Romance
Kate Jacobs reveals the latest adventures and predicaments of the Knitting Club members in her eagerly anticipated sequel, Knit Two. There have been some major changes over the five years since their tearful goodbye to Georgia Walker, the woman who brought this unlikely crew together in the first place. After Georgia's untimely death from ovarian cancer, the members of the club banded together to protect and guide her young biracial daughter, Dakota. Now a college student, Dakota is not sure she needs such intense foster mothering anymore, and she also butts heads with her devoted and perhaps over-protective father, James.
Peri, the manager of Walker and Daughter, also has her own successful line of knit handbags, but sometimes resents the fact that she has no time for a personal life. Lucie's career in film is soaring, but the demands of being a single mother and the declining health of her own mother have her at wit's end. Following a series of miscarriages, the feminist historian, Darwin, has at last become the mother of twins. After two divorces, KC has decided that her new career as a lawyer and being child-free suit her well, but menopause is another story entirely. Divorcée Catherine runs an upscale antiques store in the Hudson Valley but struggles to find true romantic contentment. Anita, the seventy-something widow who is like a mother to the entire club, is ready to walk down the aisle with her new soul mate, but must first overcome the objections of her three grown sons.
When a series of once-in-a-lifetime circumstances brings four of the knitting club members to Italy for the summer, they embark on an unforgettable journey of romance, self-discovery, and surprises. Each of the four is in search of something different: Dakota, a sense of direction; Lucie, a boost to her professional standing; Anita, a lost sister; and Catherine, herself. Meanwhile, Peri, Darwin, and KC tend to their knitting back in New York and offer their support from across the ocean.
With Knit Two, Kate Jacobs has once again woven a deeply satisfying story of friendship, family, and connection with a light but sure touch. A valentine to the power of women's friendships—and knitting, of course—it will surely delight the legions of readers who took The Friday Night Knitting Club to heart.
Read a Q & A with Kate Jacobs:
Did you think you'd write a sequel as soon as you finished The Friday Night Knitting Club, or did that decision come later?
I was exhausted right after finishing The Friday Night Knitting Club! It was my first novel and I was ready for a good, long nap after all that writing! Though, in all seriousness, I had some other characters rumbling around in my brain and their stories deserved telling. So I wrote Comfort Food. That said, I always had a future mapped out for the members of the knitting club, and, after hearing from so many fans who were eager to know what happens, it didn't seem fair to just keep it all to myself. Writing this sequel was truly a joy, and I'm excited to share the new book with readers.
Without giving too much away, are there things that will surprise readers in Knit Two?
Knit Two is set about five years after the first book, and all of the characters are older and, in some cases, more mature. Dakota is in college now. Though just because we get older doesn't always make us wiser! There are new friendships between the characters, folks who didn't know each other as well in the original, and overall the sequel is much more upbeat than the ending of the first book.
Read an excerpt from Knit Two:
Chapter 1
It was after hours at Walker and Daughter: Knitters, and Dakota stood in the center of the Manhattan yarn shop and wrestled with the cellophane tape. She had spent more than twenty minutes trying to surround a canvas Peg Perego double stroller in shimmery yellow wrapping paper, the cardboard roll repeatedly flopping out of the paper onto the floor of the shop and the seeming miles of gift wrap crinkling and tearing with each move. What a disaster! The simpler move would be to just tie a balloon on the thing, she thought, but Peri had been quite insistent that all the items be wrapped and ribboned.
Gifts, smothered in bunny paper or decorated with cartoonish jungle animals, were piled in a mound atop the sturdy wooden table that was the focal point of the knitting store. The wall of yarn had been tidied so not one shelf—from the raspberry reds to the celery greens—was out of hue. Peri had also planned out a series of cringe-inducing guessing games (Guess how much the baby will weigh! Eat different baby food and try to determine the flavor! Estimate the size of the mother's stomach!) that would have caused her mother to shake her head. Georgia Walker had never been a fan of silly games.
"It'll be fun," said Peri when Dakota protested. "We haven't had a Friday Night baby since Lucie had Ginger five years ago. Besides, who doesn't like baby showers? All those tiny little footie pajamas and those cute towels-with-animal-ears. I mean, it just gives you goose bumps. Don't you love it?"
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