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The Lace Reader: A Novel

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Author: Brunonia Barry
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$24.95~~
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

146 reviews
Sales Rank: 1185

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
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
Condition: New York; William Morrow; 2006; 1st Edition; 1st Printing; Small 4to 9" - 11" tall; Hardcover; Very Good+ in Very Good- dust jacket; A little soiling on back cover; slight wrinkle in top of back cover

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The Lace Reader: A Novel
•	Audio Download - The Lace Reader (Unabridged)
•	Audio CD - The Lace Reader CD
•	Paperback - The Lace Reader LP: A Novel
•	Paperback - The Lace Reader
•	Kindle Edition - The Lace Reader

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Editorial Reviews:

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

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 141 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

So much time wasted December 5, 2008
L. Siddiqi (Nashville, Tn)
The Lace Reader CD [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] I should have gone looking for the abridged version. This book went on and on and on. I am a therapist and this sounded interesting, but I am so glad I got it from the library. I have slogged on only in order to get to the end. I do not like the voice of the person who is reading because it is reedy and adolescent for an alleged adult, but I perserved as I am interested in mystics, psychics,etc, and I wanted to hear if and how Towner healed herself. What a waste of time. The only person I liked in the book was Eva, and it begins with her death (not a spoiler).

1 out of 5 stars

SLOW, DISAPPOINTING, and MEDIOCRE November 25, 2008
Pamela A. Poddany (Toledo, Ohio)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

THE LACE READER

I stuck with this book to the bitter end, hoping it would get better and more exciting. It never did.

I had high expectations for this book -- set in Salem, witches, lace reading, which seemed akin to palm reading -- however, it just didn't happen. The story line was thick, slow, constantly repeating itself and going in circles.

Towner and her family are lace readers, women who can read people's futures looking at lace. Towner comes to Salem for the funeral of a relative and then what? Not much -- a young woman goes missing, Towner remembers this and remembers that and rides in the boat, and the island dogs chase people, and religious fanatics rant and rave and Towner remembers this and remembers that and rides in the boat, and the island dogs chase people and on and on and on. And on --

I am in the minority with my low rating of this book, many people enjoyed reading this. I started off liking the writing, the story line and by page 25 I knew this was not a book for me. However, I kept reading, wanting to give the author and book the benefit of the doubt. I do not enjoy giving low ratings or negative reviews. The author has potential and it seems a sequel may be in the works. Count me out.

This book was disappointing to me. I won't be recommending it to others -- off to the library donation box.

Thank you!
Pam

1 out of 5 stars

Just not impressed November 23, 2008
LuLu (Arkansas)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I know there are many fans of this book, and while I tried my best to be drawn in by the characters and the unusual story, I just couldn't care about any of it. The ending, as other reviewers point out, is a huge "huh" moment, and the characters often left me wondering - and not in a good way. There is a great deal of literary fiction I can recommend, like The Thrall's Tale or The Heretic's Daughter, both of which have multifaceted characters you care about. But this novel didn't move me at all, and by page fifty I was wondering when it would end.

3 out of 5 stars

I was left confused November 20, 2008
L. Rime (New City, NY United States)
In many ways, this book left me confused. I read along, following the story closely and with great interest. It moved in strange ways, with different voices, but it all seemed to flow just fine. And then the ending brought me to an abrupt "huh?!?!"

I went back and read large portions of the book thinking I must have just missed something, but in the end it just confirmed that although some of the twist was in the text, a lot of it was not. Too much of the fiction was fiction, or otherwise left completely open ended. I could make sense of some of it, but in the end the reader is left to decide how much of the narrative was a figment of Sophya's mind, and how much was "real". It was pretty unsatisfying, I have to say, and I don't know that it was necessary to the story. I think some of it could have been explained better in the end.

I enjoyed Sophya's story, the hope and circle of life quality of it and I enjoyed reading about her relationship with Rafferty (although I have to say that was telegraphed with the very first appearance of Rafferty in the story). The sense of place was well developed and I felt pulled in, just in the end the whole thing got very tangled and left me with more questions than the text could answer. I believe in leaving some things to the imagination, but I think this one went a bit too far.

In the end, I can't even clearly say whether I really liked it or not - is it a mess, or is it a forgivable twist in an interesting story? Maybe it's just a bit of both.

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting twist and held interest throughout November 19, 2008
M. D. Carnino (Foxboro, MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Thoroughly enjoyed this book - the tidbits at the start of each chapter about Lace/Lace Readers was a nice change up to the story. Could picture each of the characters, appreciate when that connection can be made. The ending did make me want to go back and reread the whole book again! Well done, Enjoy!

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