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by: Brunonia Barry  List Price: $24.95 Amazon.com's Price: $16.47 You Save: $8.48 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 813.6 EAN: 9780061624766 ISBN: 0061624764 Label: William Morrow Manufacturer: William Morrow Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 400 Publication Date: August 01, 2008 Publisher: William Morrow Release Date: July 29, 2008 Studio: William Morrow Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: Amazon Best of the Month, August 2008: Brunonia Barry dreamt she saw a prophecy in a piece of lace, a vision so potent she spun it into a novel. The Lace Reader retains the strange magic of a vivid dream, though Barry's portrayal of modern-day Salem, Massachusetts--with its fascinating cast of eccentrics--is reportedly spot-on. Some of its stranger residents include generations of Whitney women, with a gift for seeing the future in the lace they make. Towner Whitney, back to Salem from self-imposed exile on the West Coast, has plans for recuperation that evaporate with her great-aunt Eva's mysterious drowning. Fighting fear from a traumatic adolescence she can barely remember, Towner digs in for answers. But questions compound with the disappearance of a young woman under the thrall of a local fire-and-brimstone preacher, whose history of violence against Whitney women makes the situation personal for Towner. Her role in cop John Rafferty's investigation sparks a tentative romance. And as they scramble to avert disaster, the past that had slipped through the gaps in Towner's memory explodes into the present with a violence that capsizes her concept of truth. Readers will look back at the story in a new light, picking out the clues in this complex, lovely piece of work. --Mari Malcolm Product Description:
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." Average Rating:
 Rating:  - DisappointingThings I liked: Barry has a powerful ability to evoke "place." Her descriptions of the locations were masterful. I especially enjoyed the subtle way that she drew us into the more fantastic or fantasy aspects of the story. I found the premises and settings and characters all quite believable. Towner and her Aunt Evie were especially well done. I also enjoyed the way the story flowed along. Its pace was quite well done; I felt neither rushed nor mired down as the story progressed and ... Read More Rating: - Good, but not greatI agree with some of the reviewers on here who enjoyed THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER more than THE LACE READER. In many ways I found this book overhyped, and I'd be very surprised if any of her future books ever do half as well. While the subject matter was interesting, the writing was just average, and the plot was a bit muddled. Rating:  - The Lace ReaderIt was easy reading and held my attention; however, when I finished it, I realized I still didn't understand the plot. Rating:  - An awesome Halloween readI don't know how to review this without laying out a long list of spoilers, which would ruin it for you. I'd never heard of this author and wasn't expecting anything moving. This book was an awesome surprise. It's the tale of a flawed heroine and the town of Salem. The premise could have taken place yesterday or three hundred years ago. It does have a touch of Hawthorne to it, and that's all I'll say on that. It's engaging - I read the whole thing in a two day marathon session that was as rewarding ... Read More Rating: - An Amazing TalentThe imagination of Brunonia Barry seems limitless--from it she creates a whole history and methodology of divination (lace reading is her brainchild), then weaves it through a complex family tale full of surprises. This book is extremely difficult to put down once you dive into it--the cast of characters could keep a bookclub busy through many pots of coffee. Especially the late in the game major plot twist and what it means for all of the characters. It's set in modern Salem, with all of it's newagey, ... Read More 
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