Silence is the best applause. And this book deserves the same – silence. Not any dissection, not any review. I however cannot abstain from a little praise for this amazing book – what I loved most about it.
This is a beautiful tale, endearing and heart warming – that hints at the second chances everyone deserves in their lives.
The setting and characterizations are the highlight of this book by Mary Lawson. A quite, sleepy town with nature in full bloom. I always have dreamt of living in a place like Solace – a small, self contained town, amidst nature with beautiful scenery and affable people who care for each other. A small little market & the bare essentials of life – keeping things simple and free from unnecessary complications.
Coming to the characterizations, a small little girl with disarming innocence and a resolve to rebound. The parts of the book I loved the most were how lil Clara would sneak into the house every time the stranger (Liam) is away. How Moses the cat would come out from his hiding as soon as Clara is there. How at one time Clara is so worried about her sister and in the next instant, she so innocently asks for unboxing the boxes and arranging them. And the way she asks if she could keep a few of her favorite things after he (Liam) dies. Equally endearing is the small little superstitions that Clara hopes (nope, she believes) will bring her sister back – scattering the clothes on the floor, counting steps to and back from school, the sequence of brushing her teeth – so very lovable.
Liam I so much relate to. The unsociable guy. Giving up his despised job not knowing what he would do next. And how life takes him to his destiny, a life so much better, so much at peace and clam.
The way the relation builds between Liam and Clara, so unexpected and so unassuming is beautiful. It also is ironical, how Liam had once been the neighbor’s child whom the Orchards had fallen in love with and had become the reason of their happiness. And now, he was the neighbor and Clara that child paying him visits and him getting used to her presence.
We all make mistakes, we may not be in the best possible situation currently, but we deserve to break free and find ourselves a new life. A life we are born into viz-a-viz a life we choose. A life we are happy to live. And it is very much possible. A well deserved Booker Prize nominee. This book is all about “Solace”, and it has it in abundance.
Other Booker Prize nominees: Small Pleasures (Clare Chambers) | Book Review and Klara And The Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro) | Book Review
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