The Lace Reader: A Novel
by Brunonia Barry
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Book Reviews of The Lace Reader: A Novel
Book Review: Stunning Conclusion
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Interesting Premise, Poor Execution
Summary: 2 Stars
Thank goodness for libraries, because had I spent good money on this book I would have thrown it against the wall more than once, but I restrained myself as I didn't own the book.
The title is intriguing, as is the premise of the book as presented on the blurb inside the cover, promising a story about a family of women who can read the future in the patterns of lace and the generations of secrets they guard. If only the book was actually about this family of women. The Whitney family of Salem Massachusetts is featured in the book and it does focus on several of the women, but the book is really about Towner/Sophya Whitney, who introduces herself as a person who lies all the time. So we have an unreliable narrator who is telling us the story of her sister's death and her own mental breakdown. The lace reading plays a very small part in the story, what we are left with is a fairly weak psychological mystery.
This book meanders all over the place, the construction is wildly disjointed, characters come and go with no real purpose, the narrative changes perspective for no apparent reason, time jumps happen all the time and any storyline that holds any promise is abruptly dropped. The big `twist' at the end was not very surprising; I had pretty much figured it out about half way through the book. So beware the hype surrounding this story and if you feel you still want to read it - borrow it.
Book Review: SLOW, DISAPPOINTING, and MEDIOCRE
Summary: 1 Stars
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
Book Review: A Disjointed Story with a Shocking Twist
Summary: 2 Stars
Brunonia Barry's "The Lace Reader" is a complicated novel. It tells the story of Towner, a thirty something year old woman who has returned to Salem, MA from California after her beloved great aunt has gone missing. The reader quickly discovers Towner fled Salem after a series of traumatic events, which she begins reliving soon after coming to town. A series of violent events begin happening to people close to Towner, and it soon looks like Towner herself may be the next victim. A fantastic twist at the end of the novel leaves everyone--including the reader--in shock at the magic and mystery that surrounds old Salem.
"The Lace Reader" is a hard novel to get into, and then to follow. Three characters narrate different parts of the novel, the story does not follow a linear time sequence, and several of the characters are constantly changing their version of the story. On top of these obstacles, Barry's language is choppy and often confusing making it hard for the reader to follow the complicated story line. This novel would have benefited from a good editor and some enhancement of the central storyline, which at times becomes so vague the reader isn't sure what's happening.
Overall, the story in the "The Lace Reader" was interesting, but too disjointed to really like. I would recommend this book to people interested in Salem or in witchcraft, but not necessarily to the casual reader.
Book Review: `There are mystics and there are mechanists and they see things with different eyes.'
Summary: 4 Stars
The Whitney women of Salem can read the future in the patterns of lace, and have been guardians of secrets for generations. Towner Whitney has moved away from Salem as part of denying some secret truths, but is drawn back by the disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva. Towner's return to Salem sets the scene for an interesting journey through life, coincidence, circumstance and ultimately dealing with events rather than distorted memory.
This is a captivating novel: full of both quirky and predictable characters. Somehow (perhaps instinctively), Ms Barry has managed to get the balance right. The predictable characters (both good and bad) enable the reader to focus more on the less likely and the unpredictable. Salem itself is a character, but whether that is positive, negative or neutral will depend on the reader. Solving the mystery of Aunt Eva's disappearance and death, dealing with the ghosts of the past while still trying to deny their existence combines a number of challenges for Towner to face.
Aspects of this novel worked very well for me, others didn't. This reflects my comfort level with some of the issues Towner has to confront rather than any flaw in Ms Barry's writing. We each deal with our own pasts in different ways.
`Like all dreams it seems logical'.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith