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A Town Called Solace Kindle Edition
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GLOBE AND MAIL, CBC BOOKS AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
"I've been telling everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each of her novels is just a marvel" —Anne Tyler
New York Times bestselling author Mary Lawson, acclaimed for digging into the "wilderness of the human heart", is back after almost a decade with a fresh and timely novel that is different in subject but just as emotional and atmospheric as her beloved earlier work.
A Town Called Solace, the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade, opens on a family in crisis. Sixteen-year-old Rose is missing. Angry and rebellious, she had a row with her mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Left behind is seven-year-old Clara, Rose’s adoring little sister. Isolated by her parents’ efforts to protect her from the truth, Clara is bewildered and distraught. Her sole comfort is Moses, the cat next door, whom she is looking after for his elderly owner, Mrs. Orchard, who went into hospital weeks ago and has still not returned.
Enter Liam Kane, mid-thirties, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, who moves into Mrs. Orchard’s house—where, in Clara’s view, he emphatically does not belong. Within a matter of hours he receives a visit from the police. It seems he is suspected of a crime.
At the end of her life, Elizabeth Orchard is also thinking about a crime, one committed thirty years previously that had tragic consequences for two families, and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies.
Told through three distinct, compelling points of view, the novel cuts back and forth among these unforgettable characters to uncover the layers of grief, remorse, and love that connect them. A Town Called Solace is a masterful, suspenseful, darkly funny and deeply humane novel by one of our great storytellers.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherKnopf Canada
- Publication dateFebruary 16, 2021
- File size1282 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE
A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK
A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR
“This deftly-structured novel draws together the stories of three people at three different stages in life, each of whom is grappling with loss. We were captivated by A Town Called Solace’s beautifully paced, compassionate, sometimes wry examination of small-town lives.” —2021 Booker Prize Judges
"Completely absorbing... A Town Called Solace pleases at every level. It's a captivating tale suffused with wisdom and compassion." ―Toronto Star
“A lovely, gentle novel with edge.” —Saga (UK)
“That clear-eyed humanism—the sort that is rooted firmly in the reality of life, but holds out a glimmer of potential for a measured, minor-key redemption—is classic Mary Lawson.” —The Globe and Mail
“Lawson's writing is clear and emotive. . . . [A] poignant novel, rightfully recognised by the Booker judges.” —The Telegraph (UK)_
“Lawson is a graceful writer whose un-showy style always hides surprising depths.” —Toronto Public Library
“This is Mary Lawson’s fourth novel and I’d recommend a binge immersion. She has carved out a world in northern Ontario that’s vividly, absorbingly real; she captures tones and voices with exactitude in writing that’s idiomatic but never flashy and carries you along from midnight to dawn, oblivious of the time.” —Literary Review (UK)
"Lawson's books are a pleasure to read—they conjure a space where quiet reflection and owning your past mistakes bring gentle rewards; they feel kind and wise and brimful of empathy." —The Times (UK)
"Lawson's writing is such that it appears effortless but, as all the strands come together to create a rich and satisfying tapestry, her genius for storytelling becomes apparent." ―Irish Independent
"Exquisitely poignant." ―Good Housekeeping
You can't get much farther north than the Ontario of Mary Lawson's icy, compelling stories of calamity and redemption. A Town Called Solace keeps you breathless with anxiety, then relief and finally even joy." ―Observer (UK)
“Poised, elegant prose, paired with quiet drama that will break your heart. The sort of book that seems as if it has always existed because of its timeless perfection.” —Graham Norton, bestselling author of Holding and A Keeper
“An assured and engaging look at one of my favourite subjects: what we owe to other people. How long must we keep their secrets, and how long do we wait for those we love? Darkened by pain, A Town Called Solace is even so a kindly book; Clara’s lost sister flashes through it like a red-winged blackbird. Warm, clear, and beautifully grounded in the bedrock of the Canadian Shield.” —Marina Endicott, author of Good to a Fault
“I loved reading A Town Called Solace. . . . It’s beautifully written and so finely crafted; told in the kind of prose I most admire because it takes what appears to be complicated and makes it clear. . . . These interwoven stories of three people at different stages of life, and yet each struggling with their own form of loss and grief, will stay with me the way good friendships stay with you. It’s already one of my favourite books of the year.” —Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
CLARA
There were four boxes. Big ones. They must have lots of things in them because they were heavy, you could tell by the way the man walked when he carried them in, stooped over, knees bent. He brought them right into Mrs. Orchard’s house, next door to Clara’s, that first evening and put them on the floor in the living room and just left them there. That meant the boxes didn’t have necessary things in them, things he needed straight away like pyjamas, or he’d have unpacked them.
