The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Gil Mcneil (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 22, 2009

"Smart novels about starting over don't get any better than this sweet treat."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Funny and sparkling--a profoundly moving study of motherhood and true love."
--Ruth Rendell

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf . . .

Jo Mackenzie needs a fresh start. Newly widowed with two young sons and a perilous bank balance, she leaves the bustle of London to take over her beloved Gran's wool shop in her sleepy seaside hometown. There, she finds unexpected comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch" knitting group that meets every week to trade gossip and, occasionally, a new stitch. When a new man enters Jo's life, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gil McNeil lives in Kent, England, with her son, and comes from a long line of champion knitters. Her new Jo Mackenzie novel, Needles and Pearls, comes out this summer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Voice; Reprint edition (December 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401341225
• ASIN: B003D7JV9I
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I was completely surprised how very much I liked this book April 25, 2009

By Suzanne Amara VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I very rarely enjoy novels, but I have recently gotten into knitting and thought it might enjoy a knitting-related novel. I certainly did enjoy it, although to be truthful knitting is a minor part of it.

This is the story of Jo, who is told by her husband Nick that he loves someone else and wants a divorce, and when they fight over this, he drives off angry and winds up dead in a car crash. This all happens at the very beginning of the book, so I am not giving away a secret! Jo decides to take her two young boys and live in a seaside town and take over a yarn shop owned by her grandmother.

There is not a whole lot of plot to this book---which I liked. I kept waiting for dramatic developments or overwhelming romance or sad happenings, but they didn't arrive. Instead, we are just told the story of the first year of Jo's new life.

Several things made this book for me. First, Jo's sons are so well written about. It's very rare to find an author that can write dialogue of young children that rings true, but this author can. Secondly, all characters are given importance. I started to worry when I realized Jo had several famous friends, because sometimes then a book turns into their story, and starts having all kinds of glamourous happenings and totally loses me. That didn't happen her. The celebrities are well written, but so are more minor characters like Elsie, who works in the shop, and Jo's mother, who lives in Italy and only appears in a small part of the book.

This novel is quite English, and sometimes that is harder reading for an American audience, but I didn't find that to be the case here.

It's mentioned on the back blurb that the author is working on another book to follow this one. I really do hope it gets published. I could picture this being a whole series of books about Jo and her sons and friends and family, and I would love to go along for the journey.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN April 25, 2009

By Red Rock Bookworm TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Novels with protagonists engaged in every "crafty" endeavor from knitting and quilting to scrapbooking and wine making seem to be the order of the day and authors like Kate Jacobs, Jennifer Chiaverini, Debbie Macomber and Ellen Crosby have managed to build quite a successful following with these subjects. Enter British author and knitting diva Gil McNeil with her contribution to this eclectic mix, The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club.

McNeil has chosen to encumber her heroine Jo Mackenzie with the quadruple whammy of a husband who asks for a divorce then promptly goes out and is killed in an auto accident leaving her with a house he has secretly taken a second mortgage on, little in the way of monetary reserves, no job and two feisty boys to raise.

Jo decides that the solution to her immediate problem is to leave London, return with her sons to the seaside town of her youth and begin life anew as the owner of her grandmother's out of date knitting/yarn shop.

Needless to say, Jo updates the ambiance of the shop, starts a "Stitch and Bitch" group which draws an unusual mixture of clientele, becomes BFF with an A-list movie star, (Julie Roberts knits, could it be her?) becomes a step-mommy of sorts to an unruly dog, and tangles with the town's overbearing PTA maven.

There are no serial killers lurking in the fog, there is no crime to solve nor is our heroine ever forced to defend herself using her knitting needles as a weapon. This is a relatively simple story about marriage, motherhood, coping with the roadblocks life throws at you, building friendships, and the daily routine of everyday life in a small town. In summation: "Move this book to the top of your summer beach read list. It won't tax your grey matter, but it will definitely amuse you for a few hours".

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Could Have Used A Better Title July 23, 2009

By Nancy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

First of all the title of the book really bothered me. Too much of a take off of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. But I read the book anyway. And with the British humor that runs though this book, I am glad I did.

Jo Mackenzie gave up a very promising career in television broadcasting to raise her two boys while her husband dashes around the world to cover international stories. On his last visit home he informs Jo that he would like a divorce, but the wanker gets himself killed in an automobile accident and Jo is left with two young rambunctious children and not sure how or if she should actually mourn his loss.

When she find that they are in severe debt and a second mortgage had been taken out on their home without her knowledge; what is she to do but pull up stakes, buy her grandmothers knitting shop and start over again.

With the help of her best friend and the advice of her grandmother and new friends, Jo sets out to make a new life for herself, her incorrigible boys, the neighborhood dog and a glamourous movie star that had befriended her.

Not your typical "Oh, poor me" type of book, Jo is a refreshing character that has learned to make the best of what she has and not to dwell too much on the past. It would be nice if her boys could have a father, but together they are a family and that is good enough.