The Lace Reader (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Sophya "Towner" Whitney: Narrator and the latest generation of a long line of lace readers.
• Eva Whitney: Towner's great aunt and a lace reader who runs a tea shop in Salem. Mother of Emma and May.
• Beezer: Towner's younger brother
• Lyndley: Towner's deceased sister
• Jay-Jay LaLibertie: Good friend of Towner's brother Beezer. Is on the Salem police force. Younger brother of Jack.
• May Whitney: Towner's mother. An agoraphobic who rarely leaves Yellow Dog Island. She rescues abused women and their children, teaching them lace weaving, and helping them escape on her own version of the Underground Railroad.
• Emma Boynton: Eva's daughter, May's half sister, and mother of Lyndley/Lyndsey. Wife of Cal Boynton.
• Cal Boynton: Eva's son-in-law formerly married to Emma whm he abused. Cal becomes the spiritual leader of the Calvinists. A scary man!
• Anya: Beezer's Norwegian fiance
• Dr. Ward: Pastor of Salem's First Church
• Ann Chase: Most famous witch of Salem. A good person to confide in, with a most level head, and afraid of no one.
• Detective Rafferty: Member of the Salem Police Dept. Becomes a key person in the story, dealing with Towner, and with his history as a friend of Eva's.
• Angela Rickey: A battered and troubled youth reported missing by Ann Chase. Pregnant by Cal, whose "spell" she is under, she is a young and pretty girl and runaway who says she would never go back to her parents.
• Jack Lalibertie: Older of the two brothers, a hard-drinking lobsterman, who had loved both Lindley and later Towner. He transports May's battered women to Canada.

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• California: Towner left Salem for California beach towns as an adult
• Salem Harbour
• Yellow Dog Island: Border island and home of May Whitney and Auntie Emma Boynton, May's half sister
• First Church: Unitarian Church in Salem and an early meeting place in the USA
• Winter Island: At the mouth of Salem Harbour, the island was the site of the orphanage Plummer House, where the brothers, Jay-Jay and Jack LaLibertie stayed after their mother died.

Organizations edit see section history

• The Circle: May's company and producer of lace. The women of the Circle, abused women and children rescued by May, all live at May's house. "They catch rainwater in cisterns for drinking. The grow vegetables for food and flax for lace."
• The Red Hats: Ladies donning red hats who frequent Eva's Tea Room.
• The Calvinists: A Protestant fundamentalist group led by Cal Boynton who preaches fire and brimstone to the unsaved and engages in exorcisms

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• pharmacopeia exorism: Mentally ill patients who are encouraged by the Calvinists to throw their psychotropic medications into the Salem harbour. As a result, Calvinist include three Virgin Marys, two Joan of Arcs and one John the Baptist.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Brunonia Barry (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Daphne de Heer (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery › Women Sleuths
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Lace Reader
• NY Times Review

More Books Like This edit see section history