In search of Solace - Emily Mackie

LONGLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2015 AND THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE 2014

Jacob Little is in trouble - existential trouble. Over ten years, he has tried out such a range of identities that he has lost all sense of who he is. Convinced that only his ex-lover Solace can help, Jacob sets off for her Scottish hometown, only to get caught up in the lives of four people with their own issues: his self-deluding landlady, a teenager looking for a grand romance, an old watchmaker obsessed with time and a young girl who believes she's a boy. Each sees Jacob in a different light. For each, he is a catalyst. But where does that leave him? Or, dear reader, you?