October 05, 2011

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I started out loving this book; and then got to the ending. The Friday Night Knitting Club started out as what I thought to be the perfect chick lit, intriguing characters, problems to work through, and an overall sense of camaraderie. Not to mention there was knitting involved, lots of knitting.

Georgia Walker is the owner of a yarn shop in New York called Walker and Daughter. Funded by long time friend and part time yarn store worker Anita, she was able to open the store when she was pregnant with her daughter Dakota.

Dakota is a biracial child whose father has been out of the picture for all twelve years of her life. She has a fond love of baking, and inspired by her mother she longs to star on food tv or run her own baking shop. The members of the Friday Night Knitting Club are often her guinea pigs.

James, while not a huge character in the story is the father of Dakota. He comes back into their lives with a keen interest in getting to know to Dakota, and perhaps re-getting to know Georgia.

There are many other characters in the story, most members of the knitting club. Darwin is a graduate student who is doing a study on women and knitting, Lucile is in film and makes a documentary on the club, and KC is a woman searching for a new job.

Another woman from Georgia's past also comes to call and they reestablish a friendship despite many problems.

While there is not a really definite plot line, there are several problems that the characters work through and grow closer because of.

Then there comes the end. I'm not sure what Jacobs was thinking when she decided to turn the story the way she did. It seemed like she was perhaps tired of the whole thing and needed a convenient out. Regardless, it was hurried and added nothing to the story at all. It was almost as if she just wanted to see if she could make someone cry and not really develop a true ending. It made me completely disappointed in the book.

Jacobs writing style is very flowing. She doesn't waste words or try to be flowery. Its straightforward and easy to read.

The Friday Night Knitting Club
Published in 2007
340 pages plus a knitting guide for a scarf and a recipe

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