by Mary Lawson
First published 2021
Sixteen-year-old Rose storms out after a fight with her mother and disappears without a trace. Her seven-year-old sister Clara waits at home, confused and heartbroken, finding comfort only in Moses, the cat belonging to their hospitalized neighbor Mrs. Orchard. When recently divorced Liam Kane moves into Mrs. Orchard's empty house, Clara sees him as an intruder who doesn't belong. The police soon visit Liam about a suspected crime. Meanwhile, elderly Elizabeth Orchard lies in her hospital bed, tormented by memories of a tragedy from thirty years ago that destroyed two families and harmed one child. She knows she's dying and desperately wants to set things right. The novel moves between Clara's confusion, Liam's troubles, and Elizabeth's guilt-ridden past, revealing how their lives connect through decades of loss and love in this northern town called Solace.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Solace
Period: 20th-century
304 pages · Hardcover · Knopf Canada