The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony

We've all seen paintings of 17th-century French nobles, stiffly starched lace at their sleeves and collars. There's something missing from those pictures, though, and in The Ruins of Lace, Iris Anthony weaves a tale of the little-known lives of those who traded in the costly luxury: soulless brokers, desperate traffickers, even a lace-running dog ("If only people could talk," he thinks). But the most precious of all is a lacemaker, bought as a child by an abusive convent, now nearly blind after the decades of toil in near darkness, and about to be turned out onto the street.

The Ruins of Lace, Iris Anthony, $17.