The Lace Reader
by Brunonia Barry
Awesome literary debut! Poetic, mysterious
Publisher:
William Morrow (July 2008)
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 Barry 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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