The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

From Goodreads: 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."



I finally picked this one for my "L" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge and I am so glad I did. Once I sat down to read, it caught my attention right away and I fnished it up a day later neglecting my chores to read and read some more. I really enjoyed the glimpse into the town of Salem. I had heard of Salem before (of course) but had no idea of what it might be like today with the tourists looking for witches in the historic parts of town. I also enjoyed the idea of island life described through the eyes of a "townie". That contrast of tourists versus locals is really a timeless theme. I also loved the characters - even the bad ones held my interest. Somewhat of a spoiler discussion from here on out so stop reading if you haven't read it yet! As I read, I knew there was something I was missing. I even thought of the movie Sixth Sense and tried to figure out if there was a ghost. I knew there was one ghost, Eva, but suspected there may be another one. But even though I was actively investigating what the mystery might be...I did not figure it out and, boy, was I surprised. Surprised in a good way. Surprised in a way that made me want to go back and reread the book with this new information - which I did in small parts but not all the way through (I was most interested in the Jack piece of it). Overall, this is one of the better books I have read lately. I think it will stick with me for awhile!