Een lekker tussendoortje, met verhalen van het leven van diverse vrouwen. Breien is de rode draad in dit boek. ( )

I loved every part of this book. I definitely cried, many times. But this book speaks the absolute truth about what knitting can do to your soul.

I didn't like Mary, the main character, but I don't know why. She took up knitting as her mother had to help her deal with the death of her five-year-old daughter. ( )

The main character of this book, Mary Baxter, is devastated by the loss of her five-year-old daughter Stella who died from meningitis. This novel is about how she and others find a way to deal with their losses through knitting. They attend a knitting circle where they are able to knit and purl away their cares and worries. And because all of the members of the knitting circle attend to gain comfort from their knitting, they also form special bonds of friendship with each other when, as they knit, they reveal their deepest secrets of heartbreak and loss.

Hood creates a unique way to tell the story of how a person’s life tragedies can be soothed through the therapy of knitting and the friendships it brings with it. It is a book about suffering and learning how to heal. And it is a book about knitting that could even be appreciated by someone who knows nothing about knitting.
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Synopsis: Surviving unfathomable grief and finding the will to live in the world again is the poignant theme of Hood’s latest novel. The protagonist, Mary, has lost her five-year-old daughter, Stella, to meningitis, the sudden onset robbing her of even the opportunity to make peace with her loss. Mary has never enjoyed a close relationship with her mother; in fact, she has suffered for the lack of intimacy without understanding the reason for her mother’s distance. But it is the older woman who suggests Mary take up knitting. Mary resists, until she finds herself standing at the door of a local Rhode Island shop, “Big Alice’s Sit and Knit.” Alice welcomes the acolyte inside, handing her a pair of knitting needles and the simple instructions to begin a first project. As Mary grows close to this group she finds that they all have stories of loss and are working to deal with them.
Review: Lots of angst, but on the shoe a fairly enjoyable book. ( )