A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson - review

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Title: A Town Called Solace

Author: Mary Lawson

Genre: Historical fiction/Literary fiction

Pages: 302

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Other notable works by author: Crow Lake, Road Ends

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021

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Mary Lawson’s novel focuses on a trio of characters: Clara, a 7-year-old girl dealing with grief and fear, as her older sister has run away from home and disappeared; Elizabeth, an elderly lady, neighbour and friend to Clara, who is hospital-bound and spends her final days reminiscing and contending with the past; and Liam, a man nearing middle-age whose life has turned upside down, so when he inherits Elizabeth’s house he comes to Solace with the plan to sell the house and re-evaluate his life, but, like most things in life, not everything goes to plan...

A word that keeps coming to mind when I think about this novel is ‘sweet’. The town of Solace is quaint, its inhabitants the usual nosy neighbours who know everything about one another, but just below the surface, grief and turmoil are brewing. The novel is set in the seventies, which fits well. The world feels as if it’s gotten bigger since then, and the story probably wouldn’t have made as much sense in today’s setting, now that we’re all connected by the internet (yet we can still be just as lonely!).

I didn’t think there was anything groundbreaking about the novel, this form and content type have existed for a long time, and if someone had told me that it had been written in the 70s, as well as set back then, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. Nevertheless, it was a quick and easy read which stirred feelings of melancholia and tenderness within me. I thought it was well-written, the characters were three-dimensional, but I didn’t really connect strongly with any of them (though I pitied Clara the most). I’m glad I read it, but I don’t think it will stay with me for very long.

Ultimately, it’s a story about love and connections, and finding them in places you might not immediately think to find them. It’s about going through grief and finding someone who can make you feel safe. It's about the beauty of a small town, and it’s about the weightiness of feelings, no matter the age or situation. If I take away anything from this novel, it’s the reminder that everyone has an inner life as intricate and expansive as my own, even though it may not seem like it on the surface.