THE SWEETGUM KNIT LIT SOCIETY (Beth Patillo)

I don't know what it is about novels that feature knitting, but I love them, despite the fact that I crochet! This one is no exception. Patillo, a RITA Award Winner (romance), has produced a thoroughly charming story about 5 women who meet monthly in the small Tennessee town of Sweetgum to discuss novels and knitting projects.

When Eugenia, the town librarian, brings sullen 13-year-old Hannah into the group as part of her "punishment" for defacing a library book, the dynamics and relationships between the characters begin to shift and change. Each of the women has a secret: Merry is pregnant with her 4th child and afraid to tell her husband; Camille, when not caring for her dying mother, is carrying on an affair with a married man; impeccable Esther's perfect marriage is a as much of a sham as her perfectly completed knitting projects; Ruthie, Esther's sister, harbors long-standing feelings for her brother-in-law, the man she left behind 30 years ago when she joined the Peace Corps; and Eugenia, who has convinced herself that the life and career that she has forged in Sweetgum is complete and fulfilling, is forced to question herself and her motivations when someone from her past suddenly reappears in her life. Hannah serves as a catalyst for change as she struggles to learn to trust the new people in her life. Patillo successfully ties up most of the loose ends in this novel, some happily and others less so, but overall the book is satisfying and leaves the reader with a feeling of contentment and hope. There are a few unexplored issues, like Esther's long-ago baby, Alex's marriage, and the nature of Camille's mother's illness, but these are minor points and do not detract from the ending of the book.

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD (Jincy Willett)

Jincy Willett is definitely not related to Marcia Willett, if their writing styles are any indication. Winner of the National Book Award is the story of twin sisters, Abigail and Dorcas. Abby and Dorcas are polar opposites: one is a sexy (well, slutty), plump, blond sensualist, the other a dark, thin librarian who decided long ago to be celibate. This is Dorcas' story, with Abigail's memoir about the events leading up to her current trial for the murder of her abusive, misogynist husband sort of running in the background. The thing that baffled me about this book is the numerous reviewer comments about the hilarity of the story. I chose this as the third and last novel in the First Tuesday Book Club's "Funny Side of Life" theme, but I did not laugh once as I slogged through this book. There were numerous interesting literary allusions, including the final references to Joyce's Molly Bloom, but none that I would describe as funny. Maybe the real life surrounding all of us right now has become too dark to warrant immersing ourselves in black humor, or maybe I personally just enjoy a rollicking romance or a bit of harmless slapstick more. Did you ever see the movie War of the Roses, where Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner ended up falling to their deaths from the chandelier in their escalating efforts to best each other in their divorce settlement? I didn't laugh at that, either. If you want a light book that just makes you laugh, try Dairy of a Mad Bride by Laura Wolff!

SECOND TIME AROUND (Marcia Willett)

One of the greatest charms and also the biggest headache of Marcia Willett's writing is her network of interrelated characters, who tend to appear and reappear in varying levels of prominence in each of her novels. For this reason I am not sure if I have actually read this one before, but I think I have!

In this story, set in Cornwall, three distant cousins, Will, Beatrice, and Tessa, are thrown together as heirs to Mathilda Rainbird's seaside home. The three are very different in age or circumstances: Will is a retired widower, Beatrice is a spinster school matron who has recently left her job and found herself at loose ends, and Tessa is an orphaned 22 year-old-dog walker who longs for a family. Divorced and disgraced in her daughter's eyes, Isobel Stangate was Mathilda's housekeeper and continues to live in the estate cottage. The common thread in the lives of each of these four strangers is the longing for a family and a home. Willett has an admirable talent for zeroing in on the simple basics of life. In this case, the reader see clearly how the bonds that make a family are forged from love and companionship rather than close blood ties. I love the way that Willett's characters think and reason and care about one another without reservation. She has rightly been favorably compared to both Pilcher and Binchy and is, I think, becoming more popular here in the United States. She is certainly one of my favorites. In our current economic and moral climate Willett provides us with the opportunity to escape somewhere hopeful, warm, and comfortable.