Title: Knit In Comfort
Author: Isabel Sharpe
Publisher: Avon A
Publication Date: May 25, 2010
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0061765490
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:
In this wonderful new novel of friendship and knitting, a woman discovers that secrets can’t be kept forever.

Megan Morgan traded the constant mobility of her childhood for a quiet, stable life in Comfort, North Carolina, with a handsome husband, lively children, and a group of longtime friends who’ve formed a weekly knitting club, Purls Before Wine.

Desperate to escape big-city anonymity and pressure from her marriage-minded boyfriend, a stranger, Elizabeth Detlaff, arrives unexpectedly, certain that fate has guided her to the Carolina mountains. She seems to think that in sleepy, unremarkable Comfort she’s found paradise.

Soon, Elizabeth has eagerly invaded Megan’s life, living in the apartment over her garage, befriending her mother-in-law and children, fawning over her husband, and joining the Purls. It’s not long before Elizabeth brings to light legends of Megan’s Shetland ancestors, leading her to stumble over a painful, long-buried secret.

Backed into a corner, Megan is forced to examine her choices and ultimately decide what kind of woman she wants to be.

My Review:

As a knitter I had high hopes for Knit In Comfort by Isabel Sharpe. The novel, and each subsequent chapter, begins with excerpts from Megan Morgan’s great-grandmother Fiona, who lived in the Shetland Isles. The excerpts are brilliant and would make a wonderful book as Fiona’s life interested me, as did her lace making. However Knit In Comfort is about Megan Morgan who is dreadfully unhappy and yet complacent in her unhappiness. Her husband Stanley travels a lot, she has three children to care for and her mother-in-law recently moved in. Megan has been attending the same knitting group, Purls Before Wine, for two decades and yet does not enjoy it. If that is not enough, the Morgans need money and are renting out their garage apartment. Enter Elizabeth Detlaff, a New Yorker who had a dream where her grandmother told her to find comfort, so she heads to Comfort, North Carolina while her boyfriend is in France for the month, he has handed her an ultimatum and she needs time and distance to think through her life. Sharpe expertly describes the characters and while I personally did not care for most of them, I did enjoy how she chose to have the characters progress with the storyline and at times I found myself pleasantly surprised at how a character I did not care for in the beginning became one I truly liked toward the end. Sharpe’s writing style is comfortable and welcomes the reader into the story. The ending was worth the read and I did immensely enjoy learning about Fiona, her life, struggles, her friend Gillian, and lace making. Even though Knit In Comfort was not exactly my style, I do believe a lot of readers will enjoy the small town of Comfort and the secrets buried within, and I think I would have liked it better had I been discussing the novel with a group. Please read other reviews as well since mine is just one opinion amongst many.

To learn more about Isabel Sharpe please visit the publisher’s site and her website.

I received a complimentary copy of Knit In Comfort by Isabel Sharpe from HarperPerennial to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.