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A Town Called Solace

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A Town Called Solace

By: Mary Lawson
Narrated by: Maggie Huculak, Tajja Isen, Ian Lake
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021.

Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered.

Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember and within hours gets a visit from the police. It seems he's suspected of a crime.

At the end of her life Elizabeth Orchard is thinking about a crime too, one committed 30 years ago that had tragic consequences for two families and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies.

Set in Northern Ontario in 1972, A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of these three people brought together by fate and the mistakes of the past. By turns gripping and darkly funny, it uncovers the layers of grief and remorse and love that connect us, but shows that sometimes a new life is possible.

©2021 Mary Lawson (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Tear-jerking Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Crime

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Critic reviews

"I've been trying to tell everyone I know about Mary Lawson.... Each one of her novels is just a marvel." (Anne Tyler)

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Wonderful book beautifully narrated
Having greatly enjoyed The Other Side of The Bridge by Mary Lawson I was delighted to find A Town Called Solace
Highly recommend both

Engrossing

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I found myself engrossed in the human dilemmas in this story, a group of characters all struggling to make sense of a difficult world. The quality of the performances added to the enjoyment. I will be exploring more by the writer.

Story telling at it's best

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The most charming and subtly moving book I have listened to in a while. I intend to gift it to my daughter and several friends

Simply wonderful

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excellent narration of this very moving novel. set in northetn canada, it interferes the lives of a child a youngish man and an elderly dying woman

subtle moving story of loss love and yearning

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Great storyline, found it hard to put down. The characters really lived for me.

Solace

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