15. The Lace Reader - Brunonia Barry

AUDIO read by Alyssa Bresnahan (she was great)
For: Adults
Book Pub: 2008
Audio: 10 discs/11.5 hours
400 pgs.
Rating: 4.5
Finished: Mar. 5, 2009
"You have to go back to go forward."

Now this was one interesting story. Confusing. Fascinating. Great setting. You knew there'd be a surprise at the end. There was. I think it was this author's first, which is quite commendable. I did not rate this a 5 because it was a little too depressing, overall, I felt I needed to knock off a half point for that.

There are five parts in this book, and much of it is told in the first person by the protagonist, Towner Whitney. She has returned home from California after 15 years to look into the disappearance of her beloved Aunt, Eva. Eva lives in an old mansion on the shore in the center of Salem, Massachusetts, where she runs a tearoom, keeps a huge garden, speaks in proverbs, and swims most every day, even at 85. Oh yes, she reads lace, telling fortunes to all who ask. Towner is fifth generation "reader", and her sensitivity - along with abuse, force her at age 17 into a mental hospital for drug and shock treatment. She left everything behind for fifteen years, but now comes home and has to confront it all. Witches and covens, Calvinists and modern day Puritans, boating and islands, lace-making and abuse shelters, even red-hat ladies and references to 17th century Salem witches careen through this story at a break-neck pace. There's old love and new love, cops and drunks, tourists and townies. It's a good story, all twisting and turning and keeping you on your toes, wondering what's true and what's not. You know a lot is not true, because Towner begins her tale telling us that she is a liar, that she very rarely tells the truth.

I went on to Brunonia Barry's website, and she says that this is written as a hero's journey for women, which is different than a male's hero journey. Many women are need to help this journey happen.

"Every gift has a price. Every piece of lace has a secret." This read was fascinating and thought-provoking. I knitted like crazy as I listened, sneezed, and blew my nose.