NEW FANS: It will be eight years since Mary Lawson last published a novel, and this superb, brilliantly paced, timely new work, which feels so fresh and surprising, will be a revelation to a whole new generation of readers.

OLD FANS: A Town Called Solace is also quintessential Mary Lawson, and as strong as her huge bestseller Crow Lake. At the same time, she is offering a story that feels contemporary and new, for new readers.

POTENTIAL PICK: Indigo has robustly supported Mary Lawson over the years, and Crow Lake was a Heather’s Pick.

“CANADA IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE ’HOME’ TO ME”: Mary lives in the UK, but is Canadian. As she says: “Canada is at the core of who I am and what I write about. For my books, Knopf Canada is home. I was overjoyed when Crow Lake was published by Knopf Canada and three books later I am overjoyed still!”

FAMILIAL BONDS: We have a strong UK partner in PRH sister imprint, Chatto & Windus.

Mary Lawson was born and brought up in a small farming community in Ontario. She is the author of three previous nationally and internationally bestselling novels, Crow Lake, The Other Side of the Bridge, and Road Ends. Crow Lake was a New York Times bestseller and was chosen as a Book of the Year by The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others. The Other Side of the Bridge was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Lawson lives in England but returns to Canada frequently.

Author Residence: Kingston upon Thames, UK

Author Hometown: Blackwell, Ontario

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR A TOWN CALLED SOLACE

“I’ve been trying to tell everybody I know about…Mary Lawson…[Each of her novels is] just a marvel.” —Anne Tyler

“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 

PRAISE FOR ROAD ENDS

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“The frozen landscape, which might fill some with dread, opens a rich world for Lawson…. It is a beautiful novel, with the psychological twists and turns of each character gently and poignantly unfurled.”  —The Globe and Mail
 
“Every Canadian student should be reading Mary Lawson novels—starting with Crow Lake and now including her newest accomplishment, Road Ends…. Like all great writers—and Lawson is among the finest—she tells her story in a deceptively simple and straightforward way, but one that resonates with anyone who has ever struggled with doing the right thing by a family member despite a desperate longing to escape that burden. She humanizes even the least sympathetic of her charges.”  —Toronto Star
 
“Mary Lawson finds literary gold in the hard landscape of the Canadian Shield.”  —Ottawa Citizen
 
“What sets Lawson apart is storytelling so matter-of-fact (in the best possible way) that readers are able to feel the emotional intensity of the characters’ situations without succumbing to moroseness…. The same easy grace and economy of language that drew readers into [Lawson’s] earlier stories are employed to full effect, and the setting, along with the welcome reappearance of a few familiar characters, imparts a sense of homecoming…. Complex and satisfying.”  —Quill & Quire
 
“If the part of Ontario west of Toronto is Munro country, then the area northwest of New Liskeard and Cobalt—where [Mary Lawson’s] fictional towns of Struan and Crow Lake are roughly located—may well end up being dubbed Lawson Country.”  —National Post