A review by definebookish
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.5

I don’t know how to feel about A Town Called Solace. It’s three interconnected stories in one, told in a combination of first and third person perspectives. We have seven-year-old Clara, whose older sister is missing; her elderly next-door neighbour Mrs Orchard, reflecting on a decades-old crime from her hospital bed; recently separated Liam Kane, who raises Clara’s suspicion when he moves into Mrs Orchard’s house.

While the set-up sounds like this might be something of a mystery, it isn’t really. For me it was a comfort read – the kind of story that introduces you to characters with an emotional need and then fulfils it. A more nuanced, literary version of those festive movies where a closed-off businesswoman gets stuck in a small town and finally realises the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a little twee, but it’s heartwarming, and I lapped it up.

On reflection, therein lies my conflict. Like those movies, this book feels like it’s built on the foundations of values my head doesn’t fully subscribe to, but my heart is comforted by – because they’re so familiar. The small town 1970s nostalgia feels like home – like solace – through Liam Kane’s eyes, with its friendly local cop and its diner where city types get short shrift. But look away from the page at this world we live in, and I’m not sure I buy what this book is selling.
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