Rachel Reads....The Friday Night Knitting Club

When I picked up Kate Jacob's debut novel, The Friday Night Knitting Club, at the airport, I was expecting a read that was just a slight step up from my usual beach reading (read: trashy romance novel). I could not have been more surprised!

I was hooked from page one. Jacob's writing warmly invites the reader into the world of Georgia, a single mom in her late 30's, her daughter, Dakota, and their knitting shop. I bought the book in Logan Airport, and began reading it on the plane. I was so engrossed in the story, that during my layover in Heathrow, I was still reading it while in the line to go through security! I even walked through the metal detector with my ipod in my pocket, because I was so distracted by the book, to remember to take it out! I finished the book on the next plane ride - and only regret that I was sitting on a plane in public, and not able to give in fully the emotions that it evoked. 

The Friday Night Knitting Club is a story of love, friendship, mothers, daughters, lost loves, found loves, and, of course, knitting. I won't spoil the ending, but I will tell you that I was caught by surprise!

The book's website shares this about the book:

As a single mom in her late 30s, Georgia has her hands full juggling the demands of running the Walker & Daughter knitting store with the challenges of raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota. Georgia's regular customers gather once a week to work on their latest projects and chat – and occasionally clash – about love, life, and everything else. The members of the Friday Night Knitting Club are as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a pre-law student turned handbag designer; Anita, a silver-haired uptown matron; Darwin, a somewhat aloof grad student; K.C., an out-of-work editor looking for inspiration, and Lucie, a petite television producer with a few surprises up her sleeve. But soon their quiet Friday nights are shaken up: James, Georgia's ex, wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life – and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former high school friend, uneasily renews her bond with Georgia. And when the unthinkable happens, all of Georgia's customers are forced to realize they've created not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood.

It is a must read for all who...well, it is truly a must read  for everyone who reads this blog! Each character has a story of their own - and a lesson to teach us all.

Not quite ready to be done with the book and its cast of characters, I checked out the website and felt compelled to write to the author. She is a sweetheart! And she has a new book coming out next week called Comfort Food. I've been promised a copy of it to review here, as well as a couple of tote bags to give away to some lucky readers! I'm excited for both to arrive. Stay posted for that give-away, it should be coming soon.

You can buy the book from Amazon here: The Friday Night Knitting Club