Barry, Brunonia.  The Lace Reader.  New York:  Harper Collins, 2008.   ISBN: 9780061661556.  $39.95.  Read by Alyssa Bresnahan.

(Image Credit: Cape May County Library)

There are some who have a gift for being able to read people and there are those who can see the future in crafted pieces of Ipswitch lace.  Towner Whitney comes from a long line of readers, and although reading lace can be taught, there are still those that go beyond simply learning.  Some are just born with the gift of foresight.

Towner left Salem, Massachusetts 15 years ago, when she was 18, and  has vowed to never return to her hometown ever again.  Yet, when she receives a phone call from her younger brother regarding her beloved Aunt Eva, and the fact that the eighty-five year-old woman has disappeared, Towner runs back to find out what has happened.  Back in Salem, Towner is whisked back to the town that thinks she and her family are crazy.  She also has to encounter her own mother, who has never been a really been there.  That was Aunt Eva’s role.

As Towner tries to find her aunt, she also learns that there are more sinister forces circling  her family than she realized.  As the past becomes entangled in the present, Towner will begin to rely on the natural gift she has tried for so long to ignore.

Barry has created a unique story that eloquently portrays a New England family against the background of Salem, Massachusetts.  She weaves fiction in to Salem’s famous past, while also illustrating modern life along New England’s coast.  Alyssa Bresnahan’s voice gives depth and character to The Lace Reader.  She is able to relay the thoughts and feelings of the characters well.  Together, Barry and Bresnahan, have created a wonderful, mysterious, and bewitching tale about New England and complicated family dynamics, in combination with the idea that lace readers can predict the future, although they cannot stop the pain, danger, and the happiness that accompanies life.

The Lace Reader has received the following acclaim:

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

New York Times Best Seller

People Magazine People Pick

Time Magazine

The Washington Post

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–Melissa the Librarian