Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6 EAN: 9780061624766 ISBN: 0061624764 Label: William Morrow Manufacturer: William Morrow Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 400 Publication Date: August 01, 2008 Publisher: William Morrow Release Date: July 29, 2008 Sales Rank: 1135 Studio: William Morrow
I stuck with The Lace Reader: A Novel to the bitter end, hoping it would get better and more exciting. It never did.
I had high expectations for The Lace Reader: A Novel -- set in Salem, witches, lace reading, which seemed akin to palm reading -- however, it just didn't happen. The story line was thick, slow, constantly repeating itself and going in circles.
Towner and her family are lace readers, women who can read people's futures looking at lace. Towner comes to Salem for the funeral of a relative and then what? Not much -- a young woman goes missing, Towner remembers this and remembers that and rides in the boat, and the island dogs chase people, and religious fanatics rant and rave and Towner remembers this ... Read More
Just not impressed
I know there are many fans of The Lace Reader: A Novel, and while I tried my best to be drawn in by the characters and the unusual story, I just couldn't care about any of it. The ending, as other reviewers point out, is a huge "huh" moment, and the characters often left me wondering - and not in a good way. There is a great deal of literary fiction I can recommend, like The Thrall's Tale or The Heretic's Daughter, both of which have multifaceted characters you care about. But this novel didn't move me at all, and by page fifty I was wondering when it would end.
I was left confused
In many ways, The Lace Reader: A Novel left me confused. I read along, following the story closely and with great interest. It moved in strange ways, with different voices, but it all seemed to flow just fine. And then the ending brought me to an abrupt "huh?!?!"
I went back and read large portions of the book thinking I must have just missed something, but in the end it just confirmed that although some of the twist was in the text, a lot of it was not. Too much of the fiction was fiction, or otherwise left completely open ended. I could make sense of some of it, but in the end the reader is left to decide how much of the narrative was a figment of Sophya's mind, and how much was "real". It was pretty unsatisfying, I have to say, and I don't ... Read More
Interesting twist and held interest throughout
Thoroughly enjoyed The Lace Reader: A Novel - the tidbits at the start of each chapter about Lace/Lace Readers was a nice change up to the story. Could picture each of the characters, appreciate when that connection can be made. The ending did make me want to go back and reread the whole book again! Well done, Enjoy!
Different!
I didn't think I'd like The Lace Reader: A Novel, but got hooked from the beginning. I live in New England, and am very familiar with Salem, so I was happy to see it in the spotlight of The Lace Reader: A Novel. The sense of place truly played a role in the lives of the characters.
I did *not* see the twist coming in this story, and it will keep the book with me long since I've finished it as I will continue to review what happened.
All in all, I think this is a good book with interesting characters, including place as a character.
