Like the lace that features prominently in it, this ambitious debut novel (available July 29) is a striking piece of work constructed from the interplay of separate threads. After 15 years away, Towner Whitney returns to Salem from California when she learns her great-aunt Eva has disappeared. In Towner's story, author Brunonia Barry explores the overlapping of the supernatural with the psychological; the history of Salem as proszperous shipping town, site of witch trials, and modern-day tourist attraction; and the constricting bonds of family.

how to read Lace

There is lace in every living thing: the bare branches of winter, the patterns of clouds, the surface of water as it ripples in the breeze... Even a wild dog's matted fur shows a lacey pattern if you look at it closely enough.

an excerpt from The Lace Reader

“My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time. I am a crazy woman, . . . That last part is true.”

Borders Book Club reading guide

The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths in which the reader quickly finds it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, "There are no accidents."