I said I wasn’t going to post a review of The Lace Reader, and I’m not; if you haven’t already seen a billion reviews of this book, click here and here. What I will say about the book is that I just finished reading it, and I feel like I need to be debriefed or something. So, I am going to talk about stuff that happened in the book (if you haven’t read it and don’t want spoilers, then click away from this place…)Although Towner warned me that she is “a crazy woman” and “lies all the time,” I forgot about and became engrossed in the story. Looking back, there are definitely clues throughout, and I remember little questions like “now why would she feel that way/do that/etc? that can’t be right…” popping up in my mind, but I pushed them aside. I think Brunonia Barry did a splendid job writing a “psychological” piece of fiction; what I mean by that is she clearly did her research on dissociative disorder, PTSD, sexual abuse, and schizophrenia, especially the link between all of these things. That’s a lot of psychological elements to take on in one character, but the truth is that they are usually interrelated (save the schizophrenia, that’s not as common), so I like that she just went for it. I loved the foil of Cal for Towner; clearly the question is: so who’s really crazy here? To me, I think the reality that she brought to light was that no one in the story is crazy, but they are the product of life events, and they are seen and come to think of themselves as other see them. The backdrop of Salem, the story of the Puritans and witches, and how the same misunderstandings keep occurring because people are selfish and afraid of themselves…I don’t know, it’s still unfolding in my mind, and I think I want to read it again to figure stuff out…I would like to hear what others think: what did you like/dislike; what did you think the message/messages/morals of the book were, if any; what were the themes; what impressed you/was impressed upon you the most?