Reading a book by Mary Lawson is like enjoying time with a friend. A Town called Solace is her first book in several years so it was like a reunion with an old friend.

The story is told by 3 people. Clara is a little 7-year-old girl whose older sister has run away. Mrs. Orchard is the neighbour next door who has asked Clara to mind her cat while she goes to the hospital. Liam is the stranger who shows up while Mrs. Orchard is away and makes himself at home in her home.

Right from the beginning, there is an undercurrent that all is not right. From previous books, I know it will be a while before we get to find out what that undercurrent is. It is subtle, but it is there. Written in simple language, it's easy to get drawn into each of their stories and watch them develop.

It's a hard book to describe. There's no real action or huge plot developments. It's the 3 characters coming to terms with their lives. For Mrs. Orchard and Liam, it is the past. They are dealing with. For little Clara, it is coping with the disappearance of her older sister. Each narration is interesting. Each narration comes to its own conclusion. It so well written that I became totally involved with their lives.

I love the fact that the author is Canadian. As in her previous books, the setting is Northern Ontario. While the town of Solace is fictional there does exist Solace Provincial Park in the same vicinity, where the town would be located. Other existing towns are mentioned, some of which I have visited.

The ending was good, but, I want to know what happens afterward. I think this book could easily have a sequel.

While this is not my absolute favourite book by Mary Lawson, I did enjoy it very, very much. I hope I don't have to wait as long for her next one. People talk about “comfort food”. I feel that this author's books are “comfort reading”!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy.

Happy to feature this new title in February’s edition of Novel Encounters, my monthly column rounding up the top new fiction titles for Zoomer magazine’s Books section.
To read the feature, click on the link.

Set in northern Ontario 1972, this quiet family drama builds suspense through grief and secrets to eventually conclude in a very satisfactory way. Each character is lovingly fleshed out and the relationships formed in this small town is realistically portrayed. A story that draws you in and keeps you intrigued until the very end.
For me, there is something very special about Canadian authors and I always favour novels set in this familiar and beautiful country.

I was very excited to ready Mary Lawson's newest book, and it did not disappoint. A Town Called Solace features wonderful, deeply human characters who manage to connect with others and grow despite all their challenges. As always when it comes to Lawson, I love the Northern Ontario setting, and as someone who lives just south of where the book takes place, I can confirm it is accurately portrayed. The book as a whole, and especially the ending, left me hopeful and pensive, and I'll definitely be recommending it at the book store where I work.

I was thrilled to see that a new Mary Lawson book was coming soon, after ten long years since her last one! A little girl keeps vigil at her front window, watching for her missing sister. A newly divorced man escapes his shattered life and flees to a remote Northern Ontario town. An elderly woman looks back on her life, on the mistakes and choices that make up a life. Each of these characters' lives intersect throughout the course of the story and together they make up a tale of love, loss, grief and the interconnectedness of humans. A beautiful , heartwarming book that I didn't want to end!

The cover is what initially drew me in to request a copy of this book, but the flow of the writing is what really caught my attention. A Town Called Solace has three narrators: Clara, a child worried about her missing sister and sick elderly neighbour; Liam, who has recently left his marriage and job for a house he has inherited unexpectedly; and Mrs. Orchard who is hospitalized and reflecting on the stories of her life. These three individuals intersect at different times in the novel, The story had an overall melancholy tone, and slowly unravelled with Liam and Clara's stories in real-time, while Mrs. Orchard let us in on what happened many years ago. It was a page turner and suspenseful without being a thriller.

I've never heard of author Mary Lawson before picking up A Town Called Solace. I don't know what drew me to the book. The description is compelling, but not something I would usually read. Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada, Knopf Canada and Mary Lawson for the chance to get an ARC for an honest review.

I felt the same unexplainable interest the whole time I was reading A Town Called Solace. Set in a small northern Ontario town in the 1970s, there was just something interesting about it. It's told by three narrators, elderly Mrs Orchard in the hospital, 30 year old stranger in town Liam and 8 year old Clara who's sister has gone missing. There is a lot of mystery around the characters like where is Clara's sister and what's the connection between Liam and Mrs. Orchard.

It felt like just when the story was getting going and juicy and coming together the book ended. I actually said out loud, that's the end?!  I don't want to spoil it, but I adored the last line of this book. While each of the characters and stories did get an end, they didn't tie together like I expected. It felt like there were almost two books or that one story line was just a distraction.

It is beautifully written and Mary Lawson has a lovely way of building this small town so it felt like a real place. It was a really nice book in the end, just not what I expected from the description.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was beautifully written, but permeated with a muted sadness. I liked the characterization of Liam, who doesn't understand why Mrs Orchard has left him her house, and of Clara, who doesn't understand why her sister doesn't come home. I wasn't entirely sure why this was set in the past, and I am getting tired of books with multiple timelines, but overall this was excellent. Extra marks for having a proper ending where things were resolved.

Reading a Mary Lawson novel is enjoyable there’s something to make you want to read on, but it’s more than that too; the description and storytelling is so rich that you feel you’re there. But I also felt a little jolted by the ending, which I still think felt abrupt, but also real and hopeful in an unexpected sort of way. Life doesn’t always turn out like you think, but even after you make mistakes or life changes abruptly, you can still find forgiveness, friendship, healing… no matter what stage of your life you’re at. Mary Lawson knows how to tell a story, one that still lingers after it ends.