From Publishers Weekly
Continuing the warm-and-fuzzy saga begun in her popular The Friday Night Knitting Club, Jacobs stitches together another winning tale of the New York City knitting circle, more a sisterhood than a hobby group (the irascible Darwin Chiu can't even really knit). In this installment-and it does feel like an installment-readers catch up five years after the unexpected, book-capping death of club leader (and knitting shop owner Georgia Walker. Georgia's 18-year-old Dakota is at NYU, discovering her first love, while her father James and Georgia's best friend Catherine are still coming to terms. The rest of the cast runs a wide gamut of ages and experience, but is easier to follow this time around, as Jacobs is more comfortable giving them more space and backstory. Pregnant, whip-smart professor Darwin and her husband, Dan, are welcoming twins; video director and single mom Lucie is coping with a hyperactive 5-year-old and a failing parent; Georgia's old mentor, the wise Anita, begins questioning her own motives; and everyone's stories cross paths in satisfying, organic ways. A trip to Italy provides some forward motion, and pays off in a charming denouementthat nevertheless pushes a familiar it's-the-journey-not-the-destination message; still, this sequel is as comforting, enveloping and warm as a well-crafted afghan.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Jacobs’ follow-up to the popular novel The Friday Night Knitting Club (2007) opens five years after Georgia Walker’s tragic death from ovarian cancer. Her daughter, Dakota, is now a freshman at NYU, and Georgia’s former employee, Peri, is running Georgia’s yarn shop, Walker and Daughter. The group Georgia formed, the Friday Night Knitting Club, lives on in her absence despite how different all of the members are. Seventy-eight-year-old Anita is planning her wedding to deli owner Marty, despite opposition from her children. Serious professor Darwin is dealing with first-time motherhood and is frustrated that her best friend, Lucie, isn’t around to help. Lucie is trying to juggle her career as a producer with caring for her aging mother and difficult daughter. Georgia’s best friend, Catherine, is reassessing her life and her failed relationships. Reading Jacobs’ second knitting novel is as warming and cheering as visiting old friends. News of a forthcoming movie version of the first book will increase demand. --Kristine Huntley
