Anne Bartlett

I absolutely love this book, and raced through it in two sittings.

Bartlett has created a complex story that touches on grief, obsession, madness, mirrored in the physical art of creation.

Sandra Fildes is a brittle, controlling, still-grieving widow whose chance encounter with the eccentric, generous Martha McKenzie grows into an odd friendship centered around Sandra's attempt to launch a multi-media display of knitted garments of the 19th century.

Yes, there's knitting content here, and if you're a knitter, you'll recognize many of Martha's mindsets and frustrations. But you don't need to have a clue about the craft to recognize the way Bartlett uses it as a metaphor.

Hugely satisfying, and I'm going to take a soapbox to my next F2F book club meeting and wave this book around until the members agree to read it for discussion.

… (más)

This book was a fast-paced alternation of point-of-view primarily between Sandra and Martha, but also the minor characters Kate and Cliff. It was good to see the picture painted of someone who might be called crazy but who was actually very in touch with the underlying truths. Quite a contrast to Sandra's rigid, fearful attitude underlying her professional image. I was really enjoying the story until the ending chapters where there is a deus ex machina entrance (can you still term it "deus ex machina" when it is god himself?).
Since I lover fiber arts, I enjoyed the ways in which modern exhibitions were described, and Martha's love of natural fibers..… (más)

While Sandra - a rigidly focused academic - struggles to navigate her way through life without her husband Jack, whom she recently lost to cancer, she is absolutely certain that nothing will ever be the same again. She had once thought that the well-ordered life that she had lived with her husband would just continue along in the same way it had since his passing. However, the intervening months have tested that belief. In the ten months since his death, Sandra has felt like she is wrapped in a layer of ice-cold glass - numbed by her grief, Sandra is certain that she will never feel warm again.

A chance meeting with a woman who could possibly be Sandra's polar opposite leads to a very unlikely friendship between them. Sandra meets Martha McKenzie after both women become Good Samaritans to someone suffering from a medical crisis in the street. Martha is an extraordinarily gifted knitter with her own secret store of grief. She spends her days knitting an astonishing variety of projects - each one of which is an elaborate creation - imbued with an incredible wealth of personal meaning.

While Sandra's own grief has constrained her spirit, Martha appears to wear hers very lightly. However, neither woman realizes just how much their differences will ultimately spark their own unique friendship. It is actually a shared fascination with knitting that ultimately draws these two very different women together.

Sandra is actually fascinated by all forms of needle and textile-craft, although her true talent for the domestic arts lies in her study of them. As a matter of fact, Sandra whole-heartedly believes that it is her avid interest in all types of domestic handiwork which has kept her fully grounded in reality for the past ten months. So, as the two women subsequently open up their lives to each other, their collaboration on an exhibition of 'Retro and Contemporary Knitting and Women's Handiwork' sets in motion a series of events that will help to heal them both in miraculous ways.

I was initially intrigued by the story because I have always enjoyed knitting and was curious to see how the story would evolve. To be perfectly honest, I found the story to be slightly anticlimactic although still very enjoyable. I liked so many of the characters, and found the plot well-developed yet easily paced. In my opinion, this was a delightful debut novel and I would definitely give it an A!… (más)

A really gentle story of Sandra who is a widow, who helps a stranger in the street who has had an accident. She leaves her card with a fellow bystander, Martha. As time progresses the three of them meet, each wrestling with their innerselves and trying to deal with their personal issues. Martha is a very keen knitter who helps Sandra host an exhibition of women's knitting and textiles.

This is more than a story about a couple of women interested in wool. It is the story of acceptance,grief,understanding and tolerance; and most of all, friendship.… (más)