I had read about this book in early June in USA Today.  It was due for a late July release.  Since the setting was Salem, Massachusetts (my home town) it caught my interest immediately.  It sounded good and I pre-ordered it and received it on July 29.  I read it right away and I'm afraid I can't honestly say how I felt about it, except that I found it to be quite confusing.

The story of the author is in itself intriguing.  Apparently, she didn't attempt the traditional route of sending the manuscript out to an agent or trying to get a large, NY publisher.  Her and her husband spent over $50,000 and self-published the book themselves.  They also hired a publicity agent and sent the book to a friend of theirs in the movie business in Los Angeles.  He, in turn, sent it to the literary department of his company in NYC.  That agent bought it and long story short...........the book was bought as a two-book contract at auction by William Morrow to the tune of 2 million dollars.  Not a bad success story.

And then add to that all the hype that surrounded the book before it was even released.  The author hooked up with the Salem Tourism Bureau and it escalated from there.  As part of the book's national marketing campaign, Destination Salem and William Morrow are running a sweepstakes to give away two weekend trips to Salem for two people.  The trips include airfare, accommodations, meals, the ferry, tours and more.  Destination Salem, according to the Salem News, says "I hope this is a catalyst for Salem being featured in books and movies." 

Pretty amazing, huh?  But welcome to the world of books and the correct marketing and promoting.  I think it's all great.  I love to hear success stories.  Especially ones that revolve around my hometown.  So I was really excited to begin reading the book.  Unfortunately...........by the time I finished it, I was rather disappointed.

It's a clever plot, but as I said, for me I found it confusing. And because of the confusion created, I found much of it distracting.  The story is told through the eyes of Towner Whitney, who comes from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns of Ipswich lace.  Right there, I thought......wow, great idea!  Because lace reading came solely from Barry's imagination.  However, right on the first page the character of Towner says that she is unreliable and shouldn't be believed.  Okay......this hooks me more, because I want to find out WHY. 

That's where it got very confusing for me.............the story moved along, although I felt it bogged down a bit in the middle, and then we get toward the end.  This is when things really begin to get exciting.  Trying to figure out what the heck is going on.  I'm not going to do any spoilers here and tell you the ending.  But I will say, I finished the last page still confused and had to think about what I'd just read.  Because I wasn't sure I interpreted it the way the author intended.

The author actually is not from Salem.  She grew up in neighboring Marblehead.  I enjoyed reading the names of streets and places that I grew up with and I thought the author did a good job of telling about present-day Salem.  With our official Witch, Laurie Cabot and all the metaphysical shops and witch-related shops now in Salem.  None of that was there when I grew up in the 60's.  We had the Historical sites, such as The House of Seven Gables, The Witch House, etc. but nothing that generated income based on the witches hung at Gallows Hill. 

Although the author does explain in the back of the book that she took the liberty of changing some locations in Salem, etc. I found it a bit annoying.  I guess I couldn't understand why she wouldn't want to keep it authentic.  But then, I'm the type of author that has a passion for place in my stories.  

I hope I haven't left you as confused as I was.  And if you've read The Lace Reader, be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts.

See you here next time..................