The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

The Lace Reader
by Brunonia Barry

Published: 2008
Genre: Mystery, Witches
Hardback: 400 pages
Rating: 4

Inspiration: my R.I.P. challenge and Helluva Halloween challenge

Description from amazon:
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."

My thoughts:
In-a-word: quirky

This is a good mystery with a nice twist at the end which is perfect for this time of year. You'll get mentions of modern day Salem witches along with Salem witches of yore.

I liked how this book made me appreciate how the mind works especially when it comes to self-preservation and survival.

And, lace reading tips are included as the chapter teaser blurbs - not too different from tarot card and tea leaves reading.

I was curious to see what a lace pillow looked liked. So, I googled and found this lacemaker working away on a lace pillow. Amazing, imagine keeping track of all those dangling bobbins.

fyi: lace pillow is a hard cushion or pad that supports the pattern and threads in the making of bobbin lace

and, lace pillows hold secrets of their own

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