Towner Whitney has just journeyed home to Salem Massachusetts to recuperate from illness and deal with a strange tragedy that has befallen her aunt. Home is a place that Towner never thought she would be revisiting after the catastrophic traumas of her early life, and she is none too pleased to have to return to the place where so many horrible memories lay buried and forgotten. Towner comes from a long line of lace readers: women who can tell others' fortunes based upon the natural patterns found in lace, a talent which Towner knows she shares but refuses to acknowledge. Upon returning to the small town, she discovers that the life and people she left behind haven't really changed all that much and she begins to become enmeshed in all the old eccentricities that she thought she left behind. But odd and frightening things begin to play out almost as soon as she enters the town, beginning with the disappearance of two local women, one of whom is her aunt. Foul play is suspected in both disappearances and one very dangerous and charismatic man is at the center of it all. But Towner has much more to focus on than the two women, for there are huge and painful gaps in her memory and being back home threatens to rip open all the old wounds that she had thought were healed. Now, with the help of John Rafferty, a man she knows almost nothing about, Towner will attempt to uncover the truth about the missing women and the shocking truth about herself. Filled with mysticism and darkness, The Lace Reader takes readers on a wild ride of deception, suspense and mystery.

Reading this book was a strange experience for me. Though I can't truthfully say that I enjoyed it, I was still very much glued to the page. I think that the story was just too messy for me, with a lot of jarring plot elements thrown together and so much going on that the book felt really crowded. It was funny because early on in my reading, my husband asked what the book was about. When I began to explain, he said "Wow, all that? You've only read a hundred pages!" which I think sums up my reaction to the book pretty well. I thought that the writing and feel of the story were extremely well done and that the author had a gift for making the reader really get tangled into the story and want to follow it to it's natural conclusion, but I didn't feel like this was a story that I loved. Overall the pacing was very tight and there were some suspenseful moments throughout the book that had me wondering what was coming next, and I really liked the inclusion of the lace reading. But I thought there was just too much of everything, and after awhile I began to feel a bit overwhelmed.

I also didn't have strong feelings for the protagonist. I thought Towner was a bit unlikable and cold and it was a mystery to me why it was that I should care so much about her. For most of the book she remains aloof and never really invests herself in any of the other characters or their situations. Without spoiling the plot, I guess part of her distance has much to do with the revelation at the end of the book, but she was really hard for me to like and care about because her emotions and actions always seemed so dysfunctional. I was really surprised that Rafferty got roped into helping her because for the most part, it didn't seem to me that she had a lot to offer, either as a friend or confidante. Mostly I felt that she was closed off and unreachable, which in my opinion doesn't make for all that interesting of a character. I want to see emotion and fire in a character. I want to see someone who is invested in life and has a strong grip on her emotions, not someone who doesn't seem like she cares at all about anything.

I did, however, feel like the author did a fabulous job with the setting of the book. She imbued a lot of detail into the Salem setting and I felt that it was both arresting to read and easy to imagine. There were times when I felt I was standing in the town looking around at the places she described, due to the attention to detail that the scenery and setting was given. As a matter of fact, I can't remember a time when I have felt so drawn to the feeling of place in a book, and whether she was describing the island that Towner's mother inhabited, with it's craggy shorelines and freezing waters, or the overgrown and lush garden of her aunt, I think Barry did a magnificent job with giving her characters a place in which to live and work the life force of their story.

Though I felt that the plot was overcrowded, I want to stress that I don't think the plot lacks verisimilitude. There were a lot of sections that had me mesmerized and I felt that there were many great moments in this book. So great in fact that I think what would have made the book even better would have been to spread the action out more and not try to throw in everything but the kitchen sink into this one book. I would have liked to have seen some of the action plotted a bit more slowly and with more care given to Towner and her personal story, instead of the hyper-plotted reality that I got. I mean, there was just too much happening, and I think that had the book been a bit more subdued and slow, it would have made a greater impact in terms of character and the relevancy of the story.

I have so far avoided talking about the end of this book for two reasons: First is that I am not sure how I felt about the ending and second is that I don't want to give too much away. First off, I will have to say that I am not sure if I found the ending to be to gimmicky and predictable or if I thought that it was the perfect ending that enabled the story to lock all its elements into place. I think I feel a little of both. I've no doubt that the ending was meant to be a shocker and the kind of ending that people just exclaim and wow over, but when I look back I don't know if all of the events leading up to the ending quite ring true for me. It felt a bit like a tease to me, the kind of thing that is meant to be the pièce de résistance of the book, but I don't know if I was completely buying it. To say anymore about this would indeed be spoiling the book for those who have not read it, so I will have to leave it at that for now.

