Brunonia Barry’s novel—the first of three books this year about her spooky hometown of Salem—concerns a family of fortune-tellers, not witches. But she couldn't have seen this one coming: Barry self-published her suspenseful and literary catnip-for-book-clubs novel only to have it picked up at auction for a $2 million advance and put out as a potential summer blockbuster. And while it’s surprisingly gritty for having “lace” in the title, we’re calling this now as the beach read of ’08.