Solace in Winter: Oprah's Book Club

An Oprah’s Book Club Pick • Named a Best Book of Fall 2026 by The Walrus

“The comparisons with Elizabeth Strout stand up. So too might ones to Ann Patchett, Claire Keegan, Marilynne Robinson and Annie Proulx for a captivating portrayal of a community and its characters, drawn with humane understanding, empathy, and humour.” —The Times

“Beautifully written and deeply moving. . . . Solace in Winter reminds us that even in our loneliest moments, unexpected connections can open our hearts, heal old wounds, and change our lives in ways we never imagined.” —Oprah Winfrey

“I don’t know how she does it. I was so emotionally invested in these characters from the very first page. Mary Lawson has the rare ability to find extraordinary beauty and warmth in the most unexpected places. She’s one of my all-time favourite writers. . .  . Utterly captivating.” —Graham Norton

“A story about how we flourish when we embrace the unexpected and shrivel when we go the other way. . . . The marvelous quality of Lawson’s writing is its simplicity; everything just flows.” —Evening Standard

“Like the landscape, [Solace in Winter] is a beautifully drawn and deceptively simple story of family bonds, empathy and newfound friendship.” —Zoomer

“I kept turning the pages, desperate to know how it would end.” —Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

“A wonderful book, written with a clear-eyed compassion and a fine eye for detail. A masterpiece of insight into what it means to be fully flawed and perfectly human. I loved it.” —Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

“An out-and-out masterpiece; I was completely hooked after two pages.” —Cressida Connolly, author of Bad Relations and After the Party

“Empathy abounds in Lawson’s text: each character’s perspective becomes a narrative weft coloured by their traumas and prejudices. . . . Her prose also lays bare how decorum—whether expected or volunteered—runs a rural community.” —The Walrus, ‘The Best Books of Fall 2026’

”This is a majestic piece of work, a perfect self-contained domestic drama that plays out over a winter. . . . Lawson’s effortless skill at conveying the emotions and thoughts of her characters is so masterful that you almost forget you’re reading a novel.” —Cambridge Edition