Another nice night at book club – we grabbed the book (“Friday Night Knitting Club”) off the shelves at B&N for the discussion questions and discussed our likes and dislikes about the book – and then walked! My personal dislike of the book happened when the whole cancer thing happened.  Blah.  I didn’t want the book to end the way it did and we wondered what would have happened if James had never come back into their lives… how would their lives have changed?

It is an interesting time we live in for families.  I know my situation as a single mom is very unlike Georgia’s, in that I had incredible  parental support.  But my daughter has never met her dad.  We started emailing a few times a year about 5 years ago, and it is interesting.  My daughter just doesn’t seem to care.  We talked about it a lot after the flood but she says she is fine with the family she has and isn’t interested in more.  So maybe that’s why I disliked the book so much after the cancer happened.  I am the “only” for my daughter and I don’t want to leave her too soon.   I want the other ending.

We decided to meet in TWO weeks to discuss “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls – a memoir.  I’m going to get it started tonight!   Our next book will be “The Girls from Ames” by Jeffrey Zaslow.

Have you ever re-written the ending to a book?

Off to read!

It’s Wednesday already – so much for the goal of a Monday night post!  I guess it’s been a crazy week here, with choir schedule changing, a little girl’s birthday to celebrate, and a short-busy week at work!

I visited the library tonight and left with a pile of books, one of which is “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls.  It was hard to find, as it’s a memoir and was in some obscure section on the 2nd floor – and then even though the computer said one was available, someone had to go in the back and find the one ready to be reshelved for me!  So I have it.  I also picked up a book by Richard Russo.  I’ve read two of his books and loved them both.  And a few others… hopefully I’ll read a lot during time off next week!

I guess we’d better pick a date to meet and discuss the “Friday Night” and “SLAM.”  I’m available this Monday (3/29) and the next.  I’ll actually be home early on 3/29, as I’m going to be in Rochester for a meeting at 3:00 that shouldn’t take too long.  What a treat!

Thoughts??

Well, off to read!

ABOUT KATE JACOBS

Kate Jacobs is a writer and editor who divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. A former staffer at Redbook, Working Woman, and Family Life, she is now a freelance editor at the website for Lifetime Television. The Friday Night Knitting Club is her first novel.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does Georgia reject her parents’ offer to house her and Dakota?
2. The role of friendships among women is a central theme of The Friday Night Knitting Club. Some friendships develop easily, like K.C. and Georgia’s, while others begin on unsure footing, like Darwin and Lucie’s. Cat’s insecurities create conflicted feelings about drawing Georgia closer. Discuss the emotional baggage and issues of class that challenge trust between various women in the knitting club.
3. Georgia has a history of being burned by the people closest to her. Cat’s decision to attend Dartmouth meant breaking a pact of friendship, and James abandoned her for another woman. Leading up to forgiveness, do you think there are moments when her defenses against intimacy and protectiveness of Dakota are excessive?
4. What does Anita see in Georgia that gives her the confidence to invest? Why does Georgia trust Anita, given her past relationships that went awry?
5. Lucie’s decision to become pregnant without telling the man she conceives with is a choice that flies in the face of social convention and her mother’s expectations, to say nothing of her Catholic upbringing. What factors led to her choice? How does the whole of Georgia’s experience as a single mother support or undermine her decision?
6. Entrepreneurs, single moms, and a seventy-something undergoing a sexual reawakening—the women of the knitting club are hardly traditional, although a highly traditional woman’s craft is what brings them together each Friday. Eventually Darwin decides to write her thesis about the positive impact of knitting in the lives of modern women rather than criticizing it as a “throwback” that prevents women from focusing their energy on professional success. In your opinion, which is the more feminist interpretation?
7. Georgia gets defensive when James asserts that he has things to teach Dakota about race that Georgia could never teach her. Is her indignation totally justified in light of James’s delinquency as a father, or is there some truth to his claim?
8. How does Dakota’s major act of rebellion (her attempt to go to Baltimore) alter Georgia and James’s playing field? Do you agree with Georgia’s decision on an initial trip to Scotland over a trip to Baltimore?
9. Before Georgia gives James a second chance, she claims to harbor “hatred lite” toward him, reasoning that she’d always heard the opposite of love is hate. When Cat’s lawyer informs her that Adam wants to settle and be done with her, she’s unexpectedly hurt because he’s letting her walk away without a fight. Given Cat’s reaction, how does indifference factor into the love/hate equation?
10. When Cat responds to Georgia’s sincere questions about her college experience at Dartmouth by saying, “It wasn’t like you think,” what does she mean?
11. Things get interesting in Scotland when Georgia’s Gran offers her loving but firm analysis of the women’s lives. She points out that Cat is capable of handling stress but hasn’t tried, and that Georgia’s spent too much time ruminating on the past. Her advice: mistakes are made; the important thing is to decide how to react to what people offer, because you can’t make them change. How do the women accept this advice in each of their lives?
12. If Georgia had opened the letters she received from James in a timely fashion, how might things have been different?
13. While James and Dakota are in Baltimore visiting his parents, Georgia decides to tell the club that she has cancer. Why does she share her news with the knitting club before she tells her immediate family?
14. When Georgia gets diagnosed, she worries that a show of weakness will be unacceptable to Dakota, James, and others who know and love her as a pillar of strength. How do her loved ones prove her wrong?
15. In your opinion what is the main lesson of The Friday Night Knitting Club?