Faye LeChat

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator of The Lace Reader, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations. But the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light.

As the Nazis come to power in Germany, a violent argument over a secret key causes young Johann to lose the only parent he has left. Worse, it is his half-brother, Dieter, who commits this horrific act of betrayal. Though their fragile family bonds are irrevocably destroyed, the brothers’ paths are destined to cross again. Years later, in 1945, Hitler’s army is on the verge of defeat as Soviet forces enter Germany. Hiding in plain sight, Johann works to save German lives, secretly despising the Führer to whom Dieter has sworn his allegiance.

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon - Private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era. In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the '60s, you weren't there. It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with.