The Knitting Circle A Novel

"An intelligent, moving read" (Pages) and "a testament to women’s friendship and to Ann Hood’s talent" (Hilma Wolitzer). After the loss of her only child, Mary Baxter finds herself unable to read or write, the activities that used to be her primary source of comfort. She reluctantly joins a knitting circle as a way to fill her lonely days—not knowing it will change her life. As they teach Mary new knitting techniques, the women in the circle also reveal their own secrets of loss, love, and hope. With time, Mary is finally able to tell her own story of grief, and in so doing finds the spark of life again.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Once a week, an eclectic group of women comes together at a New York City yarn shop to work on their latest projects—and share the stories of their lives... At the center of Walker and Daughter is the shop’s owner, Georgia, who is overwhelmed with juggling the store and single-handedly raising her teenage daughter. Happy to escape the demands of her life, she looks forward to her Friday Night Knitting Club, where she and her friends—Anita, Peri, Darwin, Lucie, and KC—exchange knitting tips, jokes, and their deepest secrets. But when the man who once broke Georgia’s heart suddenly shows up, demanding a role in their daughter’s life, her world is shattered. Luckily, Georgia’s friends are there for encouragement, sharing their own tales of intimacy, heartbreak, and miracle-making. And when the unthinkable happens, these women will discover that what they’ve created isn’t just a knitting club: it’s a sisterhood.

The six women of the Knitting Circle meet every week to chat, eat cake, and make fabulous sweaters. Until the night they realize that they’ve all survived rape—and that not one of their assailants has suffered a single consequence. Enough is enough. The Knitting Circle becomes the Knitting Circle Rapist Annihilation Squad. They declare open season on rapists, with no licenses and no bag limits. With needles as their weapons, the revolution begins. A cop is stabbed through a doughnut hole and into his heart. A country-western singer is found with knitting needles jammed into both ears and his no-means-yes hit song playing. A pedophile priest is killed in the sacristy. As the Circle swells, perpetrators learn to shudder at the sight of business women with knitted briefcases, students with knitted backpacks, roller derby queens with knitted kneepads. They also push back, as organizations of men—from the Chamber of Commerce to the Department of Agriculture to the Autonomous Federated Association of Coalitions of Anarchists for Spontaneous Insurrectionary Sexual Freedom (the AFACASISF, with their unique musical style: deathvomitnoise)—issue statements against the Knitting Circle. More sinister is MAWAR (Men Against Women Against Rape), with their Bible Scrabble and their beefcake Jesus calendar—and a plot to stop the Knitting Circle. Will the Knitting Circle triumph? Or will Officer Flint learn to knit in time to infiltrate it? Will Nick the male ally brave Daisy’s Craft Barn to secure more weapons for the women? Will Marilyn put down her teenage attitude and pick up her knitting needles? Will Circle member Jasmine find true love with MAWAR’s Zebediah?

For as long as people have knitted, they have gathered to share their craft0́4and each others company. Knitting bees brought industrious colonists together to socialize. Knitters joined forces during the World Wars to knit warm socks for soldiers. And today the bond between knitters is as strong as ever, with knitting circles springing up in neighborhood coffee shops and community centers, making their way online, and taking up social causes. This book puts the knitting circle, with all its profit and pleasures, within reach of anyone who wants to Knit It Together. A delightful, practical resource for knitters hoping to start or join a circle, or for a knitting circle looking for patterns or inspiration, the book provides how-to tips as well as wonderful stories of knitting circles past and present0́4and best of all, a collection of patterns designed to be completed in a group.

An enthralling novel about love, loss, secrets, friendship, and the healing power of literature, by the bestselling author of The Knitting Circle. Ava’s twenty-five-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood—one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.

This collection of essays from over twenty different authors, including Elizabeth Berg, Ann Patchett, Andre Dubus III and Sue Grafton, describes their passion for knitting, recalling their triumphs and disasters in their craft projects and lives. 30,000 first printing.

A sophisticated and suspenseful novel about the poignant lives of two women living in different eras. On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between Claire and Vivien will change the life of one of them in unexpected and extraordinary ways. Part literary mystery and part love story, The Obituary Writer examines expectations of marriage and love, the roles of wives and mothers, and the emotions of grief, regret, and hope.