The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo

What if the "Desperate Housewives" grew up and straightened up and cleaned up their acts? Nah...they still wouldn't be as much fun or as real as the characters in Beth Pattillo's novel, "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society"!

We have Eugenie, the spinster librarian whom love and relationship have both passed by...or have they?

And we have Ruthie and Esther, two sisters as different as night and day...with one thing in common, though it is also the one thing that keeps them apart.

Then there's Camille, a young twenty something who has put her life on hold to care for her mother...while stealing the life from someone else. Or is someone stealing the life from her?

And Merry...picture perfect family. But pictures can lie, can't they? Does Merry live up to her name, and is her family as wonderful as they seem?

What will this all mean to troubled teenager, Hannah? Can these hurting and hiding women help this young girl before her past becomes her future? Or will it be the other way around?

I love books about women who are real; women who represent every facet of life, and who aren't Stepford perfect. And you'd think with this many women running around in her novel, Beth would have a difficult time keeping all the threads straight and untangled.

Oh, they tangle, those threads do! But they do to create a gorgeous story of small town life lived genuinely. And not only are these women real, but they read and they knit! Hence the name of the group:-)

This story doesn't tie itself up into a neat and tidy package. There are still a few loose threads even after the last page is turned. Which makes for good, realistic reading...or is leading up to a sequel. I'm happy with both ideas, but I'll take a sequel if Beth has one:-)

I'm giving "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society" five out of five bookmarks, with a passport as a charm (read and see why). If you are a fan of The Yada Yada series, or The Potluck Club series, you'll love "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society"!

Happy Reading!

Deena