The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society

Sometimes life has to unravel before you can knit it together… On the third Friday of each month, Eugenie, Ruth, Esther, Merry, and Camille meet at the Sweetgum Christian Church to enjoy the two things that connect them: a love of knitting and a passion for books. Their camaraderie remains unthreatened until Eugenie, the town librarian, introduces an angry teenager into their midst. Eugenie also gives them a new reading list: the classic novels of girlhood that young Hannah has never read. Little Women. Pollyanna. Heidi. Books that remind the women of the hopes and dreams they have lost along the way. With each click of their needles, the ladies of the Knit Lit Society unravel their secrets: A shadow from Eugenie’s past haunts the controlled order of her life. Merry’s perfect little family is growing again–but will she continue to feel her identity slip away? Camille dreams of leaving town but is bound by ties of love. And the sisters, Ruth and Esther, must confront a lie they have lived with for over thirty years. As Hannah is reluctantly stitched into their lives, the women discover the possibility that even in sleepy Sweetgum, Tennessee, they can still be the heroines of their own stories. From the Trade Paperback edition.

“[Pattillo] creates a sweet story of redemption that will go down well with knitters as well as the knitting-challenged.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society cries for a sequel.” — BOOKPAGE Once a month, the six women of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society gather to discuss books and share their knitting projects. Inspired by her recently-wedded bliss, group leader Eugenie chooses “Great Love Stories in Literature” as the theme for the year’s reading list–a risky selection for a group whose members span the spectrum of age and relationship status. As the Knit Lit ladies read and discus classic romances like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice, each member is confronted with her own perception about love. Camille’s unexpected reunion with an old crush forces her to confront conflicting desires. Newly widowed Esther finds her role in Sweetgum changing and is surprised by two unlikely friends. Hannah isn’t sure she’s ready for the trials of first love. Newcomer Maria finds her life turned upside-down by increasing family obligations and a handsome, arrogant lawyer, and Eugenie and Merry are both asked to make sacrifices for their husbands that challenge their principles. Even in a sleepy, southern town like Sweetgum, Tennesee, love isn’t easy. The Knit Lit ladies learn they can find strength and guidance in the novels they read, the love of their family, their community–and especially in each other. Beth Pattillo learned to knit in the second grade. She is the author of the book, Heavens to Betsy, the recipient of the Romance Writers of America Best Inspirational Romance Novel in 2006, and its sequel, Earth to Betsy. Beth lives with her husband and children in Tennessee.

What's the secret to a second chance? The ladies of Sweetgum, Tennessee would like to know. The town librarian can't believe it when her long-lost love turns up as the new pastor of the local church. Two sisters have loved the same man for years, but one of them can't hide her feelings for her sister's husband any longer. A busy mother of three misses the connection she and her husband used to share, and a young dress shop assistant still dreams of a life beyond her small town. Then the regular Friday night meetings of the women's knitting book club are disrupted by a new addition -- a neglected, surly teenager with more attitude than manners. Can their books and yarn, as well as their care for each other, thread a string of second chances for them all? SWEETGUM SECOND CHANCE is a full-length standalone work of clean and wholesome women's fiction. It features relatable characters and a Southern small town we'd all like to call home. A basic shawl knitting pattern and a reader's group guide are included!*first published as The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society (2008)

The Sweetgum ladies are all keeping secrets. Even as they gather each month to discuss the great romances of literature and their accompanying knitting projects, the members of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society are hiding behind their novels and their needles. The pastor's wife doesn't want her husband to know that she's being blamed for a drop in church donations. The young woman who dreams of leaving her small town behind won't admit her true feelings when a man from her past returns. The newly widowed town matriarch is keeping quiet about her surprising new best friends, and the youngest member, a struggling teenager, doesn't want anyone to know that her erstwhile boyfriend doesn't want to date her openly. The newest member of the group finds herself struggling to keep her family together after her father's death. And then there's the mother of four who's hiding her grief at leaving her infant son in daycare so she can return to the working world. What will happen when each of their truths comes out? Reading some of the great love stories of literature might just open their eyes to the possibility of happiness if they would let their secrets out. Sure, it's scary, and there's a lot on the line. But the truth about love is that as long as it's a secret, it can't transform their lives. *first published as The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love (2009)

Through stories, tips, and spiritual truths this book captures the joy of knitting and inspires readers to share their beautiful creations with those around them.

