A Town Called Solace

A family in crisis is at the heart of Mary Lawson’s beguiling story of loss and renewal.

This is Solace, a small town in northern Ontario, in September, 1972. After an argument with her mother, sixteen-year-old Rose has left home. She’s run away before, but never for this long, never for weeks, and her frantic parents and younger sister Clara have no idea where she’s gone. Police are searching, but their efforts have come to nothing. Distraught and confused but nonetheless convinced that her sister’s return is imminent, Clara keeps vigil at the window, watching the street. Clara also keeps an eye on the house next door where elderly Elizabeth Orchard lives. Mrs. Orchard has gone into hospital and before leaving for what was show more supposed to be a brief stay, asked Clara to feed her cat, Moses. One day, long after Clara expected Mrs. Orchard to have returned home, she observes a man drive up and enter the house. Later she grows agitated when she sees through the window that the man is packing Mrs. Orchard’s things into boxes. It’s too much change all at once for Clara, and when, while the man is out, she goes next door to feed Moses (using the key Mrs. Orchard gave her) she unpacks the boxes and puts Mrs. Orchard’s things back where they belong. The man, thirty-something Liam Kane, recently divorced and newly unemployed, has reached a crossroads in his life. Arriving in Solace from Toronto, he has come to clean out the house and put it up for sale. Clara, Elizabeth and Liam, the three main characters of A Town Called Solace, narrate the novel, telling their stories, each from their own perspective. Clara’s story is fraught with worry, over her missing sister, over Mrs. Orchard’s absence and Liam’s unexplained presence. Elizabeth Orchard’s is a story of a happy but childless marriage and dwells on a crucial period, some thirty years in the past, when she and her husband lived in Guelph. This is where they first met the child Liam and his parents, and where Elizabeth made a reckless decision that changed her life forever. And Liam’s story is of a man who, while still young, is unable to envision a future for himself. Emotionally cautious, chronically indecisive, drifting without purpose from task to task and one encounter to the next, he bravely resolves to avoid making the same mistakes that in the past have left him feeling guilty and miserable. In A Town Called Solace Mary Lawson’s storytelling gifts are on full display. The reader, quickly picking up on the genuine affection with which Lawson regards her characters, is drawn to them and their struggles, and as the story progresses comes to feel their anguish and understand and forgive their faults. The story builds at a deliberate pace, the overall picture of how these characters are connected gradually emerging into focus. Throughout, Lawson’s efficient prose remains as plain-spoken as her characters. A Town Called Solace is an engaging and compassionate novel, one that demonstrates that our worst moment does not define us and that we have more in common with one another than we might suspect. show less

What a lovely novel this is! Seven year old Clara’s older sister Rose has run away from home, and her parents are too distracted to pay any attention to Clara or explain what is going on. Clara has been feeding the cat for her elderly next-door neighbor Elizabeth, who had to go into hospital. Clara’s companionship with Moses the cat is about the only bright spot in her day. And then one day a man drives up to Elizabeth’s house, unloads a few boxes, and appears to make himself at home. What is going on? Clara monitors his activity and visits Moses when the man is not at home. Meanwhile the man, Liam, is dealing with issues of his own including a failed marriage and career.

Clara, Liam, and Elizabeth each narrate chapters in a show more rotating fashion, gradually building out a story of love and loss. While it’s not obvious to Clara, the reader knows almost immediately that Elizabeth has passed away and left her house and some money to Liam. Elizabeth’s chapters provide a portrait of a woman who knows her life is coming to an end, while also explaining Liam’s important role in that life. Liam’s chapters deal with his attempt to put his life back together after recent losses. And Clara, through her love for Elizabeth and emotional ownership of Elizabeth’s house and cat, is the glue that holds the story together. Each person’s story is interesting and emotional, and taken together the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts. show less

Set in a small fictional town in Northern Ontario, Canada, this is a quiet story that weaves together the perspectives of three characters. Clara is a seven-year-old girl whose sixteen-year-old sister is missing and whose beloved elderly neighbor is in the hospital. Elizabeth is the elderly neighbor who has left her property to Liam. Liam is now an adult, but he was close to Elizabeth and her husband when he was a child. He is at loose ends – getting a divorce and just quit his accounting job.

Lawson does a great job of depicting a young child. Clara is one of the most believable seven-year-olds I have read. This is not an easy feat. The alternating perspectives fill in bits and pieces of the storyline, gradually revealing the whole. show more Though it is character-driven, there is a thread of plot – what has happened to Clara’s sister? What happened in Elizabeth’s past? Will Liam find his path in life?

It is slow in developing, and gradually becomes more and more engrossing. It is an intimate look at trust, and how important it is in all close relationships. It portrays how confusing it can be for children when adults hide the truth from them. It contains hints of humor to offset the sadness, especially with regard to the neighbor’s cat (cat lovers will appreciate it). It is a story of how parental actions have the ability to reverberate throughout a child’s life. It is nuanced and subtle, and I enjoyed reading it. show less

Lawson doesn't write many books but every few years (has it really been eight since the last one?) she releases a little gem and then disappears again. At least that's how it seems to me. And then I wait with bated breath for her next release. This wasn't her best work (that would probably be The Other Side of the Bridge) in my opinion, but Crow Lake is her best known book). That doesn't mean it wasn't very very good.

