**AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO FOUR** Set in the frozen north of Canada in 1972, this is a novel of painful histories and the moments in life when we can change for the better. Clara's rebellious older sister is missing. Grief-stricken and bewildered, she yearns to uncover the truth about what happened. Liam, newly divorced and newly unemployed, moves into the house next door and within hours gets a visit from the police. Elizabeth is thinking about a crime committed thirty years ago, one that had tragic consequences for two families. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies. **LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE** 'I've been telling everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each of her novels is just a marvel' Anne Tyler 'Close to perfection' The Times 'Exquisitely poignant' Liane Moriarty

Discover this powerful novel about a family falling apart, from the Booker Longlisted author of A TOWN CALLED SOLACE 'Tender and surprising... A vivid and evocative tale' New York Times Twenty-one-year-old Megan Cartwright has never been outside the small town she was born in but one winter's day in 1966 she leaves everything behind and sets out for London. Ahead of her is a glittering new life, just waiting for her to claim it. But left behind, her family begins to unravel. Disturbing letters from home begin to arrive and torn between her independence and family ties, Megan must make an impossible choice. 'Every bit as good as I expected. A heart-aching and beautifully written story of a family falling apart' Woman and Home

Crow Lake is that rare find, a first novel so quietly assured, so compelling, and with an emotional charge so perfectly controlled, that you sense at once that his is the real thing - a literary experience to relish, a book to lose yourself in, and a name to watch. Here is a gorgeous, slowburning story of families growing up and tearing each other apart in rural Northern Ontario, where tragedy and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. Centerstage are the Morrisons whose tragedy is insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt's protégé, her curious fascination for pondlife fed by his passionate interest in the natural world.

Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope, but seems blind to the tragedy of her own emotional life. She thinks she's outgrown her family, who were once her entire world - but she can't seem to outgrow her childhood or lighten the weight of their mutual past.

**LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE** A powerful, heart-breaking story about tempting fate and living with the consequences Arthur and Jake are brothers yet worlds apart. Arthur is older, shy, dutiful and set to inherit his father's farm. Jake is younger, handsome and reckless, a dangerous man to know. When Laura arrives in their rural community, the fragile balance of the brothers' rivalry is pushed to the edge of catastrophe... 'An enthralling read, both straightforward and wonderfully intricate' Guardian 'Evokes beautifully the big joys and sorrows of most people, no matter how small their town' The Times

Set in the frozen north of Canada in 1972, this is a beautiful Booker Prize longlisted novel about painful histories that need reckoning with and the moments in life when we can change for the better. 'I've been telling everyone I know about Mary Lawson . . . Each of her novels is just a marvel' ANNE TYLER **A DAILY TELEGRAPH AND OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR** Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Seven-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is grief-stricken and bewildered. Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember, and within hours gets a visit from the police. It seems he's suspected of a crime. At the end of her life Elizabeth Orchard is thinking about a crime too, one committed thirty years ago that had tragic consequences for two families and in particular for one small child. She desperately wants to make amends before she dies. A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of these three people brought together by fate and the mistakes of the past. By turns gripping and darkly funny, it uncovers the layers of grief and remorse and love that connect us, but shows that sometimes a new life is possible. 'Poised, elegant prose, paired with quiet drama that will break your heart. The sort of book that seems as if it has always existed because of its timeless perfection' GRAHAM NORTON 'These interwoven stories of three people at different stages of life...will stay with me the way good friendships stay with you. It's already one of my favourite books of the year' RACHEL JOYCE

1930s British comedy from director Bernard Vorhaus and producer Joe Rock. Rival factory owners Sam (Stanley Holloway) and Bill (Will Fyffe) try to work together in order to obtain a big contract. The situation is further complicated when Sam's son Jack (Jimmy Hanley) and Bill's niece Joan (Mary Lawson) become romantically involved.

Crow Lake is that rare find, a first novel so quietly assured, so emotionally pitch perfect, you know from the opening page that this is the real thing–a literary experience in which to lose yourself, by an author of immense talent.

Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story set in the rural “badlands” of northern Ontario, where heartbreak and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. For the farming Pye family, life is a Greek tragedy where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons, and terrible events occur–offstage.

Centerstage are the Morrisons, whose tragedy looks more immediate if less brutal, but is, in reality, insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt’s protegee, her fascination for pond life fed by his passionate interest in the natural world. Now a zoologist, she can identify organisms under a microscope but seems blind to the state of her own emotional life. And she thinks she’s outgrown her siblings–Luke, Matt, and Bo–who were once her entire world.

In this universal drama of family love and misunderstandings, of resentments harbored and driven underground, Lawson ratchets up the tension with heartbreaking humor and consummate control, continually overturning one’s expectations right to the very end. Tragic, funny, unforgettable, Crow Lake is a quiet tour de force that will catapult Mary Lawson to the forefront of fiction writers today.


From the Hardcover edition.

Tragedy shattered Marie Lawson Fiala's life as wife, mother and lawyer when her 13-year old son, Jeremy, was felled by a massive hemorrhage from a ruptured artery deep in his brain. Within an hour, Jeremy was in a coma, sustained only by machines. This memoir of a mother's ferocious care, devastating loss and prayerful transcendence focuses on bringing her son back from the edge. The suspense is relentless and the author's observations as sharp as a scalpel.