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The Lace Reader is set in the 1990's in Salem, MA and features an unlikely, reluctant, curmudgeonly heroine named Towner Whitney. Towner was born into an eccentric New England family. She is, as she puts it, "...from five generations of crazy." For example, her mother, May, runs a shelter for abused women and children on a small island just beyond Salem harbor but rarely, if ever, sees her own children. She teaches the women how to make delicate lace but also keeps her shotgun handy in case anyone tries to come onto the island. Towner's grandfather had a severe foot fetish that he turned into one of New England's most successful shoe manufacturing businesses in the early 1900's. And Towner's Great Aunt is Eva Whitney, the lace reader of the book's title. Eva is 85 years old and runs an etiquette school for the children of the wealthy families of Boston's North Shore. She also runs a tea room that is frequented by an eclectic mix of tourists, the local ladies who lunch, a scattering of Red Hats, and members of the Salem's Wiccan community. However, she is most famous for being able to read lace, that is, to be able to see someone's future by staring into a piece of lace until images start to appear. As background, the book weaves together a variety of historical elements, most notably, Ipswich lace. Named after the town of Ipswich, MA where women in the 1700's first started making this form of handmade lace, it gave the Ipswich women enormous economic power. Very quickly, their fame spread far beyond the shores of of the small village of Ipswich. In fact, Martha Washington even demanded that George Washington go to Ipswich to purchase several pieces for her which he, in fact, did. The book also has quite a bit of history about Salem, MA. The city is infamous, of course, for the witch trials, but the book also reveals that Salem was one of the richest cities in the world in the late 1700's and early 1800's due to an enormously successful global shipping business that gave rise to spice trade millionaires (cinnamon, black pepper, etc.) and the first venture capitalists. But the historical references in The Lace Reader are just a backdrop to the real story, which belongs to our protagonist, Towner. Exiled in California, Towner receives a phone call telling her that her beloved Great Aunt Eva has disappeared. Since Towner's mother, May, won't leave her island shelter, it becomes necessary for Towner to return to Salem. At this point in the story, Towner is a fractured soul, having just been released from the hospital after major surgery and in clear need of psychological (as well as physical) therapy. She is not happy about having to come back to Salem after leaving it fifteen years ago under troublesome circumstances. From here, the story moves quickly as Towner is reluctantly drawn into finding out what has happened to Eva and ultimately, what happened to Towner and her family so many years ago. The Lace Reader is a story about trusting your own intuition, even if the rest of the world thinks you're crazy.