The Friday Night Knitting Club

published	2007 by Putnam Adult
binding	Hardcover
isbn	0399154094 (isbn13: 9780399154096)
pages	352
characters	Georgia, Anita, Peri, Darwin, Lucie and KC
description	A charming and moving novel about female friendship and the experiences that knit us together-even when we least expect it. Walker and Daughter is Geo...more [close] A charming and moving novel about female friendship and the experiences that knit us together-even when we least expect it. Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker''s little yarn shop, tucked into a quiet storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Friday Night Knitting Club was started by some of Georgia's regulars, who gather once a week to work on their latest projects and to chat-and occasionally clash-over their stories of love, life, and everything in between. Georgia has her hands full, juggling the demands of running the store and raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota, by herself. Thank goodness for Anita, her mentor and dear friend, and the rest of the members of the knitting club-who are just as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a pre-law student turned handbag designer; Darwin, a somewhat aloof feminist grad student; and Lucie, a petite, quiet woman who''s harboring some secrets of her own. However, unexpected changes soon throw these women's lives into disarray, and the shop's comfortable world gets shaken up like a snow globe. "James," Georgia's ex, decides that he wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life-and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former friend from high school, returns to New York as a rich Park Avenue wife and uneasily renews her old bond with Georgia. Meanwhile, Anita must confront her growing (and reciprocated) feelings for Marty, the kind neighborhood deli owner. And when the unthinkable happens, they realize what they've created: not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood.
date added	12-22-06 edit book

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Leighann rated it:

(review of isbn 0425219097)

04/11/08

Read in January, 2007

I'm giving this two stars: averaging one star for the first half and three for the second half. Through the first half of the book I kept thinking, "how are they going to make a movie of this?" It was just all these separate women and their individual stories and none seemed to have anything to do with the others. They did all come together at the end, though. The first thing that really got my attention was in Darwin's story. She was talking about how she was a good girl, but she didn...more I'm giving this two stars: averaging one star for the first half and three for the second half. Through the first half of the book I kept thinking, "how are they going to make a movie of this?" It was just all these separate women and their individual stories and none seemed to have anything to do with the others. They did all come together at the end, though. The first thing that really got my attention was in Darwin's story. She was talking about how she was a good girl, but she didn't want to be a good girl. She said that she didn't want to burn money for her dead ancestors on Chinese New Year. Having grown up in Asia, I can tell you no one burns money or anything else during Chinese New Year (which lasts for 15 days). Money is burned for dead ancestors at the Feast of the Hungry Ghosts. I just hate it when authors write about something they don't know about and don't bother to check it out. She also mentioned about not wanting to go the Sunday School and skipping church. Anyone going to church likely isn't burning money for dead ancestors in any case. The part about Julia Roberts was weird, too. If the lady was so certain Ms. Roberts was going to show up at that particular yarn store on that particular, why not just hang around by the front door? If someone bought and returned the same item all day long at my store (if I had one) I'd put a stop to it. And why did she stagger in slurring something about "roooobbbeerrrs" at the end of the day? Was she drunk? Overheated? Dehydrated? Deranged? That was just kind of left dangling. I also didn't understand about the letters.

Georgia had gotten two letters from James that she never opened. Yet he was sending checks to help with Dakota's expenses and she opened all those. How is it she opened the later envelopes that contained checks but not the first two where he said he wanted to get back together? I wondered, too, about the evening gowns Georgia knitted. If she was capable of doing that, why did she wait to be asked? She could have knitted a few and sold them to some boutiques. For someone who managed to be a single parent and run her own business and do a good job at both, she seemed to be short-sighted about breaking into the fashion business. Peri got right down to business with her knitted purses and had them in store windows in no time. And my final question was about the trip to Scotland. Georgia decided Dakota could miss a little school since it was "just seventh grade". I thought they'd only be gone a week. When it was revealed they spend a month in Scotland, I figured she'd just missed the last week of school. Then they came back and Dakota had to go back to school. It doesn't matter what grade you're in, missing a month means you're going to have repeat the grade. No one can miss that much school. They'd probably withdraw your enrollment.

I wasn't too impressed with the character who tricked her date into getting her pregnant. That was just uncalled for. Who conducts themselves like that? I also could have done without the bad language. These are all college educated women, surely they didn't have to resort to four-letter words to get their points across.

