The Lace Reader - Book Review
The Lace Reader must stare at the piece of lace until the pattern blurs and the face of the Seeker disappears completely behind the veil. When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen. In this moment an image will begin to form…in the space between what is real and what is only imagined. -From The Lace Reader, page 1-
Brunonia Barry’s debut novel, The Lace Reader, is an unusual story which (like the lace which her Great Aunt Eva ‘reads’) is difficult to understand until the final pages. Part mystery with a literary twist exploring women’s issues (incest, mental illness, and family dynamics), the novel evolves slowly, developing from multiple story threads which all come back to the central character - Towner Whitney. The novel opens in Towner’s point of view, and the reader is warned: ‘Never believe me. I lie all the time.‘
Towner Whitney lives in California, but is motivated to return to her birthplace in Salem, Massachusetts when her brother calls to report Towner’s great aunt missing. Once back in New England, Towner must unravel the mystery of Eva’s disappearance while coming to terms with her own shattered past. Salem is recognized historically for the famous witch trials of 1692 and is an apt setting for a book which spins around precognition and the idea of intuition. As the story unfolds, it becomes difficult to ascertain what is real and what is only imagined. Barry alternates point of view from chapter to chapter - something which adds depth to her story and helps to fill in the missing pieces of Towner’s childhood.
Barry’s writing is strong, creating a gothic feel to the book. She steers away from cliche characters, instead giving us complex individuals. Despite these strengths, the book is not without its weaknesses.
At times the plot felt thin to me - and although the ending has a surprise twist, many times I was able to predict an event before it unfolded. I also wondered about the accuracy of police procedure when one character ‘disappears’ and a full-blown search is immediately begun. In most adult missing person cases searches do not occur for at least 48 hours as often it is assumed the person chose to disappear. I also thought it unlikely that a police department would assist an abusive man in finding an adult woman who had disappeared. Additionally, I picked up one geographical flaw which made me question the author’s reliability in other areas. A person residing in Sonoma County, California would not drive ‘up the coast to see it.‘ Rather they must follow a non-coastal route south to San Francisco. This seemed like a pretty obvious fact to get wrong.
The Lace Reader has an aggressive marketing campaign with a release date of July 29, 2008. Early reviews of the book have been mostly positive. I found it a quick and engaging read despite its flaws.
Rated: 
April 20th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Hmm, I’m drawn to the premise, but lately predictability in novels is getting on my nerves.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Dew: I wouldn’t exactly call it “predictable” as it has an unexpected twist at the end that surprised me…but, other parts of the book seemed a bit unsurprising. I’m one of the few readers that is not gushing over this book - I’ve read several 5 and 4.5 star reviews of it - so you might enjoy it.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Thanks for sending me the review links!
I look forward to reading it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 am
I appreciated your review of this work. Honesty is, at times, lacking in literary reviews. Lately I’ve read far too many reviews of sub-standard fiction that tout an author as the next great American novelist…Predictability in a novel doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t worth reading, and that’s what I get from your post. Thanks! I’ll read the book.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am
I really enjoyed this novel too. I loved the lace making and the characters. Towner’s story stayed with me. I was surprised that I didn’t notice the mistakes (but then again I was surprised by the ending), so I went back to see if I had misread the novel. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Police procedure—The Salem News article at the start of chapter 3 reports that Eva has been missing 10 days. The detective (who was a friend of the missing woman and this may explain why he was concerned earlier) finds her after 10 days.
2. Police helping an abusive man find a woman–They don’t help him, they help the woman, but are hindered when she changes her story. The abusive man is a suspect (chapter 16).
3. Up the coast—Towner lives in LA so I assumed Towner meant they drove up the coast from LA to see the Golden Gate Bridge (and they stayed at the family home of the boyfriend in Sonoma).
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
JB & JKaye: Thanks for stopping in
JB, I try to be fair when reviewing…and honest. I did enjoy the book, but I thought parts of it were flawed.
Lynn: Thanks for your comments. I don’t want to give away spoilers here…but I wasn’t talking about Eva’s disappearance - I was talking about Angela. She is missing less than a day and the police are already involved…even though she has gone missing on purpose in the past (which would, in most police departments make them LESS apt to being searching for her, not more). I was referring to Angela’s first disappearance when I talk about them helping an abusive man find her - they actually entertain him searching Eva’s house (and allow that) and this would not happen - she is an adult and chose to walk away from his group; the cops would not consider her a missing person under those circumstances. As far as the geographical stuff - I tried to find the passage, but there is a place near the end where Towner talks about being in Sonoma and driving up the coast to see the GG Bridge. It stuck out to me like a sore thumb because I used to live in Marin County and loved visiting Sonoma…I actually flagged it for my review; but have since pulled out the flag so I’m having trouble finding the passage again!
Anyway, despite those things I still liked the book!
April 26th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Your review keep getting better and better Wendy. I recently read another review for this book too. It sounds worthwhile so I added it to my TBR.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
You’re very generous, Teddy - thank you! Hope you like this when you get around to reading it…I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts.
May 26th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Thanks for your honest review. This one caught my eye when it showed up on LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer list.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
You’re welcome, Tara