Road Ends - Mary Lawson

(This is a book I read and wrote the review for a little while ago, but kept back until nearer the publication date.)


This is the third novel by Canadian-born writer Mary Lawson. It tells of twenty-five-year-old Tom Cartwright, his sister Megan, and their father Edward, and the rest of their large family, in Struan, a small town in northern Canada. The paths of the three characters that Lawson focuses on run parallel, moving back and forwards in time a few years apart, each strand gradually reveals itself, and then the three are brought together as events very cleverly converge.

It’s the 1960s, Tom is intelligent and had a promising career ahead of him as an aeronautical engineer, but is withdrawn and hides himself away after the tragic death of his friend. Megan has at last escaped, to London, but worries for the welfare of her mother and brothers; as the only daughter, and with her mother only managing to care for her latest baby, the rest of the family of boys and men were under her care before she left. Edward looks back on his difficult memories of a violent father, and explores the remaining extracts of his mother’s diaries that recall the Ontario silver rush of the 1900s. He struggles to connect with his own family; he has regrets and wonders how his life got to where it is now, he hides away in his study and dreams of traveling, not noticing what is happening to his family.

Each of the three main characters is honestly, convincingly and roundly portrayed. Road Ends is beautifully written; a well-crafted, evocative tale that slowly captivates the reader, an eloquent, measured and touching story of tragedy, regret but also hope, and of the longing for independence and the chance to follow individual dreams, versus a sense of duty and responsibility.

I felt warmth and compassion towards these people; Mary Lawson conveys their dreams and sadness with poignancy and sincerity. I was intrigued by Edward’s past, by whether Tom’s life would change, and by Megan’s strength, her bravery and independence in coming to England and forging her own career. The locations are vividly realised; I could almost feel the wintery weather in Canada; she brings the surroundings to life and the landscape has a real part to play. I loved Mary Lawson’s previous novels and I relished the fine storytelling by her here once again. It is a captivating novel and a joy to read.

Published by Chatto and Windus
Reviewed for WeLoveThisBook

Books to look out for in 2014 - We Love This Book feature

It was brilliant to be asked by We Love This Book to briefly write about a new book that I was most looking forward to coming in 2014. 

Despite a very big to-be-read pile indeed and a strong determination this year to read more of the books on said pile and focus on it, (more of that in another post), it is impossible not to notice some of the new books that are due to appear during the coming year, and to want to read one or two of them.

I'm sure there are hundreds that I don't yet know about that I'll discover this year, but the one that sprang to mind immediately, from amongst the ones I had heard about, well, actually there were two, (the other one was the new Sadie Jones novel), but in the end I had to go for this one - Road Ends by Mary Lawson, because her last book The Other Side of the Bridge was a very memorable and cherished read for me and because it has been a bit of a wait for a new novel by this author, so I'm very glad indeed that her new book is now on the way. 


Here's the synopsis:

The new novel from Mary Lawson, set in the frozen north of Canada, and London in the 60s, about a family which is falling apart.

On a perfect August morning in 1967, above a river just outside a small town in the north of Canada, a young man meets his death. And so begins the unravelling of his best friend Tom’s already precarious family…

Eighteen months on, and the town of Struan is in the grip of winter. Still reeling from his friend’s death, Tom has dropped out and spends his days driving a snow plough. His mother has yet another new baby and is nesting upstairs, increasingly lost in her own world. His father, Edward, retreats to his study and his diaries, unable to cope with his growing, unruly family. There are so many brothers in the house that Tom has almost lost count, but Adam, who is only four, somehow can’t be ignored… Their one sister – capable, dependable, formidable Megan – who used to run the show, has escaped to London and is finally living her own life. But then come disturbing letters from home…

In this masterful, enthralling, and tender novel, which takes us from the silver rush in Northern Ontario in the early 1900s to London in the 60s, Mary Lawson gently reveals the intricacies and anguish of family life, the push and pull of responsibility and individual desire, the way we can face tragedy and, in time, hope to start again.

Click here to read the list of other choices highlighted by book bloggers and see if there's anything you might add to your wishlist for 2014.

If you had to pick just one new book that you are looking forward to in 2014, what would it be from those you've heard about so far?