She returns once again to the northern Ontario rural area that she's so fond of. The book is told in alternating chapters by three characters: Elizabeth, near death in the local hospital and going over the memories of her long life and the reasons she left all she owned including her home to Liam. Liam, in turn, has just show more arrived in town to clean out Elizabeth's house which he intends to sell, although he's quit his job in Toronto and split with his wife so has no definite plans. This is all very upsetting to eight year old Clara who lives next door but has promised Elizabeth that she would care for her cat and keep an eye on her house. Also, her older sister has been missing for several weeks.

The intersecting story lines provide the bits and pieces of the story necessary to dig deeper into the lives of these three characters and their relationship. And that's where Lawson really shines. She endows each of them with deep feelings and the ability to find solace (!) in each other. Lovely. show less

Set in a small fictional town in Northern Ontario, Canada, this is a quiet story that weaves together the perspectives of three characters. Clara is a seven-year-old girl whose sixteen-year-old sister is missing and whose beloved elderly neighbor is in the hospital. Elizabeth is the elderly neighbor who has left her property to Liam. Liam is now an adult, but he was close to Elizabeth and her husband when he was a child. He is at loose ends – getting a divorce and just quit his accounting job.

Lawson does a great job of depicting a young child. Clara is one of the most believable seven-year-olds I have read. This is not an easy feat. The alternating perspectives fill in bits and pieces of the storyline, gradually revealing the whole. show more Though it is character-driven, there is a thread of plot – what has happened to Clara’s sister? What happened in Elizabeth’s past? Will Liam find his path in life?

It is slow in developing, and gradually becomes more and more engrossing. It is an intimate look at trust, and how important it is in all close relationships. It portrays how confusing it can be for children when adults hide the truth from them. It contains hints of humor to offset the sadness, especially with regard to the neighbor’s cat (cat lovers will appreciate it). It is a story of how parental actions have the ability to reverberate throughout a child’s life. It is nuanced and subtle, and I enjoyed reading it. show less

Told through three points of view, this is the story of two families in crisis, one in the past and one in the present and how they survive. Clara is eight years old and waits by a window for her sister Rosie to come home. Rosie ran away after an argument with her mother, cut off her hair and disappeared. Elizabeth is old and in hospital, first to find out what is wrong with her, and then never to return home. Liam has just split up with his wife of nine years and has been gifted Elizabeth's house by Elizabeth and moves into it, next door to Clara. There are secrets, revelations and arguments weaving their way backwards and forwards between the three voices, each setting off ripples on the lake. This is a quiet book but no less show more explosive for that.

There are also a host of minor characters, and it is Rosie, one of these that sets off the biggest explosion that impacts them all. And then there is Moses the cat who is the wool that plaits the strands, weaving in and out. He symbolises stability or permanence and is reluctant to show himself until the end.

Adults as liars

Throughout Clara's story we see adults who don't necessarily lie but who do withhold the truth from children and the devestating impact this has on her. She loses trust in the adults and develops behaviours or rituals to maintain her sanity based on her incomplete understanding of the situation. Liam, however, is trustworthy and accepting of her and helps to restore some balance in her life.

Finding comfort in the place we live

Don't we all do that? I have put roots down in the place where I live and find it difficult to even go on holiday. In Solace, everyone knows everyone else's business. Liam is known before he walks into the local shop for the first time and the policeman visits him at home to check him out. People are friendly, say hello when they pass you in the street and offer a place to hunker down after a marriage break up.

Lawson is very good at shining a light on ordinary people, the tragedy and highlights in their lives, the houses they live in and what needs repairing and the memories held within. The weather features, mostly the cold, and I was struck by Liam's six hour drive through the forest. It gives you a sense of scale and vastness of the place that the town is situated in and helps to anchor it as a refuge.

I thought the pacing of the book and the timing of the revelations was exquisite - there just when I was thinking that something must happen soon. I think that is the strength of having multiple voices because these little bombs can be delayed by switching voice and therefore focus. So, this is also one of the best uses of multiple narrators I have read in a while. show less

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson was a captivating and emotionally satisfying read. Set in a small town in Northern Ontario, this is a novel that is poignantly sad yet also hopeful as we read about a family in crisis after their teenage daughter runs away. The younger daughter, Clara, is dealing with her beloved sister’s disappearance and at the same time as her friend and neighbour, the elderly Mrs. Orchard goes into hospital. Clara’s parents decide that this is not the time to tell Clara that Mrs. Orchard has passed away.

Clara spends much of her time at the front windows of her house, watching for Rose to return. She sees the arrival of a mysterious man who seems to be moving into Mrs. Orchard’s house. As Clara has been show more looking after Mrs. Orchard’s very shy cat, she is worried about his care. Then when she sees the mystery man packing up Mrs. Orchard’s belongings she becomes very angry. The story unfolds by way of alternate narratives and eventually we learn all of their stories and the relationships between them.

The star of the book, for me, is the feisty, determined yet innocent Clara. The author captures the spirit of a young eight year old in a realistic and engaging way that makes the story come alive. Lawson also captures the feel of a small town and it’s difficult to believe that the town of Solace is not a real place that one could actually visit. With her use of a fluid timeline and sympathetic characters, along with wonderful writing, A Town Called Solace was a read that certainly resonated with me. show less