The Friday Night Knitting Club is the first novel from Kate Jacobs (a sequel, called Knit Two, has just been published). It tells the story of Georgia Walker, a single mother in Manhattan who supports herself and her twelve year old daughter by operating a yarn store, and taking commissions for knitwear.
Through her years of running the store, Georgia has met other knitters. Her relationships with them have evolved into the eponymous Friday Night Knitting Club, which meets at her store. Georgia’s daughter, Dakota, is an accomplished baker who provides treats for the group. The group consists of regulars, as well as women who drop in occasionally.
While The Friday Night Knitting Club is the best book I’ve read in a while, it is not that great. Georgia expends a great deal of energy being angry and resentful of people who have betrayed her. The other characters are not really well developed. I continually had trouble figuring out who was whom. A number of the books I’ve read lately involve women who quilt, and now this! Enough already-not every woman in America is busy handcrafting baby blankets.
On the brighter side, I have just started reading two books which seem much more promising. I hope to finish at least one of them soon.
In USA:
Published in hardcover-Putnam Adult 2007
Softcover edition-Berkley 2008
La Bibliofille 