Solace

"A novel of quiet power, filled with moments of carefully told truth and real wisdom" (Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and Long Island), about a father and son thrown together by tragedy--from the author of Tender. Set in an Ireland that catapulted into wealth at the end of the twentieth century and then suffered a swift economic decline, Belinda McKeon's Solace is an extraordinarily accomplished first novel about the conflicting values of the old and young generations and the stubborn, heartbreaking habits that mute the language of love. Tom and Mark Casey are a father and son on a collision course, two men who have always struggled to be at ease with one another. Tom is a farmer in the Irish midlands, the descendant of men who have farmed the same land for generations. Mark, his only son, is a doctoral student in Dublin, writing his dissertation on the nineteenth-century novelist Maria Edgeworth, who spent her life on her family estate, not far from the Casey farm. To his father, who needs help baling the hay and ploughing the fields, Mark's academic pursuit isn't work at all. Then, at a party in Dublin, Mark meets Joanne Lynch, a lawyer in training whom he finds irresistible. She also happens to be the daughter of a man who once spectacularly wronged Mark's father, and whose betrayal Tom has remembered every single day for twenty years. After the lightning strike of tragedy, Tom and Mark are left with grief neither can share or fully acknowledge. Not even the magnitude of their mutual loss can alter the habit of silence. "A story told with clear-eyed compassion and quiet intelligence about what it is to grow up and grow away, about the difference between 'here' and 'home.' This is a lovely debut" (Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Gathering).

About the Author :
Belinda McKeon, an award-winning playwright and journalist, is the author of two novels. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Guardian, and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Rutgers University.

Review :
"A beautiful first novel...A remarkable new voice"-- "The Times (London)" "An excellent musing on families and relationships... strength lies in portraying the slow burn of kinship... hooks the reader with words unsaid; stolen glances; simmering anger--which hold the heaviness of a lifetime of buried emotion, but also of unconditional love... a warm and wise debut from a new literary talent."-- "The Economist" "Conflicts over property infiltrate even the subplots of this artfully constructed novel, which the author, a playwright, unfurls in lush streams of consciousness."-- "The New Yorker" "McKeon's assured, astute debut novel worries this fault line between parent and adult child, taking measure of the chasms that keep either side from understanding the other -- yet without patronizing either generation, or ignoring the love and comfort they take in each other... McKeon expertly sketches all the longing, excitement, and confusion at the beginning of a relationship... brilliantly evokes the gossipy, tribal nature of small farm towns, as well as the enduring tension between growing up and coming home."--Kate Tuttle "Boston Globe" "Intensely controlled, this fine first novel brought to my mind the performance of a talented young dancer whose steps and movements are flawless."--Ursula Le Guin "The Guardian" "Solace is an elegant, consuming and richly inspired novel. Like all good stories, it's a love story. It just so happens that it's also lovingly told. A superb debut. This one will last."--Colum McCann, National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin "Solace is a novel of quiet power, filled with moments of carefully-told truth. Belinda McKeon demonstrates a real wisdom in this book which will appeal to readers both young and old, and a command of style and structure which will make this a much-loved and a treasured book by readers everywhere."----Colm Toíbín, author of Brooklyn and Nora Webster "A story told with clear-eyed compassion and quiet intelligence about what it is to grow up and grow away, about the difference between 'here' and 'home'. Solace lives up to its title: this is a lovely debut."--Anne Enright, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Gathering