Review: The Friday Night Knitting Club

Surprise, tears, and the desire to share. After being an avid reader forever, I find that I usually see an ending coming. I’ve usually recognize the foreshadowing and even though I enjoy a book, it’s rare that a book actually totally surprises me at the end. It’s even rarer for it to surprise me with tears. The Friday Night Knitting Club did just that though. I had read good reviews for the book so I purchased it one day on a whim, and I’m so glad I did.

I’ll be honest and tell you that I started this book three times before I actually read it though. There was something about the beginning that seemed slow, and I had a hard time getting involved; however, after the first few chapters I was anxious to get to know the characters more. By the time I made it halfway through the book, I did not want to put it down. I was so anxious to continue the story. And then when the end took such a surprising twist. I was SHOCKED! Kate Jacobs truly did an amazing job of coming up with a real shocker.

The Friday Night Knitting Club is the story or Georgia Walker and her yarn shop, Walker and Daughter. Georgia is a single mom to a teenager in New York City. She’s raised her daughter on her own (maybe one of the reasons that this book appealed me as I’m doing the same?) – only having the help of store employees and customers who have become friends. The group of friends forms The Friday Night Knitting Club as a time to bond (and for some to knit). One amazing quality of the club is that they don’t even all knit well. It’s more of a social bond – a connection.

Of course, then things go crazy – each of the women seems to have some major issues in their personal lives – from an unexpected pregnancy, Georgia’s daughter trying to find herself, an ex love coming back into the picture, children who think they should make decisions for elderly parents, and a divorce – it’s a roller coaster of emotions. However, The Friday Night Knitting Club presents a place for each of the women to find an escape and ultimately because of the friendships formed a peace with their problems.

I enjoy most books I read.  I just have an appreciation for reading.  However rarely do I read a book that I start telling everyone I know that they need to read it too, but this is one of those books.  I’ve already passed it on to my grandmother who read it and enjoyed it because she said “it was so realistic.”  I’m passing it on to a coworker next and then another friend of mine that loves to read.

The book has a sequel, Knit Two, that I have already purchased and will be reading and reviewing soon.