This study shows how fiction that makes use of textiles as an essential element utilizes synaesthetic writing and synaesthetic metaphor to create an affective link to, and response in, the reader. These links and responses are examined using affect theory from Silvan Tomkins and Brian Massumi and work on synaesthesia by Richard Cytowic, Lawrence Marks, and V.S. Ramachandran, among others. Synaesthetic writing, including synaesthetic metaphors, has been explored in poetry since the 1920s and, more recently, in fiction, but these studies have been general in nature. By narrowing the field of investigation to those novels that specifically employ three types of hand-crafted textiles (quilt-making, knitting and embroidery), the book isolates how these textiles are used in fiction. The combination of synaesthesia, memory, metaphor and, particularly, synaesthetic metaphor in fiction with textiles in the text of the case studies selected, shows how these are used to create affect in readers, enhancing their engagement in the story. The work is framed within the context of the history of textile production and the use of textiles in fiction internationally, but concentrates on Australian authors who have used textiles in their writing. The decision to focus on Australian authors was taken in light of the quality and depth of the writing of textile fiction produced in Australia between 1980 and 2005 in the three categories of hand-crafted textiles – quilt-making, knitting and embroidery. The texts chosen for intensive study are: Kate Grenville’s The Idea of Perfection (1999, quilting); Marele Day’s Lambs of God (1997, knitting) and Anne Bartlett’s Knitting (2005, knitting); Jessica Anderson’s Tirra Lirra by the River (1978, embroidery) and Marion Halligan’s Spider Cup (1990, embroidery).

This is an annotated bibliography of English language novels which feature libraries or librarians from the 18th to the 21st century. It includes descriptions and quotes from the text. It includes novels, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and romance.

Stories by: Lauren Willig • Adriana Trigiani • Jo Beverley • Alexandra Potter • Laurie Viera Rigler • Frank Delaney & Diane Meier • Syrie James • Stephanie Barron • Amanda Grange • Pamela Aidan • Elizabeth Aston • Carrie Bebris • Diana Birchall • Monica Fairview • Janet Mullany • Jane Odiwe • Beth Pattillo • Myretta Robens • Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway • Maya Slater • Margaret C. Sullivan • and Brenna Aubrey, the winner of a story contest hosted by the Republic of Pemberley “My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” If you just heaved a contented sigh at Mr. Darcy’s heartfelt words, then you, dear reader, are in good company. Here is a delightful collection of never-before-published stories inspired by Jane Austen—her novels, her life, her wit, her world. In Lauren Willig’s “A Night at Northanger,” a young woman who doesn’t believe in ghosts meets a familiar specter at the infamous abbey; Jane Odiwe’s “Waiting” captures the exquisite uncertainty of Persuasion’s Wentworth and Anne as they await her family’s approval of their betrothal; Adriana Trigiani’s “Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane” imagines a modern-day Austen giving her niece advice upon her engagement; in Diana Birchall’s “Jane Austen’s Cat,” our beloved Jane tells her nieces “cat tales” based on her novels; Laurie Viera Rigler’s “Intolerable Stupidity” finds Mr. Darcy bringing charges against all the writers of Pride and Prejudice sequels, spin-offs, and retellings; in Janet Mullany’s “Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!” a teacher at an all-girls school invokes the Beatles to help her students understand Sense and Sensibility; and in Jo Beverley’s “Jane and the Mistletoe Kiss,” a widow doesn’t believe she’ll have a second chance at love . . . until a Miss Austen suggests otherwise. Regency or contemporary, romantic or fantastical, each of these marvelous stories reaffirms the incomparable influence of one of history’s most cherished authors.