The Knitting Circle [Kindle Edition]

I admit to having picked this book without reading the back, purely because it was called "The Knitting Circle" and having been reintroduced to knitting myself through a knitting group I was intrigued to see how many fictional books were popping up with this theme.

Within it's pages I found the moving and at times heartbreaking story of Mary, a women who have recently lost her only child, 5 year old Stella to meningitis. In the depths of her despair her wayward and absent mother seems unable to provide the support she needs until in a moment of clarity she arranges for "Big Alice" to invite Mary along to her Knitting Circle. And there begins Mary's journey, as each women gradually opens up and reveals their own hidden heartaches and tragedies and through the gentle, meditative effect of the knitting itself Mary begins to come back to herself and to life.

This book is made all the more poignant by the fact that author of this book, Ann Hood also lost her young daughter to sudden illness. A beautifully written book, which had me blinking back tears on more than one occasion.

The knitting blogs have been listing books with a knitting theme, and I've read a few. Generally they're pleasant little reads, sometimes with a pattern or two printed in the back, and I expected something like that when I picked up The Knitting Circle. Clearly I had not done my homework: this book by Ann Hood is richly textured and beautiful, if emotionally wrenching to read.

Hood lost her own young daughter to a sudden infectious illness. In this book she writes a compelling story of Mary Baxter's grief and recovery after the death of her five-year-old daughter Stella from bacterial meningitis. Mary is immobilized by her loss, and learns to knit through the long-distance machinations of her mother. The rhythm and predictability of knitting gradually begin to give her a focus; one stitch after another, one row after another, until a fabric is created. Time passes and something is achieved.

Mary soon learns that each of the other knitters meeting weekly at Alice's "Sit and Knit" has a tragic story. From lost wartime lover to brutal assault to recurring cancer to loved ones lost on 9/11, each knitter's story unfolds in turn. Their stories are linked through the knitting circle and Mary's slow, slow progress through her grief. Mary's relationship with her husband and her mother suffer from her lack of engagement, as well as her relationships at work. Gradually, like the fabric of knits and purls, Mary begins to be whole again.

Through most of this book there was a feeling of not much actually happening, but an intensity of feeling being expressed as the back-stories unfold; a darker, more introspective Decameron. Beautiful to read, painful but beautiful. Gradually the separate strands become more closely intertwined and in the last part of the book, by comparison, the action becomes more pronounced. This transition is a good fit if the reader sees it as a parallel to the stages of Mary's grief; though it could be seen as many loose ends being tied up in a rush.

You may read books more smoothly constructed and edited, or with more thorough development of the secondary characters. You may read memoirs that make your heart break over the death of a child -- the classic Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther, for example, or April Fool's Day by Bryce Courtenay. But if you are looking for a book tagged as a novel that rings painfully true, that takes you from deepest grief to the tendrils of healing and renewal, then this is the book for you. Knitting is optional, but you WILL want a box of tissues.

I have just finished this book after 3 days. This is a different type of book for me as I usually only read thrillers. The cover of the book caught my eye. I thought the book on the whole was excellent; very uplifting. I like Ann Hood's style of writing and I hope to read many more of hers. At times I got annoyed with Mary though - a bit too self centred.

I started feeling better at the end of the book even though I am not a knitter (yet!) myself. I have had a lot of bad times recently and if you have been, or are, in a similar position I think you will like this book. I shed a few tears too!