'A heartwarming story of friendship in an imperfect world, this is binge-worthy, feel-good fiction at its best.
'Meredith established the Copeton Crochet Collective (no knitters please) because it would be like having friends, only with her in charge, and because there would be no men. It comes as a nasty shock, then, when Luke, the handsome grandson of no-nonsense Edith, decides to stay and learn to crochet.
'Claire has five children, which is why people sometimes look at her with mild concern. She longs for an Insta-perfect life like her online hero, Siobhan, but she's drowning in domestic failure. She joins the Copeton craft group in the hope of making some non-virtual friends.
'Yasmin is Muslim and proud. But sometimes it would be great if people stopped asking her about her hijab and instead asked who she thought was going to win MasterChef. Pregnant with her first child, she should be elated. So why can't she stop panicking? Perhaps crocheting a set of baby clothes can get her in the right headspace.
'With plans for a new mosque and the resettlement of refugees in the retirement village, Copeton becomes a breeding ground for Islamophobia. Together with the other members of the group, this small band of fibre-arts enthusiasts battle racism and bigotry with colour and creativity, but will the fragile threads of community be enough to bind them when more than one member has something to hide?' (Publication summary)
'Eighty years ago, Catholics sought the great Catholic Novel. Candidates such as Graeme Greene, Evelyn Waugh, JF Powers and Walter Percy were mentioned and often found wanting. The deeper question, of course, is what might count as a Catholic novel, and indeed whether a novel that was distinctively Catholic could be a great novel. At a time highlighted by Hitler, Stalin and war the specifically Catholic themes were often identified as sin and forgiveness focused on the tortured death of Christ. Graeme Green’s novel Brighton Rock was taken to invite the question whether the antihero Pinkie, who at the end of the novel jumps suicidally from a cliff, might have repented between the cliff top and the water. ' (Introduction)
'Eighty years ago, Catholics sought the great Catholic Novel. Candidates such as Graeme Greene, Evelyn Waugh, JF Powers and Walter Percy were mentioned and often found wanting. The deeper question, of course, is what might count as a Catholic novel, and indeed whether a novel that was distinctively Catholic could be a great novel. At a time highlighted by Hitler, Stalin and war the specifically Catholic themes were often identified as sin and forgiveness focused on the tortured death of Christ. Graeme Green’s novel Brighton Rock was taken to invite the question whether the antihero Pinkie, who at the end of the novel jumps suicidally from a cliff, might have repented between the cliff top and the water. ' (Introduction)