The boxes were in the middle of the floor, which made Clara fidgety. Every time the man came into the living room he had to walk around them. If he’d put them against a wall he wouldn’t have to do that and it would have looked much neater. And why would he bring them in from his car and then not unpack them? At first Clara had thought it meant that he was delivering them for Mrs. Orchard and she would unpack them herself when she got home. But she hadn’t come home and the boxes were still there and so was the man, who didn’t belong.
He’d driven up in a big blue car just as the light was starting to fade, exactly twelve days after Rose ran away. Twelve days was a week and five days. Clara had been standing in her usual place at the living-room window, trying not to listen to her mother, who was talking on the phone to Sergeant Barnes. The phone was in the hall, which meant you could hear people talking on it no matter what room you were in.
Clara’s mother was shouting at the policeman. “Sixteen! Rose is sixteen years old, in case you’ve forgotten! She’s a child!” Her voice was cracking. Clara put her hands over her ears and hummed loudly to herself, pressing her face against the window until her nose was squashed flat. Her humming kept breaking up into short bursts because she had trouble breathing when her mother was upset and she kept having to stop and gasp. But humming helped. When you hummed you could feel the sound inside you as well as hearing it. It felt like a bumblebee buzzing. If you concentrated on the feel and the sound you could manage not to think about anything else.
Then there was a scrunching noise, louder than the hum, the noise made by wheels on gravel, and the big blue car rolled into Mrs. Orchard’s driveway. Clara had never seen the car before. It was fancy and had what looked like wings at the back and it was light blue. At another time, a safe time, Clara might have liked it, but this wasn’t a safe time and she wanted everything to be exactly as it had always been. No unfamiliar cars in driveways.
The engine stopped and a strange man got out. He closed the car door and stood staring at Mrs. Orchard’s house. It looked just like it always had; it was painted dark green with white window- and doorframes and there was a big wide porch with a grey-painted floor and white railings. Clara hadn’t given much thought to how the house looked before, but now she realized that it matched Mrs. Orchard perfectly. Old but nice.
The man walked over to the porch, climbed the steps, crossed to the front door, took some keys out of his trouser pocket, unlocked the door and went inside.
Clara was shocked. Where had he got the keys? He shouldn’t have them. Mrs. Orchard had told her there were three sets of two keys (one for the front door and one for the back) and Mrs. Orchard had one, Mrs. Joyce (who came in to clean once a week) had another and Clara had the third. Clara wanted to tell her mother, who was no longer on the phone, but her mother sometimes cried after speaking to the policeman and her face got all red and blotchy and it frightened Clara. And anyway, she couldn’t leave her place at the window. If she failed to keep watch for her, Rose might not come home.
A light came on in Mrs. Orchard’s hall—the glow of it spilled out onto the porch for a moment before the man closed the door. It was getting quite dark inside the house. The living room of Mrs. Orchard’s house was right next to the living room of Clara’s house and both had windows at the side, facing each other, as well as at the front, facing the road. Clara scooted across to the side window (so long as she was at one of the windows, Rose wouldn’t mind which one), arriving just as Mrs. Orchard’s living-room light came on and the man walked in. Clara could see everything that happened and the first thing was that Moses, who’d been hiding under the sofa (he always hid there if anyone but Mrs. Orchard or Clara came into the house), shot across the room and out of the open door at the other end so fast that he’d disappeared before the man was fully through the doorway, so the man couldn’t have seen him. He would have gone into the mud room, Clara knew, and from there out into the garden. The mud room had three doors, one to the living room, one to the kitchen and one to the garden, and the garden door had a cat flap at the bottom. “He skedaddled,” Mrs. Orchard would have said. She was the only person Clara had ever heard use the word “skedaddle.”
Clara herself had been in the mud room an hour or so earlier to give Moses his dinner. She allowed herself to leave her place by the window for a little while morning and night because she had promised Mrs. Orchard she would look after Moses while she was in the hospital. Rose would understand.
“He’ll be happy with you here,” Mrs. Orchard had said. “He trusts you, don’t you, Moses?” She’d been showing Clara the mysteries of the new can opener. It was electric. You had to hold the can in the right place to begin with but it did everything else itself, it even turned the can around, slowly and smoothly, as it cut off the lid.
