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The Lace Reader: A Novel (Paperback)

by Brunonia Barry (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (Aug 10 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061624772
ISBN-13: 978-0061624773
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 295 g

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #23,537 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.ca

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Barry's captivating debut, Towner Whitney, a dazed young woman descended from a long line of mind readers and fortune tellers, has survived numerous traumas and returned to her hometown of Salem, Mass., to recover. Any tranquility in her life is short-lived when her beloved great-aunt Eva drowns under circumstances suggesting foul play. Towner's suspicions are taken with a grain of salt given her history of hallucinatory visions and self-harm. The mystery enmeshes local cop John Rafferty, who had left the pressures of big city police work for a quieter life in Salem and now finds himself falling for the enigmatic Towner as he mourns Eva and delves into the history of the eccentric Whitney clan. Barry excels at capturing the feel of smalltown life, and balances action with close looks at the characters' inner worlds. Her pacing and use of different perspectives show tremendous skill and will keep readers captivated all the way through. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome literary debut! Poetic, mysterious., Jul 18 2008

By	D. Merrimon Crawford - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lace Reader, The: A Novel (Hardcover)

In the town of Salem, Massachusetts, innocent women needing to be controlled were once accused of witchcraft. Now Salem plays host to a group of women who openly parade around as witches and a whole tourist industry reenacts the past in broad daylight. A new religious group calling themselves the Calvinists goes about admonishing and threatening witches and unusual or strong women. Towner's great aunt is a lace reader, a woman who can read the future in lace. Her home and the lace reader group become a sanctuary for women escaping their abusive husbands. Together this circle of women find support and strength.

Towner comes back to town after her aunt Eva goes missing, embarking on a journey that puts her past and present life into perspective. She meets Rafferty, the detective intent on solving the case. Together, their perspectives create an aura of mystery to the events of both the past and present. Towner narrates the history of Salem, Salem's current life, her own personal history and her present in a unique pattern as finely interwoven as lace. Each chapter is prefaced by a quote from the Lace Reader's Guide written by Eva describing the art, history and technique of lace reading and the Ipswich lace makers. Towner's life is like the lace with fine threads all interwoven yet converging. The reader follows all the strands in her life, not as a straight direct kind of plot, but as different memories, some reliable and others imagined, all forming the uniqueness of a piece of art---the life of human being. Brunonia Barry's narrative presents a portrait of Towner not as an isolated separate individual but a person with whom other lives converge. Yellow Dog Island's circle of women reinforces this theme on the interconnectedness of individuals.

This novel was incredible. Brunonia Berry does deal with some hard issues like spousal abuse so if you are looking for a light, happy easy read, this is not a good choice. That warning being said, this novel was awesome! THE LACE READER inspires readers to follow with the imagination and go it where it leads. By the end, all the narrative threads and images add up to something spectacular and rich as past and present and landscape, history and the personal all combine. THE LACE READER is a novel built in layers and nuances like a person's life or like the memories in the mind or like the depths of psychology. THE LACE READER has some surprising and poetic twists towards the end. There is no guaranteed happy easily resolved ending --- but the ending has it's own kind of satisfying richness that combines deep emotion, sadness, even trauma into a new beginning and a new sense of freedom. Beautifully poetic!

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richly Textured Like a Piece of Good Lace, Sep 16 2008

By	Teddy (Richmond, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Lace Reader Lp: A Novel (Paperback)

Towner Whitney returns to her hometown of Salem, MA from California after the mysterious disappearance of her Aunt Eva. Towner comes from a family of women who can read the future through lace. The family has buried secrets that unfold throughout the novel, including the truth about Towner's twin sister's death.

Towner starts off by stating that her real first name is Sophya. She say's "Never believe me. I lie all the time..."

When I requested an advance reader's copy of this novel, I was under the mistaken impression that it was both about modern day Salem and an historical fiction about the Salem witch Trials. Though the historical was only slightly touched upon, the story did not disappoint!

This richly textured novel paints a vivid portrait of modern day Salem and how self-proclaimed witches live today. With a cast of eccentric characters and themes abound such as abuse, mental illness, witches, forgiveness, etc this is a real page-turner! This is sure to become a classic. Highly recommended!

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, Jul 20 2008

By	lyncos (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lace Reader Intl: A Novel (Perfect Paperback)

The Lace Reader is an incredible, intelligent, exquisitely written book. Brunonia Barry has created a compelling story that, from the first page, immerses the reader in the world of Towner Whitney.

The Lace Reader is as intricate as lace and the reader experiences the book through the interwoven patterns of the stories of Towner, Lyndley, Eva, May, Susan, Angela, the dogs of Yellow Dog Island, Rafferty, Cal, Jack and Beezer. Mystery, intrigue, abuse, love, romance, and history - all abound.

As Towner explains, "Sometimes when you look back, you can point to a time when your world shifts and heads in another direction. In lace reading this is called the "still point." Eva says it's the point around which everything pivots and real patterns start to emerge." The many threads of the story are masterfully woven together to illustrate the emerging patterns in the lives of the characters with an intensity that is unforgettable.

Who cannot be intrigued by the concept of reading lace to see the future?
And as Eva says to Towner, "It wasn't the lace that was wrong, " she always insisted. It was the reader's interpretation that failed." How powerful!

Now, after reading this beautiful book, I see lace everywhere!

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but needed a little more accuracy
Overall I enjoyed the book and the twist at the end. I'm fascinated by lace and this looked like a promising read. I quite liked the plot, but was annoyed by one thing. Read more

Published 10 months ago by C. Forbes