The Lace Reader

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry - set in Salem as I've mentioned before. A very spooky book but not really for the obvious reasons though witches did feature. The witches who appeared were mainly for the tourists except that some of the 'real' ones read the future through patterns in hand made lace. Towner - christened Sophya - returns to Salem when she's told of her Great Aunt Eva's disappearance whilst swimming. But Towner's childhood is full of shadows which she will need to confront before she can move on with her life.

It is difficult to tell at times what is real and what a figment of the narrator's imagination and sometimes the only sane person in the story seems to be Rafferty - the cop. One of the most frightening aspects of the book is the strange religious sect which appears totally out of control and which participate in the terrifying ending. I thought it was well written but a shade difficult to follow at times, but worth reading.

Coincidence

Following on from yesterday's post I looked up Sempringham and St Gilbert in Wikipedia only to find that the village was involved later on in the 17th century with the Puritan exodus to America. The vicar of Sempringham - Samuel Skelton - sailed to Massachusetts in 1628 and was in the first group of settlers to found Salem along with a lady called Anne Dudley - later Anne Bradstreet who became the colony's first published poet.

Here is the coincidence - I am currently reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry set in Salem. Anne Bradstreet is also mentioned in the book.