“A gadget,” Mrs. Orchard had said. “Mostly I don’t hold with gadgets but that old can opener isn’t safe and I don’t want you cutting yourself.” Moses was winding himself around their legs, desperate for his dinner.
“You’d think we starved him,” Mrs. Orchard said. “Now then, the can opener leaves the lid behind—do you see? It’s magnetic. Be careful not to touch the edges of the lid when you pull it off the magnet. You have to pull quite hard and the edges are very sharp. Keep the can in the fridge until it’s empty and then give it a rinse and put it in the garbage outside, not in here or it’ll smell. Mrs. Joyce will deal with the garbage when she comes to clean. I’ve spoken to your mother and she’s happy for you to come in and feed him twice a day for the duration. I won’t be away long.”
But she had been away long, she’d been away weeks and weeks. Clara had run out of cat food several times and had to ask her mother for money so that she could go and buy some more. (This was before Rose disappeared, when everything was normal and Clara could go wherever she liked.) She’d expected Mrs. Orchard to be more reliable, and was disappointed in her. Adults in general were less reliable than they should be, in Clara’s opinion, but she’d thought Mrs. Orchard was an exception.
She could hear her mother moving about in the kitchen. Maybe she was feeling better now.
“Mommy?” Clara called.
After a minute her mother said, “Yes?” but her voice sounded choked up.
“Nothing,” Clara called quickly. “It’s OK.”
The man was moving around the house, switching lights on—Clara saw their pale shadows outside on the lawn. He didn’t bother to switch them off when he left a room. If Clara or Rose had done that, their father would call, “Turn off the light!” But now Rose wasn’t here. Nobody knew where she was. Clara’s mother kept telling Clara that Rose was in Sudbury or maybe North Bay and she was fine, they just wanted her to come home or phone or send them a postcard because it would be nice to know she was OK. Which meant that her mother didn’t actually know if Rose was fine. And which was why she shouted at the policeman because he hadn’t found Rose yet.
With so many lights on in Mrs. Orchard’s house it was getting hard to see anything outside. You couldn’t see much in Clara’s own living room either, but she didn’t switch on the light because then the man would have been able to see her. If you’re in the light you can’t see people who are in the dark, but if you’re in the dark you can see people who are in the light. Rose had told her that. “You can stand a foot from the window,” Rose had said, “and they’ll never know. I watched Mrs. Adams getting undressed the other night. Completely undressed! Naked! Her panties and her bra and everything! She has great big rolls of fat all over and her breasts are like enormous flabby balloons! It’s gross!”
The man was back in the living room, looking at the photographs on Mrs. Orchard’s sideboard. There were lots of them, all in frames. Some of the frames were silver and others were plain wood. Two of the photos were of Mrs. Orchard and her husband when he was still alive, one with them sitting side by side on a sofa and the other of them standing on some steps, and in both of them Mr. Orchard had his arm around Mrs. Orchard. There also used to be a photo of him on his own, leaning against the door frame of a house (not this house) with his hands in his pockets and smiling at the camera. It must have been a beautiful house because there were flowers climbing all over the wall beside him. Mrs. Orchard talked to that photo as if it was Mr. Orchard himself, still alive and in the room, Clara had heard her many times. She didn’t sound sad, just ordinary.
There had also been a photograph of Mr. Orchard standing beside a little boy. The boy was sitting at a table eating his breakfast; you could tell it was breakfast because there was a jar of Shirriff’s marmalade on the table—Clara could just make out the label. Mr. Orchard had a tea towel folded neatly over his arm and a platter heaped with food (Clara had studied it closely and decided it was sausages and bacon, which would fit with it being breakfast) rested on the tea towel. Mr. Orchard was standing very upright and stiff, looking down at the little boy, who was looking up at him and grinning a huge grin. Clara had asked Mrs. Orchard if the boy was her son and Mrs. Orchard had said no, they hadn’t had any children, he was a neighbour’s son, but she and Mr. Orchard had loved him very much. Is it your favourite photo? Clara had asked, and Mrs. Orchard smiled at her and said they were all her favourites. But Clara suspected that wasn’t true because Mrs. Orchard had taken that photo plus the one of Mr. Orchard in the flowery doorway with her when she went into hospital, Clara had noticed they were missing straight away. If you were only going to take two photos you’d take your favourites.
