The Lace Reader: A Novel | Brunonia Barry | Lace Reader

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 129 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Every gift has a price . . .

Every piece of lace has a secret . . .

My name is Towner Whitney. No, that's not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time. . . .

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator of The Lace Reader, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations, but the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light.

The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths in which the reader quickly finds it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, "There are no accidents."

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Lace Reader - Quirky with Twists and Turns

I found this book to be exactly what I wanted to read. Its plot is unique and the subject of the Salem witches, lace makers, etc., set in Massachusetts was perfect from start to finish. There are many twists and turns and the reader will find it hard to put the book down. Read carefully between the lines, there is a lot going on. I have recommended this book to my book club.

Diane James

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.

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A fascinating story!

THE LACE READER (Novel/Susp-Towner Whitney-Mass-Cont) - VG
Barry, Brunonia - 1st book
Wm. Morrow, 2008, ARC - ISBN: 9780061688584

First Sentence: My name is Towner Whitney.

Towner Whitney grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, a town known for the witch trials in the 1600s and where, in the present, witches have become a major economic asset; except to Cal and his group of "Calvinist" religious fanatics. Tower descends from a family of women who read the future using lace as the medium.

Having lived in California for the past 10-years and recovering from surgery, she returns to Salem after being notified that her Aunt Eva, who principally raised her, is missing. Coming back to Salem is memories and relationships, including Cal, whom she believes is responsible for Eva's disappearance.

The story begins with our being told that everything Towner tells us is a lie and everything told by the narrator is true. It is important to keep that distinction in mind. But rather than it being a lie, it's about memory and a distorted perception of what is true. This changes as the story unfolds.

There is a theme of circles throughout the story; the circle of women whether they be the lace makers, the witches or the Red Hat Ladies, and the circle of past and present. For Towner, it's her life, memories and the relationships with those around her.

Towner is a fascinating protagonist and certainly unusual. She is a seer and a lace reader, but you never quite know where things stand with her. When young, she and her sister broke into a house and cleaned it. "The kind of thing only a girl would do."

It's not the easiest book to follow But it is a compelling story with a wonderful sense of place, wry humor, a paranormal element that I very much enjoyed, and some very good suspense that kept me turning the pages wanting to know how it would end.

It's not a perfect book. There were some threads begun and left hanging. But I was reading the ARC and can hope those were corrected in the final version. I may just be curious enough to buy the final to find out.

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Lace Reader engrosses

Brunonia Barry's THE LACE READER grabs the reader's attention from the first page, and never disappoints. It's well-written, well-edited, and tells quite a "tall tale" that seems real. I read it almost nonstop and immediately sent it to my best friend, who quickly emailed "Read one page and I'm hooked." It's clear why this book has gotten the attention that it has. I can only hope that the author will write more.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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