It could have been a good book, but there were so many thing that just made no sense to me. I think the movie might be better, though. If they just hit the highlights it should make a good story....less

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Michele rated it:

03/26/08

Read in March, 2007

Knitting is a Nice Device, But . . .
The idea of a knitting group--a group of women gathering on a regular basis forming bonds of friendship and sharing life experiences--was the alluring premise of this book, and the reason I bought it. That's definitely what this book is. But is it a riveting story? Did I fall in love with the characters and turn pages with eager anticipation to see how the story would play out? No and no. I struggled turning pages of this book as much as I'd probably ...more Knitting is a Nice Device, But . . .
The idea of a knitting group--a group of women gathering on a regular basis forming bonds of friendship and sharing life experiences--was the alluring premise of this book, and the reason I bought it. That's definitely what this book is. But is it a riveting story? Did I fall in love with the characters and turn pages with eager anticipation to see how the story would play out? No and no. I struggled turning pages of this book as much as I'd probably struggle trying to knit a sweater. This was like the waste of expensive yarn, a piece crafted with a big idea and little talent.

The writing isn't bad, but I wouldn't describe this effort as "well-written." It's average at best, lacking originality or memorable prose, and I felt it was littered with clichés and contrived dialog. As for story, it's primarily character-driven with focus on the main character, Georgia Walker, a single mother who owns a yarn shop/knitting business on the upper west side of Manhattan. The club consists of her daughter Dakota, a bi-racial 12-year-old, who flits in and out of the club with baked goods and entrepreneurial ambitions, and is as charming and annoying as any 12-year old; a widow named Anita who is Georgia's "mentor;" an "academic" named Darwin (who annoys everyone in the club as well as this reader); a 40-year-old single woman (who I believe works on a documentary about the knitting club) who fools a date into getting her pregnant; an aspiring purse designer and part-time worker in the shop; a woman in her mid-40s hoping to get into law school; and probably the most entertaining character, Georgia's childhood friend Cat (nee Cathy) who is an uptown socialite on the verge of divorce. When she's on the page, at least there's some conflict you can sink your teeth into.

Dakota's father, James, returns to Georgia's life in this tale, and is a cardboard character who fails to charm the reader as much as he seemingly charms everyone else. And Georgia's grandmother, a 90-something Scottish sage comes into play as a touchstone to...something. I think Georgia's visit abroad is supposed to be really important but it wasn't until page 260 when Georgia receives some life changing news that the question, "What IS this book ABOUT?" had an answer.

The Friday Night Knitting Club is a debut novel and I believe it has a first novel feel. It made me think, "nice effort and good for the author for getting it published;" however, I cannot recommend it. There was, however, one quote from the book I thought was rich, and this was in regard to mother-daughter relationships: ". . . what these daughters really wanted was to be able to bare their souls to the one person in the world who would love them without restraint, whose approval was priceless, who would find them and their myriad life issues endlessly fascinating." If my daughter wrote this book, I would indeed be proud of her. ...less

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Melissa rated it:

04/24/08

bookshelves: domestic_fiction, womens_fiction

Read in April, 2008

Oh dear. That's several hours of my life I will never get back.

The plot: Georgia Walker owns a knitting-yarn store in New York City. Between her and her daughter, her employees, her friends, and some of her customers, they cobble together "The Friday Night Knitting Club" and gather at the store to stitch and bitch, as it were. And so we are offered some views into each woman's life. And just as Georgia's life starts to change for the better, tragedy strikes.

Well, let me tell yo...more

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Michelle rated it:

12/17/07

Read in December, 2007

I just picked this up at the library because there was nothing else there. The reviews I've scanned give me pause, but hey, I haven't read any blatant chick-lit in quite a while...we'll see.

*****

And one week later, I can say this: I hated this book. I hated the way the author used nothing but sentence fragments. To emphasize her points. Everyone thinks and speaks in four. Word. Sentences. Can you imagine reading this writing style for an entire book?

Because it continues for the en...more

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April rated it:

03/04/08

Read in March, 2008

recommended to April by: A friend.
recommends it for: No one. I would recommend knitting and finding your own club in the real world.

Overly indulgent and absurd. Sex and the City for knitters.

The writing wasn't too bad --I've seen worse-- but the multiple point of views were done ineffectively and the shifts between one viewpoint to another were horribly abrupt. All of the characters make godawfully stupid decisions about how to live their lives outside of Georgia and her life was not exactly easy.

