8/28/08

Between the Covers

Bewitching tale captivates readers

by Mary Burns

The Lace Reader

By Brunonia Barry

($24.95, William Morrow)

The witches of Salem, Massachusetts have made an industry of their craft, complete with charms, readings and staged witch hunts for the tourists. It is to this that Towner Whitney cautiously returns from Los Angeles, 15 years after she fled at the age of 17 following the suicide of her twin sister.

She returns because her beloved Great-Aunt Eva is missing from her Salem home. The disappearance is reported to her shortly after she receives a package in the mail from Eva. It contains a lace-making pillow with unfinished lace attached.

Towner’s narration is interspersed with memories of her youth on Yellow Dog Island off the coast of Salem. Her mother still lives on the Island and takes in abused women, teaching them the art of making Ipswitch lace for therapy before she helps them make a full escape from their abusers. The Whitney women are known for their ability to read the future in a piece of lace.

The story of the lace is interwoven into the intricate patterns of the story of Towner, the people of Salem, reality and dreams. This is a complex and fascinating tale that will have you staying awake nights to finish it.

Mary Burns is owner of The BookWORKS, in downtown Marysville or online at www.marysvillebookworks.com.