The strange man had stooped over now and was examining the photos. “Don’t touch any of them,” Clara whispered fiercely, but as if he had heard her and was being deliberately disobedient he immediately picked one up. Clara’s fingers clenched tight. “It’s not yours!” she said out loud. He was studying one in a wooden frame. From its location Clara thought it might be the one of Mr. and Mrs. Orchard together but she wasn’t sure—it might have been the one of Mrs. Orchard’s sister, Miss Godwin, who had lived alone in the house before Mrs. Orchard had come to live with her, and who had died a few years ago.
The man put the photograph back on the sideboard with the others. He stood for a minute more, looking at them, then turned and went out of the room and out of the house.
Clara ran back to the front window—you could see Mrs. Orchard’s driveway more clearly from there. For a moment she thought he was leaving but then he went around to the back of the car, opened the trunk and lifted out one of the boxes. One after another he unloaded them, two from the trunk and two from the back seat, and took them into Mrs. Orchard’s living room and put them on the floor. At first Clara had the encouraging thought that they might be full of things for Mrs. Orchard (though what would she want that was so heavy and took up so much room?) and having delivered them he would now get back into his car and drive away. But instead he did something that wasn’t encouraging at all: he took out a suitcase.
Product details
- ASIN : B08CTGSSR9
- Publisher : Knopf Canada (February 16, 2021)
- Publication date : February 16, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 1282 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 299 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #376,000 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,498 in Romance Literary Fiction
- #1,723 in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction
- #2,079 in Coming of Age Fiction (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They appreciate the believable characters with well-developed personalities. The story is described as heartwarming, sensitive, and well-told. Readers praise the writing quality as beautiful and brilliant. They describe the book as quiet and heartwarming, with an unobtrusive style that portrays how the characters touch each other's lives.
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Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it delightful, with tenderly developed characters and a well-crafted narrative style. Readers of literary fiction and cozy mysteries will appreciate the author's skill.
"...The characters are believable and endearing. Readers of literary fiction and cozy mysteries will love this one." Read more
"I enjoyed this book and I liked the way the two main character's stories entangled, but it felt like a lot of build up for the ending, which I..." Read more
"...place of my favorite Mary Lawson novel, Crow’s Lake, it is still a rewarding read that offers up people I truly cared about. 4" Read more
"Pure delight. A quiet novel, A TOWN NAMED SOLACE, delves into the hearts of the three narrators with quick strokes...." Read more
Customers find the characters believable and well-developed. They appreciate how the author allows them to enter the minds and hearts of the characters. The two main characters' stories intertwine, though some felt it was too many characters.
"...This book is a genuine pleasure to read. The characters are believable and endearing...." Read more
"I enjoyed this book and I liked the way the two main character's stories entangled, but it felt like a lot of build up for the ending, which I..." Read more
"...Her characters are so clearly and beautifully written, shaped by circumstances of their family situation, ones they don’t always have control over ...." Read more
"...However, the characters provide enough intrigue that you stick with them...." Read more
Customers enjoy the story's quality. They find it touching, sensitive, and well-written. The story builds tension as it explores a young girl's missing sister and a man. Readers appreciate the realistic ending.
"This novel is a moving story about a young Canadian girl who misses her runaway sister and a man who has divorced his wife and feels rootless...." Read more
"...kinds of great feels and quite honestly, the ending is probably more realistic to true human nature than what I pictured in my head...." Read more
"Very moving story about Liam, his somewhat complicated childhood and his inheritance from the Orchards, a couple he had lived and bonded with as..." Read more
"...on this tiny gem of a book with very likable characters and an engaging story." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it engaging, with stories about love and sadness. The book explores families and communities across generations. Readers appreciate the author's skill in crafting the story and its overall quality.
"...In all of them she writes about families, sometimes in crisis, sometimes dysfunctional, always struggling, families who will move you...." Read more
"I loved this book! A story about love and sadness, but also about how a person can change. I’m so glad I read it!" Read more
"This is a great novel that tells of disparate people connecting in love across generations and within communities...." Read more
"Loved the relationship Liam had with Clara and it was similar of the relationship he had as a little boy with Elizabeth...." Read more
Customers appreciate the writing quality. They find the book clear and beautifully written, describing the author as superb and one of the best contemporary writers. The story is well-told and described as wonderful.
"...Her characters are so clearly and beautifully written, shaped by circumstances of their family situation, ones they don’t always have control over ...." Read more
"...Mary Lawson, a quietly brilliant creator, is one of my favorite writers...." Read more
"This story is beautifully writte,the characters are drawn so well...." Read more
"Her best yet, and that’s saying a lot. She’s a superb writer." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's beauty. They say it portrays vivid, well-drawn characters and relationships. The writing style is unobtrusive yet masterful.