I particularly loathed Lucie, an idiotic 42 year old who decides to have a baby on her own. Probably to be cool. And Dar...more

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Carmie rated it:

02/05/08

Read in January, 2008

It's true. I judge books by their covers and I was drawn to this one with it's beautiful skeins of yarn on the cover. Also, I had read about it in the Chinaberry catalog. Anyway, I really wanted to like this book, but I had a hard time connecting with most of the characters. I know that the author tried really hard to convey that knitting bonded her characters together, but with the exception of a few characters like Darwin Chiu and Anita, I didn't really buy it. Frankly, I disliked a lot of ...more

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Kelly rated it:

09/30/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in September, 2007

post-read: so, now i'm finished. this book was basically chick-lit. i felt the story wasn't too shabby, but writing style/tone made me feel like i was reading a high schooler's creative writing assignment. SO prosaic and cliche. in another author's hands, it could have been much better. the ending, as jeni said, was surprising, and i think the author used it to separate it from its chick-lit sistren, but it didn't work. it did make me tear up a LITTLE, and i was entertained, and the charac...more

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Dawn rated it:

05/16/08

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Dawn by: Read a review of it
recommends it for: Anyone who loves a good story

This was a really GREAT book! Its a story if strength, perseverence (sp), tenacity and most of all, love and how love touches and affects everything around you even when you aren't aware that it is. Is is also the story of forgiveness and the love that can come when forgiveness happens.

This is the story of Georgia Walker. And of her daughter Dakota. And the knitting shop she opened when she found herself single, pregnant and alone in a city she wasn't sure she wanted to stay in. And its the ...more

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JayeL rated it:

01/09/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: people who appreciate the attraction of a regular craft group.

This book has an unexpected kind of Karmic wheel ending, but the whole books is well written and well spoken (I listened to the audio version from Audible.com). It starts out in a way that, I think, most of find ourselves in at some point in life: doing fine and not able to see how life could be better. In this case, our heroine's life does get better when she opens her heart and her life to other people: old and new friends. The setting is the Walker and Daughter Knitting shop in New York City....more

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Shirley rated it:

12/31/07

Read in December, 2007

I recently moved and I am starting to miss my running group and the discussions we had during our runs. We were all different. Different jobs, different friends, different life goals, different family situations but for one or two days a week we came together to just run. Nothing else mattered. We looked forward to seeing each other and catching up but yet we rarely socialized outside of our runtime.

When I saw this book at the library it reminded me of my running group. It sounded like the p...more

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Peas rated it:

04/10/08

Read in April, 2008

A friend of mine (who is not a knitter, but knows that I am) recommended that I read this. She read it and loved it, and I think she became "dreamy" about knitting because of reading this book...and while I admit that there certainly is a knitting subculture...it's not exactly something to get starry-eyed over.

But she loved it "just about as much as she loves the clicky clicky of knitting needles."

There's your sign. She loves the "clicky clicky" AND she...more

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Lain rated it:

02/19/08

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

Lisa rated it:

03/26/08

bookshelves: book-club-reads, fiction

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Lisa by: Michelle

The style in this book started out really rough. I had read reviews about her short sentences, and the reviews were right on. Writing style is always one thing that kills my enthusiasm for a book. But, good news, it did improve as the story developed, and I was a bit intrigued by the characters. However, the author chose to delve into the lives of too many characters, and some of it worked (Anita) and some didn't (Lucy ... so did the father ever find out? What did her parent's say?) As much as I...more

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Ilene rated it:

05/04/08

bookshelves: finished

Sex and the City for Knitters is how one review here described this book. Not quite. Female friendship is a main theme but without the sex, clothes, cosmos and panache that SATC has. Georgia has a circle of close friends that have been garnered through the knitting club at the yarn store she owns. Life hasn't been easy for Georgia, raising her daughter on her own. When the father of her daughter comes back into her life after a lengthy absence, she is forced to decide whether or not to let ...more

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Michele rated it:

02/18/08

Read in December, 2007

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Ann rated it:

01/03/08

bookshelves: chic-lit

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2008

recommended to Ann by: Mom
recommends it for: Women, 25-75 years old, Knitters

My mother recommended this book so I picked it up at the airport on my way home from New Years. Since I'm trying to pick the hobby of knitting back up, I thought it was appropriate. At first I wasn't a fan of the book, Jacob's writing initially choppy and unsophisticated, I almost put it down. Since I was stuck on a plane, I didn't, and I'm so glad. I quickly fell in love with the characters, suddenly they became my own little hodge-podge group of friends and I was jealous of their "Fr...more

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C rated it:

03/17/08

Read in March, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Melinda rated it:

03/11/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: knitters, people who like chick lit, anyone looking for an escapist read

I read this for my Stitch n Bitch knitting group--it turned out everyone had a copy, so we decided to read and discuss for next meeting.

I found this to be a fast, light read--very chick-lit-esque. I thought the beginning of the book was a little slow, but it picked up once the author started switching POV to other characters besides the main character. I'll admit, at first I found the main character, Georgia, to be a little annoying and self-pitying, but she became much more sympathetic (an...more

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