The Lace Reader

By Brunonia Barry

Recommended by Lisa Hoefs Nau

I don't know how to describe this book. To give even a terse account of it would probably give too much away. When my sister Lisa recommended it she said the end really took her by surprise, we talked about how rare that was and difficult to achieve as an author.

This ending was not foreseeable. In fact it really turned everything upside down. I could not stop thinking about it after I was done reading!

It is a family's story, a family with a lot of secrets both good and bad. They have gifts that others would consider supernatural. They also have some bad blood wreaking havoc on innocence within the family's borders. Woven in the pages are elements of a crime novel, an exploration of post traumatic stress and a loose study of the old craft of lace making in Salem, MA.

The story is pieced together with such care that the reader barely notices the tiny folds unfolding, the story lines being drawn in invisible ink. It is with this artistry that the true story, in all of its weight and depth, unopens itself to the reader.

This book made me miss the ocean, my sisters and even parts of myself.

Book 48