Knitting Under The Influence

Knitting Under The Influence
Claire LaZebnik
5 Spot
ISBN: 0446697958
Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce

In Knitting Under The Influence, three women meet every Saturday morning to knit. There’s more to this group, however, than making great sweaters. They feel like their knitting circle is the only thing keeping them from unraveling. When Kathleen, who is dependent on her famous sisters, makes a mistake and moves out, however, she misses living in the lap of luxury and wants her rich lifestyle back. Lucy has a great man in her life who seems perfect for her, but when he is targeted by a group of animal rights activists, she wonders if he’s as perfect as he seems. Sari, however, hasn’t left high school as far behind as she might have thought; she meets a popular guy from high school who’s still as great as he was then. He needs her help, but she’s not sure she can forgive him for something that happened years ago. With their lives changing so drastically, the only thing that remains a constant is their knitting group, and with it their friendship.
Claire LaZebnik’s fantastic novel, Knitting Under The Influence has great, believable, and well-written characters that bring the story to life. The writing quickly and easily draws in the reader, and keeps that attention all the way through the book. It’s a story that will feel familiar to everyone, even those who don’t knit (though it’s a hobby that’s becoming increasingly more popular), as it deals with issues far beyond that (though the knitting is, of course, what pulls it all together). This is a story that no one will want to miss!