The Lace Reader: A Novel | Brunonia Barry | `There are mystics and there are mechanists and they...

The Lace Reader: A Novel | Brunonia Barry | Unreliable narrator amped up

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The Lace Reader: A...

	The Lace Reader: A Novel Brunonia Barry William Morrow, 2008 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 157 reviews view larger image
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`There are mystics and there are mechanists and they see things with different eyes.'

The Whitney women of Salem can read the future in the patterns of lace, and have been guardians of secrets for generations. Towner Whitney has moved away from Salem as part of denying some secret truths, but is drawn back by the disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva. Towner's return to Salem sets the scene for an interesting journey through life, coincidence, circumstance and ultimately dealing with events rather than distorted memory.

This is a captivating novel: full of both quirky and predictable characters. Somehow (perhaps instinctively), Ms Barry has managed to get the balance right. The predictable characters (both good and bad) enable the reader to focus more on the less likely and the unpredictable. Salem itself is a character, but whether that is positive, negative or neutral will depend on the reader. Solving the mystery of Aunt Eva's disappearance and death, dealing with the ghosts of the past while still trying to deny their existence combines a number of challenges for Towner to face.

Aspects of this novel worked very well for me, others didn't. This reflects my comfort level with some of the issues Towner has to confront rather than any flaw in Ms Barry's writing. We each deal with our own pasts in different ways.

`Like all dreams it seems logical'.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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Unreliable narrator amped up

I was only going to give this book 3 stars, but the ending was really good, if a bit melodramatic. I agree with another reviewer who said it was slow going in parts but filled in the gaps well in the end. The ending really did it for me. It was powerful and really highlighted the authors skill of bringing together all the little bits and pieces that were left out there for us to wonder about. There is a bit much of the water imagery throughout the book though.

A Tatting Review

This story has a little bit of everything from romance to mystery. It delves into personal tragedy with a "sixth sense" climax. I loved it and would recommend to many.

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Lace Read