Though I am on the fence regarding this book, I think I would still recommend it to other readers who relish dramatic and involving stories. I am certain that for the majority of readers this would be a great book to while away the hours with, and when I am forced to admit it, I think I might have to conclude that I might be a little to picky for this story to really work for me in all the ways that the author wants it to. This is definitely a darker read, so those readers who are looking for something light might want to avoid this book, but I think the book would work on many levels for those who love a good haunting read. ( )

Summary: Towner Whitney comes from a long line of women who can "read" lace - that is, see and interpret visions when looking through a lace panel. When her great-aunt dies, Towner returns from California to her childhood home in Salem, Massachusetts, to deal with her family and the mass of secrets and memories that her great-aunt Eva has left behind. But things aren't as easy for Towner as simply selling the house and moving on; no one in town believes that Eva died in an accident, and most people are pointing their fingers at a local group of religious fanatics, lead by a man who is convinced that the women in Towner's family are witches. However, when one of the women from their church disappears as well, the waters are muddied even further. Towner not only has to deal with the tangled web of the present, but also with her own fractured past of mental illness and psychiatric treatment following the death of her twin sister when they were teens.

Review: While I really enjoyed this book, an unfortunate vagary of timing kept me from really loving it. See, I started this book soon after finishing Her Fearful Symmetry. Both novels feature storylines involving Huge Unspeakably Bad Secrets from the Past, and both star at least one set of twins. Because my brain was already primed for sniffing out Unspeakably Bad Secrets, and because I knew going in that Towner was an unreliable narrator (that's not a spoiler, she tells us as much within the first paragraph of the book), I was double- and triple-guessing everything that happened instead of just letting the story carry me along, and as a result, I figured out what was going on *way* earlier than I would have otherwise.

The good news is that figuring out the book's twists didn't stop me from enjoying it. The pieces of backstory and the layers of deception are applied - and removed - so carefully and so masterfully that the whole thing hangs together perfectly. Barry's also very good at describing her setting; you can practically feel the salt air blowing off the pages. (Or out of your headphones, in my case.) Towner was an excellently crafted character, feeling full and real and just slightly broken, with minute cracks below the surface that start to widen and show as the novel progresses. Barry's secondary characters are just as wonderful, particularly Rafferty, the detective, and Ann Chase, the leader of the local coven of witches.

The only real thing I had a problem with - other than figuring out the twists too early, which was my fault, not the book's - was the pacing. Or, not exactly the pacing, since things move along at a good clip and I never really noticed any dragging. It's more that I found the frequent narrative tone shifts - from Taylor's first-person narration, to third-person from the point of view of the detective, to Towner again, but reading a story about her past, etc. - a little bit unexpected and wrong-footing. Nevertheless, I tore through this book much faster than average, and only barely stopped myself from immediately starting it again to hunt for the clues I'd missed the first time. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Just because it is set in Salem and involves fortune-telling women does not mean that it is historical fiction about witchcraft. I think it would probably appeal most to fans of psychological mysteries and unreliable narrators, or anyone who likes an intricate and very involving story. ( )

ACK! I loved this book, but now I have to read it again!! This book has kept me engrossed from the first page.

The characters are well-developed in a fragmented sort of way. What I mean is that we find things out piecemeal, but every detail we learn adds texture and depth to each character. The setting is well-realized and adds tremendously to the story.

The problem, if it is one, is that things are never what they seem. And when the truth begins to peek through, you have to rethink everything. The biggest revelation comes right at the end, and like I said, I have to reread. But that's ok. Knowing what I know now makes the whole story brand new. ( )

This is simply one of the best books I've come across. I saw it first on a daily web mail I get and went out at lunch to get it. I never do that! This story of a family in the vicinity of Salem and all its sadness really caught me up. The main character begins the book by saying she's crazy. The whole family is.

She's right! Her mother lives on an island with a group of persecutes women who make lace by hand. Her aunt owns a tea room in the town where the lace is sold and where the witches meet.. There is a long back story which is so interesting, I could have been it's own book.

Then the unthinkable happens. The aunt is found dead but no one believes it was natural causes. Could it have been her son-in-law, a self-proclaimed preacher weho is leading the residents against her? Was it her sister?

This tale will take you to Massachusetts, California and places beyond and between. The end wil leave you - as it did me - asking "What!!??!!" ( )

This book grabbed me right from the first few pages. I very very much enjoyed reading this book. I loved the graceful way each main character was developed. It reminded me of my mother who always tried to teach me that there is much good in everyone (at least mostly everyone). The book covered some tough subjects, but yet it felt peaceful. I loved the lessons about Salem and witchcraft. I appreciated the reminder that witches are not satanists or voodoos! I feel like this could so easily be a true story! I loved it!

I want to go to Salem! I want to have more lace! ( )