by the Jam. haha. Did you ever watch The Rebel? It was in that show, along with a lot of great songs. Boy, did I go off the subject!
ReplyDeleteVery desolate and isolated, Nan. I find all of Lawson's book to be very atmospheric that way, in fact. It is that isolation that caused the teenaged girl to run away from home, too, even in the early seventies when this one is set. I haven't watched The Rebel...sounds like something I need to check out. :-)
DeleteI've got this one on my list. It sounds like it might be a good one for me to start with if it's a little more accessible and easier to engage with than her others. Though I've heard only good things about all of her novels.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any of her books would be called "hard reads," it's just that this one reads quicker for some reason, and that I found the characters easier to remember from the start. It's not my favorite of hers by far, but I don't think this woman can write a bad book.
DeleteI agree Lawson is a great storyteller. I liked this novel a lot and the setting. She really gets you there quickly. I have read 3 out of 4 of her novels but still need to get to The Other Side of the Bridge. Which is your favorite?
ReplyDeleteLooking back, I think my favorite is probably "Crow Lake." That may be because it was the first of hers I read, and the world she created in my mind there was just so different from anything I had read in a long, long time. She pretty much stays in that environment now, so if I had read it last instead of first, I might not feel it's my favorite. Hard to tell.
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