"...Lawson beautifully portrays how these three characters touch each other lives in ways that are filled with love and care...." Read more
"...Her style is unobtrusive but masterful." Read more
"This is the most beautiful book I have read in years. It's one I will read again, probably more than once and that is rare for me...." Read more
"An excellent book with vivid, well drawn personalities and tight plot" Read more
Customers find the book heartwarming and enjoyable to read. They describe the characters as endearing and sweet with innocence.
"...The characters are believable and endearing. Readers of literary fiction and cozy mysteries will love this one." Read more
"...Seven year old Clara is smart and wise and sad, sweet with innocence and one of the most responsible children I know in books or in real life...." Read more
"The characters came to life and were endearing. I needed a book that not only held my attention, but was overall calm...." Read more
"Gentle, heartwarming and a joy to read..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's quietness.
"...chapters, with three points of view, it is in many ways a quiet story, my favorite kind...." Read more
"Pure delight. A quiet novel, A TOWN NAMED SOLACE, delves into the hearts of the three narrators with quick strokes...." Read more
"This is a quiet, understated story but it drew me right in. I enjoyed it so much that I have now ordered all of Mary Lawson's other books...." Read more
"Quietly brilliant. I disappear reading Mary Lawson's characters--I become them or they become me...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2022This novel is a moving story about a young Canadian girl who misses her runaway sister and a man who has divorced his wife and feels rootless. The author, Mary Lawson, sees the world through the eyes of very different small-town characters. Woven throughout the story is a compelling mystery about what happened to a rebellious sixteen-year-old girl.
Clara has been missing her wayward sister, Rose, for weeks. After an explosive argument with their parents, Rose briefly talked to Clara about staying in touch before Rose ran away, presumably to Toronto. In her child’s mind, Clara feels she must keep vigilant for a message from her sister. Their parents are frantic but try not to scare Clara, who is already upset. The police are contacted, but there are no leads. The parents endeavor to provide some normalcy, going about their routine. They make Clara go to her elementary school but allow her to stand by the front and side windows, maintaining a vigil for Rose’s return.
Clara has another responsibility besides going to school. She promised the elderly next-door neighbor, Mrs. Orchard, that she would feed her cat, Moses, while Mrs. Orchard was in the hospital. Clara lets herself in using the key Mrs. Orchard gave her, feeds Moses, and plays with him before returning home.
One evening as she maintains her watch for a returning Rose, Clara sees a man enter Mrs. Orchard’s house. He brings in huge boxes and sets them down on the floor. Then he walks around, picking up mantle pictures and objects and scrutinizing them. Clara is outraged. What right does this man have to be in Mrs. Orchard’s house and touching her things? Instead of bothering her parents, who have enough on their minds with her missing sister Clara determines she will investigate.
After watching the man for a few days and seeing when he leaves, she figures out his schedule. She continues to slip over to the house when he isn’t there to feed Moses, who now hides but comes out when Clara calls. Clara thinks the man is unaware that Moses is in the house. One afternoon the man unpacks one of his large boxes. Clara waits until he leaves, goes over and feeds Moses, and then repacks his box carefully putting his things back in the way he had them. She puts back pictures and objects the way Mrs. Orchard had originally placed them. She watches by the window as the man returns and appears stunned by her rearrangements.
From there, the story builds in tension as the reader finds out what happened to Rose and who the mysterious neighbor is. This book is a genuine pleasure to read. The characters are believable and endearing. Readers of literary fiction and cozy mysteries will love this one.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2022I enjoyed this book and I liked the way the two main character's stories entangled, but it felt like a lot of build up for the ending, which I pictured and hoped would be entirely different. It also kind of felt like a love story was haphazardly thrown in at the end. This was a general consensus among other members of the book club. I would still recommend reading it, it gives all kinds of great feels and quite honestly, the ending is probably more realistic to true human nature than what I pictured in my head. Overall a good read, but lower your expectations for the main characters in the ending.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2021Mary Lawson has been on my list of favorite writers ever since I read [book:Crow Lake|8646] a number of years ago. I was compelled to read her other two novels and now this, her latest. In all of them she writes about families, sometimes in crisis, sometimes dysfunctional, always struggling, families who will move you. Her characters are so clearly and beautifully written, shaped by circumstances of their family situation, ones they don’t always have control over . She takes you to the towns she writes about and from the first pages, she invites you not just to visit, but to live there for a while. She takes you so easily into the minds and hearts of her characters and she allows you to know them, feel what they are feeling and to feel for them. By the end of her books, you don’t want to leave them behind.
