A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

I've tried to read Moore before (that rhymes) and had felt her writing to be quite dark, if I remember correctly. This book, however, was a smooth read - some dark, yes, but not so much that it feels overshadowed. Her writing is brilliant, and quite obscure.

"Tassie Keltjin, the daughter of a gentleman farmer, has come to a university town as a student. When at twenty she takes a job as a part-time nanny for a glamorous and mysterious family, she finds herself drawn deeper into their world and forever changed."

Rich, layered, her descriptions quite colorful and odd - I loved this book, and I only wish she had gone deeper into the characters. What seemed like unimportant persons in the book turned out to be integral to the main character. And the ending, too quick. I definitely recommend this read.

the lace reader by brunonia barry

This is another book that you gifted to me, and in the end, I loved it.
The first few pages had me wondering if it was a little hokey, but Barry is an extremely talented writer, and I was eager to open the pages and fall into the story each and every evening.

"Brunonia Barry dreamt she saw a prophecy in a piece of lace, a vision so potent she spun it into a novel. The Lace Reader retains the strange magic of a vivid dream, though Barry's portrayal of modern-day Salem, Massachusetts--with its fascinating cast of eccentrics--is reportedly spot-on. Some of its stranger residents include generations of Whitney women, with a gift for seeing the future in the lace they make. Towner Whitney, back to Salem from self-imposed exile on the West Coast, has plans for recuperation that evaporate with her great-aunt Eva's mysterious drowning. Fighting fear from a traumatic adolescence she can barely remember, Towner digs in for answers. But questions compound with the disappearance of a young woman under the thrall of a local fire-and-brimstone preacher, whose history of violence against Whitney women makes the situation personal for Towner. Her role in cop John Rafferty's investigation sparks a tentative romance. And as they scramble to avert disaster, the past that had slipped through the gaps in Towner's memory explodes into the present with a violence that capsizes her concept of truth. Readers will look back at the story in a new light, picking out the clues in this complex, lovely piece of work."

This describes it to a tee. What seems a simple story, upon reflection at the end, turns out to be quite complex. I treasured each moment with this book.