A Town Called Solace is set in a small community in rural Canada. There are three narrators. 7 year old Clara, her elderly neighbor Elizabeth Orchard, who is in hospital, and a middle aged man Liam Kane, who lived in the same house as Clara when he was a little boy. Elizabeth speaks for herself, addressing her words to hear dead husband. There are narrators for Clara and Liam, but they are very much in their characters’ heads. Gradually the stories unfold and we see the connections between the characters. There are secrets and drama. There is plenty of pain, mourning for losses, and some promise for the future.

Liam’s story is simplest. He was a Toronto accountant, and has arrived in town to look after the house that Elizabeth Orchard left to him. He recently broke up with his girlfriend and gave up his job. So he is having a little identity crisis. What does he want to do with his life? Inheriting this house has given him the opportunity to discover himself. 

Elizabeth’s story is one of remembering the past and facing her mortality. She desperately wanted children when she was younger, but was never able to have them. She doesn’t like to think about the most painful episodes but they are the most important for her. They explain why she left her house to Liam. Her life has been filled with sadness and disappointment, but she is at peace with it all. 

Clara is also sad because her elderly neighbor Mrs Orchard has been gone a long time and a strange man has moved into her house. But more important, her 16 year old sister Rose has run away and Clara misses her so much. Her parents won’t tell her what is going on and indeed lie to her, so she doesn’t know who to trust. But gradually she comes to trust Liam. But she faces terrible loss and there’s no easy remedy. 

It’s a well told story, and while it is on the sentimental side, with the charm of small town life emphasized, Lawson also addresses serious pain and loss. There is plenty of inadequate parenting that has long term consequences. We see the fragility of children.  Nevertheless, it is a mystery why the book made it to the 2021 Booker Prize long list. It isn’t a book that has much insight into life. The most dramatic part of the story, the disappearance of Rose, casts a shadow over everything else, but in the end the treatment of it is a little glib. There’s plenty to appreciate here, but it doesn’t add up to much. 

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online. 

Categories: Fiction

Keywords: fiction, literature