In the 1970’s in a small town called Solace in Northern Ontario, Canada, we meet three characters who are connected to each other indelibly. In alternating chapters, with three points of view, it is in many ways a quiet story, my favorite kind. Seven year old Clara is smart and wise and sad, sweet with innocence and one of the most responsible children I know in books or in real life. Clara carries the burdens of loss and grief that are difficult even for adults to handle and I dare you not to be heartbroken for her. The kind Mrs.Orchard, Clara’s next door neighbor and friend speaks to her dead husband and lives with memories of a little boy she loved who once lived next door to them. As her story evolves, it’s a sad story of loss, that is tempered by the love she and her husband share. Liam, an unhappy man at a crossroads in his life has his own memories, mostly of a sad childhood, until some beautiful memories surface when he comes to Solace. Lawson beautifully portrays how these three characters touch each other lives in ways that are filled with love and care. I was once again moved by Lawson and I could not recommend her novels more.
Top reviews from other countries
- Mandy CraggReviewed in Canada on July 14, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars A good book
A good read
A story and characters that draw you in to their world . I didn’t want it to end
-
so13Reviewed in France on June 24, 2024
4.0 out of 5 stars délicat
Lu en anglais - Très agréable - un vrai bon moment de lecture.
- Karine D.Reviewed in the Netherlands on April 22, 2022
4.0 out of 5 stars A very well written book with a nice flow and interesting characters
A nicely threaded plot, around three main characters. First there is Elizabeth, now resting on her hospital bed and making the inventory of her life, strengthened by the fond memories of her departed husband. Then there is Liam, whom was her neighbor kid when he was little, always coming around in search of kindness, attention and love, which he didn't receive from his own parents. In the present (which is in the 70's), he is now the neighbor of Clara, a 8 year old girl whose rebellious teenage sister just disappeared.
This character driven book has little plot, and if anything it is escapism at its best. There is the quaint little village, with its charming inhabitants. And Liam who is at a crossroad in life after he left his wife and job, conveniently inherits some money and a house to start over. This syrupy affair is slightly counterbalanced by the disappearance of Rose, but just not enough to be honest. But what I really found interesting is the fact that all three are battling mental illness, and that has been rendered beautifully and on point.
All in all, a very well written book with a nice flow and interesting characters, but just a little too simple and lacking depth and insights, hence the 4 stars.
- GauriReviewed in India on April 21, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Soul rendering Story.
It was a soul rendering story. Brought me to tears at many points. All characters are well developed and have depth to them. Would definitely recommend this book.
- HLeuschelReviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, moving and beautifully written
Sometimes a book comes along and from the very first sentence it has the right tone, the right rhythm, and fascinating characters that instantly feel relatable and are easy to engage with all along the narrative journey. When I finished the last paragraph, I was bereft, sore-eyed and emotional about this astounding piece of writing.
Clara, Elisabeth Orchard and Liam — have each suffered tragedy. These three main characters, a young girl, an elderly woman and a middle-aged man (who moves into the woman’s house after her death and becomes Clara’s new neighbour) are so vividly drawn that I felt I was standing right in the middle of their lives, walking alongside them, visiting the local cafés, the nearby lake and standing in the living room with little Clara, who is so deeply struck with missing her sister that she refuses to leave the window in case she may miss the return of rebellious runaway teenage Rose.
What I loved about this book is that it portrays loneliness, the need for connection and belonging as well as the grief that comes with loss with deep compassion yet also without sugar-coating mental pain that can hit a person hard at any age. By alternating between the three points of view, the author creates carefully crafted layers of suspense and anticipation which carry the different storylines all the way through the book until the final resolution. This structure creates an emotional page-turning reading journey and the switches move effortlessly between the past and the present, adding surprising elements and engaging dialogues that give each protagonist their distinctive voice and backstory.
By the time the story ends, I felt that I witnessed a perfect example to why being human can be so hard and is often complicated and confusing. I warmed to each one of the characters and their stories taught me yet again why fiction when well executed shows that people’s behaviour cannot be seen in black and white. What drives them is complex and unique and touches on many big themes such as love, grief, family history and crime.
I’ve intentionally said very little about the story itself, simply because I don’t want to give away anything from this
If you enjoy books by Anne Tyler, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout, you’ll find that Mary Lawson’s style of writing is right up your street.