Background
Mary Lawson was born in 1946 in Ontario, Canada. Her father was a chemist. She has two older brothers and a younger sister.
Mary Lawson. Photo by Graham Jepson.
845 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada
McGill University where Mary Lawson received her Bachelor of Science degree.
Mary Lawson at the age of three.
845 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC H3A 0G4, Canada
McGill University where Mary Lawson received her Bachelor of Science degree.
(Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story of families growin...)
Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story of families growing up and tearing each other apart in rural Northern Ontario, where tragedy and hardship are mirrored in the landscape. Centre stage are the Morrisons whose tragedy is insidious and divisive. Orphaned young, Kate Morrison was her older brother Matt's protegee, her curious 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 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.
https://www.amazon.com/Crow-Lake-Novel-Mary-Lawson-ebook/dp/B001LOEG5Y/ref=sr_1_1?crid=288CVHGQUZ73L&dchild=1&keywords=crow+lake+mary+lawson&qid=1594894462&sprefix=crow+la%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-1
2002
(Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn are the sons of a farm...)
Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful, and set to inherit the farm and his father's character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial, and dangerous to know - the family misfit. When a beautiful young woman comes into the community, the fragile balance of sibling rivalry tips over the edge.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JMKTOQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2
2006
(Twenty-one-year-old Megan Cartwright has never been outsi...)
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.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HKXQT6O/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
2013
Mary Lawson was born in 1946 in Ontario, Canada. Her father was a chemist. She has two older brothers and a younger sister.
As a child, Lawson read obsessively.
Mary excelled at English at school. But she decided to study psychology at McGill University where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1968.
After graduation in 1968, Mary Lawson came to England for a six-month holiday, as one of her brothers was living in London at the time. She soon ran out of money and took a job as a research psychologist. Since that time, she didn't return to Canada.
When her children started school, in the 1980s, Lawson began writing short stories for women's magazines. These proved so popular that she decided to write a novel. The book Crow Lake was turned down by one literary agency after another for almost four years. Finally Mary Lawson's debut novel, Crow Lake, was published in 2002. Crow Lake evolved out of reflections on her childhood growing up in a small farming community in Canada. It is a tense and heart-breaking drama of family love and buried resentment set in rural Ontario, carefully crafted and sparkling with humor.
Her second novel, The Other Side of the Bridge (2006), is the compelling and vivid story of two generations of a family who are tragically torn apart by the Second World War. Her novel, Road Ends (2013), tells the enthralling tale of the Cartwright family unraveling in the aftermath of a tragedy, set against the chilling backdrop of a frozen landscape in the first half of the 20th century.
Recently Lawson became engaged in writing a new novel named A Town Called Solace which is planned to be published in February 2021. A Town Called Solace explores the relationships of 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 people but shows that sometimes a new life is possible.
A best-selling author, Mary Lawson is now in demand throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. Translated into 23 languages and published in 25 countries, her debut novel Crow Lake became a New York Times best-seller and won the 2003 McKitterick Prize. Her second novel, The Other Side of the Bridge, was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize (now Booker Prize) and selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club.
(Here is a gorgeous, slow-burning story of families growin...)
2002(Twenty-one-year-old Megan Cartwright has never been outsi...)
2013(Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn are the sons of a farm...)
2006(Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose had a r...)
2021One of Lawson's gifts is her ability to bring her characters to life without judgment. Her quiet, unembellished prose neither castigates them for their flaws nor unduly celebrates any goodness they display.
Quotations:
"I plan nothing when I write."
"Much as I loved it, by the time I reached my late teens I was desperate to leave. I craved the anonymity of a big city, where no one knew you or knew your family and you could be (or so I thought!) whoever you wanted to be."
"I don't feel the past justifies the present, but I do feel it influences it."
"There seems to be something about landscapes that challenge you; they remind you of your insignificance, and I think that's a good thing."
"I have wasted years - and lots of paper."
"I just adored writing it. I knew how people would speak, what their concerns were, the rules they lived their lives by - it was all so familiar."
"I write by trial and error. When I start out I don't actually know what is going to happen; the characters evolve in the course of the book."
"Kingston is the perfect place to live. It's an amazing, historic town and I love being near the Rose Theatre."
Quotes from others about the person
"Immaculately dressed, she looks much younger than her years." - Kevin Rozon
Mary Lawson is married to a man named Richard. They have two sons.
