Divas Don't Knit

I just borrowed this from my knitting group's library on a whim and I'm so glad that I did! It was delightful to read.
A lifelong knitter inherits some property from her Gran. Since she wants to relocate away from a bad breakup, it gives her the perfect opportunity to make a change. What she didn't know was that she'd be sharing that property with a very attractive man who is definitely NOT happy about sharing. When she opens a yarn shop, he really gets unhappy. Lots of plot twists and turns. Fun read.

Jo Mackenzie (sounds a bit like "Gil McNeil", doesn't it?) is not having an easy time. Shortly after foreign correspondent husband Nick tells her that he is leaving her, he crashes his car into a tree, leaving her with a surprise second mortgage, no money, and two small boys. With limited options, Jo moves her family to a small seaside town and takes over her Gran's near-moribund knit shop. After her isolated life in London, life in a small town - replete with loony aristocrats, bossy old ladies, a celebrity client and a couple of rather endearing men - is a revelation to Jo.

Okay, this isn't great literature. It's a gentle, slow-moving story with a lot of really great dialogue, though. I loved Jo's best friend Ellen, the potty-mouthed show more news anchor who can't open her mouth without letting loose a string of profanity. (Man, the British can CUSS. I never heard anything like it, they make American thugs look like pansies.) I'm a real Anglophile anyway, so the chattiness, the slang expressions, the "pets" and "loves" and "absolute bollocks" just cheered me up enormously. It's the perfect book for the end of a stressful day - or for a vacation - or to act as an antidote to nasty politicians and opinion commentators. show less

I loved this book, and not just because I'm a knitter. Although that probably helped a little :-)

The knitting group that Jo starts meeting up with was awesome. I felt the camaraderie between the women, even though they were all so different. Much like the knitting group that I used to meet with every week. These women were there for each other no matter what, and were always willing to lend an ear and a hand. They added a bit of drama and quite a bit of comic relief to the story.

I also liked Jo, she was a strong women, and yet she had her weak points. I love characters like this, that are slightly "flawed". Since I know I'm no where near perfect it really helps me relate to them. What I liked most about this story is that despite show more everything Jo goes through she never gives up, even when she really wants to. She faces some tough situations and yet she keeps herself together for her children.

The small town that Jo moves her family to was also a good part of the story. I've never lived in a small town like this but the book describes this town exactly as I would picture a small town. The nosy neighbor, the really friendly neighbor, and the neighbors who are just good neighbors. Some of the neighbors even added a bit of comedy to the story.

This was just a very well written book and I loved it. show less

Since I don't knit, I'd been avoiding the numerous knitting-group novels which seem to have supplanted book-club-themed books in the domestic fiction area. But the colorful cover (not the one shown) of the large-print edition led me to pick it off the shelf, and after sampling a few pages I was hooked. The English setting probably helped, as I'm a big fan of Erica James and Katie fforde, whose books have some similarities to this one.

Jo Mackenzie-Jones, formerly an editor for BBC News and now a stay-at-home mother, is having a lot of life-changing experiences all at once. First, her husband Nick informs her of his wish to divorce her (he's been having an affair); next he's killed in a car accident; then she discovers he's taken out a show more second mortgage on their suburban London home, which she now can't afford. Luckily, her much-loved Gran wants Jo to take over her yarn shop in a coastal town in Kent. So off Jo and her two small boys go, and hijinks ensue -- I especially liked the scenes with Trevor, the soccer-playing dog. Jo updates the shop, makes new friends, and stands up to bullies of one kind and another, while dealing with her still-ambivalent feelings of grief about Nick.

This was a quite enjoyable book with a lot of humor and engaging characters. If you like stories about spunky women doing interesting work, who deal with adversity with a little help from their friends, you'll enjoy this book even if you don't knit a stitch. show less

A quiet charmer of a book about Jo Mackenzie, newly widowed just after her husband told her he was leaving her for another woman. She leaves London with her two young boys to take over her Gran's wool and knitting shop in a sleepy beachside town in England. Nothing phenomenal or earth-shattering happens here; just a growing affection for the characters here, and the honesty, charm and quietly witty dialogue. This is about starting over, with the help of friends, and the effort to preserve the truly meaningful joys in life. I have read books that have been thunderously moving, laugh-out-loud hilarious and pulsating with a deeper meaning. I have read few that I have just plain liked so much.

This was a difficult book for me to get into. When I was reading it, I enjoyed it. However, I didn't have to force myself to stop reading or found myself counting down the clock until I could start reading again. It is a great story of finding yourself when it seems that everything around you is waiting for you to fail. The story could have been shortened and still could have accomplished its goal. There were times that I thought a character was going to become a much more intergral part of the story to be disappointed. It seemed that it was right at the peak of developing a character and then he/she was gone. Overall it is a nice story and I enjoyed most of the characters. I'm just disappointed that it took me so long to get through.

Jo's cheating husband asks for a divorce, then crashes the car leaving Jo a widow with two young kids. Broke, she moves back to her seaside hometown and takes over running Gran's knitting shop. Lots of eccentric characters, a neighbor's monstrous dog that her boys love and quirky dialog make this an easy read. I'll look for others by this author.