CONSOLATION tells the story of Corley Roper, a famous Edwardian children's author whose life starts to unravel following the death of his infant daughter. Unable to believe any longer in the sanctuary of his writing, Roper roams the Sussex countryside. A chance encounter one night with Mary Wilson, a woman suffering her own recent bereavement, sets in motion events that will come to shape both their futures.
Increasingly estranged from his wife, on his return, Roper sets out with his friend Cyril Jessop - a cataloguer of old country songs and ballads - to track down this mysterious woman, somewhere in Derbyshire. But when they find her, Corley discovers Mary's life to be both more complicated and more compelling than he at first realised. Haunted by the loss of his child, beset by strange hallucinations, and fearing for his own sanity, his only consolation seems to come from the possibility of helping this woman solve the mysteries of her past.
Vividly evoking a fading English landscape, James Wilson's new novel - part ghost story, part mystery - is at once a journey into bereavement and an inspired exploration of the role of art in the world.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Increasingly estranged from his wife, on his return, Roper sets out with his friend Cyril Jessop - a cataloguer of old country songs and ballads - to track down this mysterious woman, somewhere in Derbyshire. But when they find her, Corley discovers Mary's life to be both more complicated and more compelling than he at first realised. Haunted by the loss of his child, beset by strange hallucinations, and fearing for his own sanity, his only consolation seems to come from the possibility of helping this woman solve the mysteries of her past.
Vividly evoking a fading English landscape, James Wilson's new novel - part ghost story, part mystery - is at once a journey into bereavement and an inspired exploration of the role of art in the world.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for James Wilson's Consolation