Search This Blog








2023 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (4)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (3)
- Canada (6)
- England (11)
- France (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Scotland (1)
- South Korea (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
-Vietnam (1)





2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge







Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Friday Night Knitting Club Not the Cozy Afghan I Expected
4:00 AM

The Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacob's debut novel, discusses all the women, but focuses mainly on Georgia Walker. The single mother has worked exhaustively to make her business, and her life, a success. Almost singlehandedly, she has done both. True, she's a little lonely, but that starts to evaporate as the club becomes more and more important to her. Her life is far from perfect, though. For one thing, Dakota's father has returned to New York and is working hard to buy his way into his daughter's life. Georgia is stunned to find that her philandering ex-boyfriend wants to wheedle his way back into her good graces as well. Dakota finds her father enchanting, even as Georgia promises herself she will not fall under his spell again. All the tension is getting to her. She's exhausted. Then, an old rival breezes into the shop, flashing her Platinum card and demanding Georgia create a custom evening gown for her. Knowing she can't refuse the commission, Georgia suddenly finds herself slaving away for the woman whose betrayal ended their childhood friendship.
As if Georgia doesn't have enough woes, she's also caught in the drama of her friends' lives. Anita, whose health seems to be fading, refuses to slow down. She's also ignoring her crush on the kind deli owner downstairs, afraid a new romance will tarnish the memory of her long-dead husband. Then there's Darwin, the enigma who comes to club meetings, but doesn't knit. Everyone's surprised to hear the story of her long-distance marriage to a harried medical intern who barely has time to call his lonely wife. Always upbeat K.C. can't seem to find her niche, or anything resembling knitting skills. When she decides to aim for a law degree, her friends tutor her, but can she really make it work? There's also Peri, Georgia's part-time assistant, who's defying her parents in pursuit of her own passion. Lastly comes Lucie, who's looking decidedly peaked. What's her secret, anyway? As the women struggle through their own crises, the one thing that sustains them all is their knitting club.
The Friday Night Knitting Club concerns needlework, but it's really about friendship. It's about women gathering to shake off loneliness, learn together and support each other through thick and thin.
I enjoyed this story in general, but there were a few things that annoyed me. For one thing, the way Jacobs used the omniscient point of view made me crazy. She shifted POV in the middle of sections, even in the middle of paragraphs. I think when a story involves as many characters as this one, it's important to keep their voices separate, otherwise the reader becomes confused (and irritated, in my case). Especially considering the ending of the novel (which I'll get to in a minute), I really think Jacobs should have divided the women's stories into clear sections, and given all of the players equal "speaking" time. Perhaps that would have fleshed out some of the characters more, allowing for a warmer tone and a better flow to the story. The most frustrating aspect of this book for me, however, was the ending. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say Jacobs employed one of the most overused plot twists in fiction. Not only was the ending sappy, but it made everything that came before it look contrived. In light of the ending, certain happenings (like the arrival of both James and Cat) are just a little too convenient. There were other situations I thought were unrealistic, but the finale bugged me the most.
Despite these issues, The Friday Night Knitting Club kept me entertained. I didn't love it, but I liked it well enough. Let's just say it wasn't the nice, soft, cozy afghan I wanted - it was more like the one that looks pretty draped over the sofa, but itches too much to be truly comfortable.
Grade: B-
1 comment:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)




Reading
Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Listening
Alone in the Wild by Kelley Armstrong



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig1 hour ago
-
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin2 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Ibrahimi, Anilda "Red Like a Bride"8 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday10 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
How I Select Books to Read14 hours ago
-
cleaning wins!19 hours ago
-
108. A Vanishing of Griffins21 hours ago
-
-
-
Camping Ch 141 day ago
-
Audiobook: Soil1 day ago
-
-
-
Review: Family Baggage by Ilsa Evans4 days ago
-
The Guest House by the Sea by Faith Hogan4 days ago
-
-
-
-
I have been reading...1 week ago
-
-
5/20/20231 week ago
-
A Couple of Recipes!1 week ago
-
-
This feed has moved and will be deleted soon. Please update your subscription now.2 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
Dotty Beanie with Ears3 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
New Clean Young Adult Books 20232 months ago
-
16-Year-Old Blog Post Deemed to Be Offensive3 months ago
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?7 months ago
-
-
HEARTS OF BRIARWALL by Krista Jensen9 months ago
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
Ugh! Omniscient point of view?! I hate that POV. I've had this book checked out from the library for at least 8 weeks now and haven't started it yet. Hmm. . . now I'm not sure if I should get it over with or return it.
ReplyDelete