14 February 2007

Just finished reading...

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood.

In the past few months, I've gotten back into knitting in a big way. And, coincidentally, there is a spate of novels which have knitting as a theme.

I digress, but I remember the first novel about knitting that I ever came across: a children's book called Knitwits by William Taylor, about a nine-year-old boy who is upset that his mother is having a baby, and to hide his feelings, announces that he is going to knit a sweater for his new sib.

Recently, I've read Knitting Under the Influence, and Knitting: a Novel (both reviewed in earlier blogs). On my hold list at the library: Chicks with Sticks (It's a purl thing),a young adult novel, and The Friday Night Knitting Club.

Meanwhile, let's get back to The Knitting Circle. It's the story of Mary Baxter, whose 5-year-old daughter has recently died of meningitis. Mary is having trouble dealing with the death, and is in a severe depression, avoiding work and people, and seldom leaving her bed.

Out of the blue, she receives a call from a woman who owns a knitting shop, inviting her to come down and learn to knit. For some reason, Mary goes, and discovers (yes, I know it's trite) the healing power of knitting. A knitting group meets at the shop once a week, and as Mary gets to know the other members, she realizes that she is not alone in her deep grieving.

The structure of the story becomes a little formulaic, as we slowly learn the tragedies in the lives of the other knitters, and the way they've learned to heal.

The author's writing style reminds me very much of Mary Wesley or Joanna Trollope, two of my favourite writers, and at some point, I plan to check out her other work.



1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:23 PM

    Maybe you can teach me to knit at Thanksgiving, Monica

    ReplyDelete

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