Solace of the Road

Aug 16, 2025 3:25 PM

Author:Siobhan Dowd

Solace of the Road

Memories of Mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blonde locks she feels transformed. She's not Holly any more, she's Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She's older, more confident - the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head on.

So begins a bittersweet, and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self, and unlocking the secrets of her past. Holly's story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.

Reviews

Unexpectedly life affirming, wise and mature

—— The Times

A memorably touching story with a suitably emotional ending

—— Guardian

For readers more at home with awkward reality than sentimentality, Solace of the Road has a lot to offer. Siobhan Dowd meets every challenge with the authority of a born writer

—— Independent

Real, touching, at times gritty, but laced with humour throughout it will delight teenage and adult readers alike

—— Irish Post

This gritty, realistic novel which deploys Dowd's talent for humour, will appeal to the older teenage reader

—— Daily Telegraph

This page-turner invests mundane experience and every-day language with the resonance of poetry

—— The Sunday Times

Solace of the Road has it all really: grit, pathos, humour, sharp observation, and a central character who catches your heart and doesn't let it go . . . Moments of intense pathos combine with humour to create a book of tremendous quality. Highly recommended

—— thebookbag.co.uk

The life-affirming ending is especially moving for having been written while the author was terminally ill. Excellent for teenage stockings

—— Tablet

A wise and compassionate picturesque novel

—— Bournemouth Daily Echo

A finely constructed novel, beautifully written by a master storyteller

—— Inis

An amazing book for those who love a road trip story with gritty drama and great laughs woven in

—— Stoke on Trent Sentinel Series

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