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Langley, BC, Canada
I love to read. I love books. I like to talk about books and recommend them. I read everything including cereal boxes and junk mail! I heard once that if you're not reading at least 3 books at a time you're not reading enough! This blog will keep track of the books I've read and whether or not I liked them. It will be a little bit of everything from Christian fiction to Science fiction and fantasy. Feel free to participate by suggesting books to review and giving your comments. Occasionally I am given free books by Publishers in exchange for a review. I am not told how to review them or compensated in any way for the review.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry


This was another book club pick that I normally wouldn’t have read on my own.  But from the first chapter I was hooked.
Towner Whitney fled her childhood home of Salem, Ma in order to escape her crazy family and after the death of her twin sister.  But she’s been drawn back by the disappearance of her Great-Aunt Eva.  In the opening paragraph Towner admits that she herself is crazy and lies all the time.   Her mother Mae is a recluse, living on an island and rescuing abused women and supporting them by teaching them how to make lace and selling it.  Both her mother and her aunts are lace readers; women who can see the future in the patterns of the lace they make.
This is a complicated story that flits between fantasy and reality; past and present.  Told mostly from Towner’s point of view the lines are always blurred as she tries to piece together the reason why her Aunt has disappeared and how that will affect the rest of her life.  This is a mystery on many levels; the disappearance of Eva; the mystery of what happened to Towner and her twin sister; who really is Cal Boynton, the resident cult leader.  Naturally since the setting is Salem, there are witches who are on a collision course with the Cal Boynton and his particular brand of religion. 
This book was hard to put down.    It’s fast paced with twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting.  The ending is particularly shocking but does help to make the rest of the story make sense. 
This is Barry’s first novel and I’m looking forward to reading her second one The Map of True Places. I highly recommend this book.

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