Customer Reviews

The Knitting Circle: A Novel

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My first Ann Hood novel proved to be for the lovers of deeply moving and emotional reading material that grabs through the pages and squeezes the heart until tears come out. This semi autobiographical work, mirroring her personal loss and her way back into the world of living is a magnificent journey, best savored late at night with a hot cup of cocoa and a box of tissues nearby.

At first the book grabbed my attention because I love to knit, but when I read the dust jacket I knew this book could appeal to pretty much anyone who loves to read. The Knitting Circle followed the life of Mary Baxter, a Rhode Island resident who lived a pleasant life with her husband Dylan and five year old daughter Stella. She wrote reviews for the local alternative newspaper, following her own schedule, living to her own beat immersed in the world of books and restaurants, pink tutus and happy family days spend grilling outdoors and making fresh lemonade. Her life was so good she would often stop everything and cry from sheer joy until one day those tears turned dark and swallowed up her whole world, the day her beloved little girl died.

Unable to go on after her loss, Mary was urged by her mother to join a knitting circle in Providence. The idea seemed absurd to her since she didn't even know how to knit, but she decided to go, unsure of what to do next once she was there. Welcomed by Alice, Harriet, Scarlett, Lulu, Beth and Ellen, she quickly found a spot for herself trying to live her day one moment and one knot at a time. The therapeutic qualities of focusing on knitting those tiny little knots relived her mind and heard for her devastating loss. Instead of slowly losing herself in the inky depths of the black hole her heart felt she found purpose in knitting and talking to the women. Each one as it turned out had her own dramatic tale, reminding Mary that people are more similar than different. As she cracked her hard shell exterior to these women their tales of sorrow made her heart come to life, she felt the need to be there for them even if her own life was slowly unraveling, her work being difficult to do, her hair and clothes no longer important, her husband coming home later and later...

The story had a very smooth flow, the writing ornate in details of the scents and tastes of fresh baked lemon cake and espresso, the scent of the wooden cottage, fresh falling snow, the painted porcelain at Alice's shop and the colorful and moving stories the women shared melted my heart and made me care for the characters more than I have in a long time with a book. Mary's journey was long; her transformation was not happening overnight and with her efforts to be there for her friends who dealt with death, divorce, betrayal, heart breaks and dark secrets she slowly found the first step on the ladder of her own salvation.

The Knitting Circle was a beautiful book that touched me deeply; I wish that I could have spent the rest of my life getting to know all the wonderful people in it, especially Mary. I can say with great relief that I finally read a book where the main character was a strong woman who lost her grip but was not pathetic and desperate, she was a loving mother and a gracious friend with a non-nonsense approach and refreshing strength that splashed across each page and made me wish that the ending wouldn't come too soon. Mary's journey from dark depths started slowly but ended with a marvelous finish.

- Kasia S.

THE KNITTING CIRCLE gets my vote when it comes to reading a good book about people and their lives, the kind of book I most enjoy. Was this book perfect? Well, maybe not, but it the kind of book that kept me reading on into the night to find out what the next person's story was. I was somewhat reminded of HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT (Whitney Otto) in which a group of women also have individual stories to share with the young woman. But these stories were different from those and even though it was a bit sad, it was definitely well written, as are all of Ann Hood's books.

Mary has lost her five year old daughter and her attempts to get back into her routines of life are just not happening. Her mother encourages her to join a knitting circle and so she eventually does, meeting a group of women with stories of their own. One by one, you learn of the sadness and the success of the others in the group and watch as Mary grows stronger.

By the way I must admit, reading this made me want to go learn how to knit! :o)

I understand that author Ann Hood has actually lost her young daughter and that this book is a reflection of what she went through and has continued to experience since that event occured. I admire her more than I can ever say. I admire her courage in writing about her loss as well as writing about tragedies in the lives of others in this fictional setting.

I'm glad to see Ann Hood back again!

It's been a tough one to walk away from. This book left me numb (extremely close to the feeling left after reading The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle).

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood is a self written autobiographical novel about a young couple, more so the mother, coping with the loss of their only child, their daughter, after a quick battle with Meningitis.
This book was penned by Ann Hood after the loss of her own child after dealing with viral strep.

The story in The Knitting Circle is painful and yet full of slow healing. Mary, the mother spends her days in a complete fog, unable to grip the change that has come into her life so suddenly. Mary used to be a reviewer for books, restaurants and movies, but now spends her days in baggy overalls watching TV and crying or sleeping. Mary has a non-existent relationship with her mother; former alcoholic. But her mother, calls, persists and irritates Mary to the point that she finally shows up at a knitting studio an hour from her house.

Mary struggles to fit in with the circle, complaining about the littlest knitting task. She looks around the room to each Wednesday night slowly learning about the people in this group. This group is not ordinary, for each member has a horrid story of pain, loss and suffering... but the truth is where they are now. Because of Alice, the store owner.

Mary finally starts to open up to her grief, finds time to learn about each other with her mother and finds life again...

