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The Lace Reader  By  cover art

The Lace Reader

By: Brunonia Barry
Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
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Editorial reviews

Towner Whitney admits that she's crazy, coming from a long line of eccentrics in her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. Towner is forced to confront her past and reconstruct her future with the help of a guardian ghost, a modern-day witch, a confused detective, a predator preacher, and fortune-telling lace. Narrator Alyssa Bresnahan uses tone and pacing to make this unusual cast of characters completely believable - even the ghost. In addition, her straightforward voicing of Towner provides this character with the credibility needed to give the surprise ending extra zing. Salem is the perfect setting for this crazy-quilt expedition into the meaning of reality, and Bresnahan is the perfect choice for guiding listeners through this mesmerizing journey of self-discovery.

Publisher's summary

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."

©2006 Brunonia Barry (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Lace Reader

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Difficult but good

Towner is an example of an unreliable narrator. From the beginning you suspect that her judgments of the events from the past and the present are distorted. The ending was a surprise that I didnt see coming. It was riveting as much as it was hard to stomach. I would recommend this book to anyone familiar with the North Shore and Salem lifestyle and history, but only if you can stand a virulent plot thread of meanness, murder, and the foulest of abuse. The authors genius is the tapestry of images that is woven as a back drop to the story. The Eastern Yacht Club, Hamilton Hall, Derby Street, the witches, the tourists, the common, even the restoring of the ship off Pickering Wharf, it is all there and described so well that I could smell the sea air mixed with street vender sausage and peppers.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

All Frills

An ordinary book sewn together with implausible events and stereotypical characters. There is the misunderstood girl who may or may not be crazy, a gallant police officer who attempts to help, a cult that is after her family, witches who are everyday women, a family mystery, and a conventional ending. Lace reading is a good hook, but Barry doesn't follow through with intersesting predictions. The cult does improbable things and is accused of everything bad except global warming. The surprise at the end is no great shakes, in fact it made the main character, Sophia (Towner), a less reliable narrator.
The best part of The Lace Reader is that it was first self-published then popularized through word of mouth amongst book clubs.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyable

A compelling story with a good, surprising ending. The type of book that leaves you mulling it over in your head long after the narrative has ended.

As a crafter, I chose this book because of its apparent topic of lace making. However, I found that the story doesn't particularly pertain to or revolve around the handcrafting, but rather uses the tradition and history of handmade lace as a rich background from which to draw parallels and metaphors. It's artfully done.

The narrator of the audio version does a great job with the voices, including older women, cops, and adolescents. My one complaint: she doesn't pause enough between sentences or paragraphs, so it's a little difficult to find a good stopping point.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A Bit of a Surprise

I wasn't sure that I'd enjoy this one. The book has gotten so much hype, and I often find that overhyped books tend to disappoint. It also sounded a bit like hocus-pocus chick lit (e.g., Ya-Ya Sisterhood), but, thankfully, that description didn't fit at all. It's a tough one to place in terms of genre: part historical fiction, part mystery/suspense, part romance, part psychological study. And yet all those threads are knit together in a very engaging plot. Barry also cleverly turns place into character as the town, the island, and the surrounding area gain significance to the story and the narrator. The reader was a good choice, too.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful New England stuff here

The Lace Reader I found to be a wonderful book.
Sophya Whitney as a character was true to her word.I never tell the truth, and Im crazy.
Well Im not so sure about that..Interweaving the New England coastal towns and
Especially Salem, is clearly an inside look we dont normally see, unless you live there.
If you love stories about New England this is a must read.
Brunonia has captured the weaving of the Lace of life in Salem, then and now.
The narrator Alyssa Bresnahan does a fabulous job with the characters, the pace, and the intensity of the telling of it. The opportunity to be transported into another time, and be in the present at the same time is enchanting. I was sorry to have it end.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not quite as good as I expected.

I heard an interview with the author on NPR and it sounded as if this might be a great listen. I found the structure somewhat contrived and I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I usually like this kind of novel and perhaps I should listen to it again. A lot of 'he said, 'I said, 'she said' narrative which does not do well when listening to a book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

engrossing

I found the idea that the intricacies of lace could hold clues to one's future rather intrigueing. The book captured my imagination and did not disappoint. I did not suspect what the end would be until I was almost there; it made me go back to to start so I could understnad everything better. I had forgotten what Towner had said about lying.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An Unexpected Pleasure

I really enjoyed this book - I could not figure out what would happen next.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Murky

I do not understand why people write like this. Here is the potential for a very good story, yet it comes off as a series of blurry snapshots. Characters emerge with high drama in the extreme, and come and go with little context or definition, and the chronology is difficult to follow. The lace motif is interesting but is not hardwired to the narrative.

However, there is occasionally enough detail to stay interested, and there is an excellent sense of place. The ambiance of the setting, the feeling of the town and its characters, so linked to the water, go a long way towards sustaining the story.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 09-09-12

Brillant, both writing and reading.

What made the experience of listening to The Lace Reader the most enjoyable?

The voice was perfect, it moved with the action well.

What did you like best about this story?

The ending, the twist, everything.

Which character ??? as performed by Alyssa Bresnahan ??? was your favorite?

The protagonist.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending.

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2 people found this helpful