|
| The Lace Reader: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Brunonia Barry
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $13.96 (56%)
New (45) Used (13) Collectible (3) from $10.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  91 reviews
Sales Rank: 109
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061624764
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061624766
ASIN: 0061624764
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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
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."
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 86 more reviews...
 Well ,maybe... September 6, 2008
I read this book quickly and mostly enjoyed it...but it's lightweight and won't stand much scrutiny...I enjoyed the vivid picture I got of Salem, but the characters are one-dimensional and have a National Enquirer world view...
over marketed September 4, 2008
This was like paying full price for a movie (hard cover book price) and then wishing you'd have rented it for 3 bucks.
I was swarmed with info about this book from amazon to costco and maybe it's because I had such high expectations that I was disappointed.
I got bored about 1/4 way through but kept trudging along for the "incredible mystery" to unfold. Some of the writing is quite eloquent but all in all this was a bad read, especially for full price hardcover!!
 Incredible first novel September 3, 2008
Its hard to believe that this is a first novel. I have heard so many rave reviews as well as those which appear here - Its that good. If this doesn't end up on the short list for one of the book awards, I will be surprised.
I am a History nut from Massachusetts and am very familiar with the ins and outs of Salem and the witches. The time is the present, and the author is funny about the industry which has grown up around these legends. However, the main story is about women who derive a power from being with each other, both as family and as friends. This story also shows the kind of secrets which are maintained within a family. I'm sure my own large extended family has a few which are being kept.
The brand new author tells her story softly, carrying on the narrative while giving the reader snippets and hints which brings one to the end of the book partly surprised and partly knowing what is going to happen.
When I picked up this book, I had just finished grumbling about having to set aside four books in a row which were not worth my time. This one is definitely a keeper, and I would recommend it highly. Be prepared to be educated and surprised.
Stunning Conclusion September 3, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Towner Whitney comes from an eccentric family of women who are thought to be witches because of their ability to make and read lace. Just relax your mind and stare slightly off center and you can see the future. Sounds simple except for the fact she lives in Salem, Massachusetts and apparently there is still witch hunting.
Towner returns home after the drowning death of her great aunt Eva. This is a trip that Towner has been avoiding because of her traumatic upbringing that continues to envelope her whole life. Towner wonders what was the true cause of Eva's death; but since she herself is known as the town wacko with hallucinations of dogs mauling her abusive brother in law and run ins with a hellfire preacher, no one wants to help her or investigate.
Just when she is ready to return back home to her life in California the past that she had carefully created for herself comes crashing into her reality and what she had thought was "her" truth was only a thin veil that blocked out the full pain of "the" truth.
There were many times that I wanted to put this book down, the middle bogs down with such boring repetitiveness I was beginning to wonder what the author was thinking. Then the last 100 or so pages hits you with such force you can't get through the book fast enough. Great story with a stunning conclusion that has you spinning and thinking back to the clues that you missed.
Great twist of an ending! September 2, 2008
Salem, Massachusetts is an unusual town. And the Whitneys are the most unusual family in Salem. Their family roots in Salem go back hundreds of years. They fit right in with the eccentric witches, most of the Whitney women have the ability to sense bits of people's thoughts and see glimpses of the future when they look through a piece of lace.
Towner Whitney is in her early thirties and she has just returned to Salem from her self imposed exile in California because her beloved Great Aunt Eva has disappeared. Towner fled to the west coast fifteen years before, running from the violence and grief that was part of her life as a teenager when she lost her twin sister, Lyndley. She is a damaged soul and Salem is the last place she wants to be. Her memories of her life in Salem are sketchy and she struggles to put the pieces of her childhood together while dealing with people from the past that she is not prepared to see.
Eva was in her eighties but still swam in the ocean every day. When her body is found out in the water it's hard to believe that she drowned on her own. The police suspect her estranged son-in-law, Cal. While married to Emma, Eva's daughter, Cal beat her so badly that Emma was left blind and mentally impaired. Somehow he managed to escape any legal penalty and now he is an Evangelist with a very warped following. Towner's return and Eva's death rip open the past and send everyone concerned reeling.
This is a book about the damage that people do to each other and the incredible lengths that the human soul will go to in order to survive. At times haunting, heartbreaking, mystical and magical, it has an ending that will surprise you and show you the healing power of love.
|
|
|
| |
