For the many readers who enjoyed Kate Jacobs' Friday Night Knitting Club, getting to read about these characters again in the sequel, Knit Two, will be a welcome treat.
Jacobs notes that many fans asked for another story about the women who found a second home at Walker and Daughter, the New York City shop upstairs from Murray's Deli.
It's five years later in their lives than it was at the close of The Friday Night Knitting Club, and as different as they are already are from the people they were in that book, they've all got a lot of growing to do in this one.
Fast Forward
In this book, Dakota is in college at NYU, though she'd rather be going to culinary school to become a pastry chef. She's still half owner of Walker and Daughter, but she's coming to resent the store a bit because it's a big symbol of other people telling her what she's supposed to do with her life.
In the meantime, Peri has been basically running the shop and has recently remodeled to make room for her ever-expanding line of knit and felted bags. Lucie is trying to juggle a five-year-old and a growing reputation as a video director. Darwin is expecting her own little ones and teaching women's studies.
Catherine is running an antiques shop and wine bar, while KC is now working as a lawyer at the same publishing house that once laid her off as an editor.
Anita and Marty are happily living together and James is struggling against Dakota's growing up and wants to make sure she does something important with her life.
More Changes
Without giving too much of the plot away, most of the book's characters go through big changes in the pages, whether that's motherhood, thinking about marriage, starting new relationships or connecting with (or grappling with the implications of connecting with) people who used to be in their lives.
Hanging over all this turmoil is Georgia, the former owner of Walker and Daughter and Dakota's mom, who died at the end of the first book. It's clear most of the characters are still dealing with a lot of grief over her death, wishing they could talk to her or get advice about something going on in their lives.
Ultimately this is a story about letting go and holding on, and knowing when to do which. Despite Georgia's death there's also an aspect of it never being too late to change the past and the idea that everyone can change, no matter how old they are or how ingrained their thinking.
It's not all heavy, of course. Many of the Friday night clubbers end up spending a summer in Italy for various reasons as Lucie works on a series of music videos for a demanding pop star. The plot has to stretch a bit at times to include all the characters, but it's still a fun read, like the first one, about the joys of friendship, family (including the family we choose for ourselves) and knitting.
Publication date: November 2008
