Knit one…

Mary Baxter lives in Providence, R.I..  After losing her five-year old daughter, Stella to meningitis, Mary struggles even getting out of bed.  Her marriage to her husband Dylan seems to be crumbling  as Mary’s depression makes it impossible to be there for him, let alone even smile.  Her job as a writer for a local newspaper has become unbearable and she has bitter memories of her child hood and even adult life connects to her own mother who always has seemed distant and aloof and currently resides in Mexico. 

 

Purl two…

At her mother’s urging, Mary joins a knitting circle and meets Alice who invites her to a weekly evening gathering of knitters which at first seems frightening to Mary, but then figures, what does she have to lose?  Instead of loss…. Mary gains insight into the women, and occasionally a few men, who make up the knitting circle…

Knit Two, Purl Two…

Harriet, Scarlett, Lulu, Beth, and Ellen all slowly knit their way into Mary’s life.  As Mary learns how to make scarves and hats, and even socks… she also learns that every one has hurts and her own life becomes entwined – with theirs…

 

Sometimes a book or audio can come to your attention at just the right time.  (Yes even in reading – timing does count!  😀 )  I had recently borrowed two audio from our local library that I thought were going to be fantastic, and turned out to not hold me at all.  Going to the cabin last weekend, a 3 1/2 hour drive… I needed audio that would sustain me, so I grabbed this one and another one I had just received as well for back up.

The Knitting Circle appealed to me right from the start for several reasons.

The cover… soft and inviting, I want to go hang out there

Perhaps my inability to knit and my fascination with those who do was an attraction

But mostly… the books draw for me was the cultivating of women’s’ friendships, a topic that always draws me in.  I think having a house full of boys really drew that out of me… knowing that I needed “girl time” to hang out with my girlfriends and talk about life and dreams and yes, even hurts. 

 

I enjoyed the flow of this story it was very paced, never hurried, and somehow that fit into the theme of a books knitted around friendships.  The message within the book for me (and I think for our author too, who had also lost a daughter), was the power of friendship.  It’s easy to get drawn into thinking we are the only ones dealing with certain pain and tragedy and when we open our eyes and our hearts find that there is a whole world of hurting out there, and together – we are stronger.

 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Knitting Circle

I received this audio from Kathy (Bermuda Onion)

Thank you Kathy!  😀