In my humble opinion, I know this book could be better based upon reading about the author. However, the basis behind this book.... the quality of writing through a desperate, heartfelt struggle is amazing. This book is such a lesson in learning just how to live and breath; one step at a time... (in the words of knitting... one stitch at a time...) So, based on all of the above, this book should be picked up and enjoyed in both tears and laughter!

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.

Only someone who has gone through this experience could have possibly written this novel. It was amazing and thoughtful and real.

I enjoyed every minute spent reading The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. Knitting is far more than just a device in this well-crafted tale. It provides the warmth and the intimacy, and is the central focus for a group of people (mostly women) who are in various stages of emotional distress.

The writing is straightforward and easy to read, and I can't offer enough praise about the expert craftsmanship used to propel the story. It's as though the author follows a pattern as simple as Knit One, Purl One (K-1, P-1) as she weaves together this unlikely group of people who form the Wednesday night knitting circle at Big Alice's shop, the "Sit and Knit."

The main character is Mary, and we follow her as she grieves over the sudden death of her five-year-old daughter, Stella. In addition, there is a relatively large cast of characters. Hood allows the reader to get to know each one as Mary gets to know them. Mary learns not only about a new stitch or a new pattern or project, but she also builds friendships through listening to stories illustrating a vast array of the human condition and various forms of grief. I was riveted to each tale told via memory from the characters, who had credited Big Alice, a knitting mentor to all, and in the case of Mary's mother, Mamie, an AA Sponsor as well, as they engaged in the craft of knitting to get through the difficult days as life goes marching on, indifferent to pain and suffering. They knit to save their lives.

The story comes full circle without being the least bit corny as Hood expertly "casts off." I was left thoroughly satisfied. Highly recommend.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club

With a local Rhode Island women's knitting circle as her theme, storyteller Ann Hood weaves the chapters of her novel together with the authority of experience, proffering images of human loss in all its painful forms, the warp and weave of the finished piece as unique as the ladies who gather to mend their lives. At the heart of the tale is Mary, who has suddenly lost her beloved five-year-old daughter, Stella, to meningitis. Stunned, Mary is unable to resume a normal life, drifting daily farther away from her husband, Dylan, as each seeks to alleviate their separate pain. Never having enjoyed a close relationship with her mother, who now resides in Mexico, Mary only distantly registers the older woman's advice to learn how to knit. Finally, with no memory of making such a decision, Mary arrives at "Big Alice's Sit and Knit", where Alice, who is a tiny Englishwoman, welcomes her with a set of knitting needles and easy instructions. After two classes and a growing collection of scarves, the bereaved mother joins a Wednesday evening knitting circle at Alice's shop, surrounded by a diverse and enigmatic group of women.

As Mary slowly navigates the dark waters of her grief, she finds an island of safety with these strangers, each quietly working on a project. In time, each woman will contact Mary on a more personal level, sharing her own story, her own sorrow: Scarlet, a lovely redhead who owns a bakery discloses a secret past in which her negligence led to the death of a child; the edgy Lulu enjoys a happy marriage, ready to consider motherhood when she is attacked, her world irrevocably altered by random violence; Ellen's daughter is dying by degrees while awaiting a heart transplant; and Harriet copes as best she can with the loss of her son and daughter-in-law on 9/11. There are more stories of loss and survival for Mary to consider as she knits her way through the new reality of her life, comforted by the meditative repetition of the simple act of knitting and the companionship of other women bearing their own private scars. The challenges are many and disheartening, but the sense of community is profoundly healing.

Hood's astute observations define her writing, the simple characters the kind of women we meet at the supermarket or the PTA. None of them bear their wounds visibly, as Mary is wont to do in the early days, but they offer her brokenness a path to healing, one bred of shared experience and the soft click of knitting needles. The Knitting Club offers hope to the damaged and bereaved, the mundane rituals of existence reinforced by a shared purpose and women's inclination to nurture those in pain, a calming palliative against a world turned alien by grief, a paean to the human heart: "In knitting you can always correct the mistakes. Always." Luan Gaines/2007.

I finished this book in less than a day and didn't move from the couch. I love when a book has the power to transport me like that. The story centers around the loss of a child and how Mary (main character) comes to terms with her grief by joining a circle of knitters. As a knitter and a mother who lost a child, I found it to be an accurate portrayal of grief and loss and redemption. People's lives become fragile after a tragedy and Ann Hood handles this with grace and accuracy. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a great read.

I was caught up in the life of Mary and Dylan. They had suffered a heartache that no parent should have to experience--the death of their young daughter. This is the story of how they handle this and their growing apart and the eventual ache they feel for each other.
It is also the story how no one goes through life without some drama or incident in their life. Knitting is Mary's way of awakening and coming to realize that she can go on with her life. The other characters reveal how knitting has helped save them in times of heartache.
I can relate as I am a knitter and it was my salvation when I was confronted with a health situation in my life.

I thought this book was wonderful. I read it in a day because I couldn't put it down. The characters were great and I really pulled for Dylan and Mary. God bless Ms. Hood for what she had to go through to be able to write such a wonderful book.