Knitting Under the Influence

Last updated

Knitting Under the Influence is a 2006 novel written by author Claire Scovell LaZebnik about three girls in their late twenties who have a weekly knitting circle, yet, they all have busy individual lives. The knitting circle is the only way these girls can stay connected with each other.

Contents

Plot summary

Sometimes it feels like their weekly knitting circle is the only thing that keeps Kathleen, Sari, and Lucy from falling apart. Their fine-gauge scarves may look fabulous, but their lives are starting to unravel...

For years, beautiful, flighty Kathleen has been living off of her famous actress sisters. When she moves out, she misses her life of luxury and begins to think that marrying rich might be an easy way to get it back.

Lucy is dating the man of her dreams-gorgeous, a brilliant scientist, going places-but when an animal rights group targets him, she wonders whose side she's really on.

And Sari finds herself suddenly face-to-face again with the "it" boy from high school who still has "it"- he's gorgeous, sensitive, and kind, and he has a son who needs Sari's help. But can she ever forgive him for what he did to her brother a decade ago?

Caught between life, love, and pursuit of the perfect cast-on, these three friends learn that there are never any easy answers, except maybe one-that when the going gets tough, the tough gets knitting.

Quotes

"Jane Austen invented 'chick lit' (if that term means witty novels that closely observe the details that matter to women), and this intelligent, hilarious book is peopled with wise yet flawed women who, like the best of Austen's heroines, always choose love over 'marrying well.'" -Cathryn Michon, author of The Grrl Genius Guide to Life "Filled with lovable characters, KNITTING UNDER THE INFLUENCE is a warm, witty, and absolutely intoxicating read." -Sarah Mlynowski, author of Milkrun and Me vs. Me

Reception

The now-defunct magazine Romantic Times panned Knitting Under the Influence by saying the book was slow and "turned into a burdensome cliche". [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Pride and Prejudice</i> 1813 novel by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.

<i>Sense and Sensibility</i> 1811 novel by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne as they come of age. They have an older half-brother, John, and a younger sister, Margaret.

<i>Emma</i> (novel) 1815 novel by Jane Austen

Emma is a novel written by Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners.

<i>Persuasion</i> (novel) 1817 novel by Jane Austen

Persuasion is the last novel completed by Jane Austen. It was published on December 20, 1817, along with Northanger Abbey, six months after her death, although the title page is dated 1818.

Sanditon (1817) is an unfinished novel by the English writer Jane Austen. In January 1817, Austen began work on a new novel she called The Brothers, later titled Sanditon, and completed eleven chapters before stopping work in mid-March 1817, probably because of illness. R.W. Chapman first published a full transcription of the novel in 1925 under the name Fragment of a Novel.

<i>Lady Susan</i> Novel by Jane Austen

Lady Susan is an epistolary novella by Jane Austen, possibly written in 1794 but not published until 1871. This early complete work, which the author never submitted for publication, describes the schemes of the title character.

<i>Becoming Jane</i> 2007 film by Julian Jarrold

Becoming Jane is a 2007 biographical romantic drama film directed by Julian Jarrold. It depicts the early life of the British author Jane Austen and her lasting love for Thomas Langlois Lefroy. American actress Anne Hathaway stars as the title character, while her romantic interest is played by Scottish actor James McAvoy. Also appearing in the film are Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith. This was Ian Richardson's final film performance before his death in the same year as the film's release. The film was produced in cooperation with several companies, including Ecosse Films and Blueprint Pictures. It also received funding from the Irish Film Board and the UK Film Council Premiere Fund.

<i>Mansfield Park</i> Novel by Jane Austen

Mansfield Park is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews until 1821.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Clique (series)</span> Series of young adult novels by Lisi Harrison

The Clique is a young adult novel series written by Canadian author Lisi Harrison and originally published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series was reprinted by Poppy books. The series revolves around five girls: Massie Block, Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, Kristen Gregory, and Claire Lyons, who are known as The Pretty Committee. The Pretty Committee is a popular clique at the fictional, all-girls middle school, Octavian Country Day (OCD). Claire and her family move from Orlando, Florida to Westchester, New York, where they live in the Blocks' guesthouse. Claire is initially considered an outcast due to her financial and fashion status. As the series progresses, Claire slowly develops a friendship with Massie, realizing that she must earn her friendship, and eventually becomes a member of the group.

<i>The Watsons</i> Unfinished novel by Jane Austen

The Watsons is an abandoned novel by Jane Austen, probably begun about 1803. There have been a number of arguments advanced as to why she did not complete it, and other authors have since attempted the task. A continuation by Austen's niece was published in 1850. The manuscript fragment itself was published in 1871. Further completions and adaptations of the story have continued to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Darcy</span> Literary character

Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel's protagonist. The story's narration is almost exclusively from Elizabeth's perspective; the reader is given a one-sided view of Darcy for much of the novel, but hints are given throughout that there is much more to his character than meets the eye. The reader gets a healthy dose of dramatic irony as Elizabeth continually censures Mr. Darcy's character despite the aforementioned hints that Mr. Darcy is really a noble character at heart, albeit somewhat prideful. Usually referred to only as "Mr. Darcy" or "Darcy" by characters and the narrator, his first name is mentioned twice in the novel.

<i>Mr. Darcys Daughters</i>

Mr. Darcy's Daughters is a 2003 novel by the English author Elizabeth Aston, published by Simon & Schuster in the United States. Set in 1818, Mr. Darcy's Daughters is written as a sequel to Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. It features the five daughters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet – aged 21 to 16 – as they navigate London society in the absence of their parents, who have embarked on a diplomatic post to Constantinople. In London, the sisters meet new friends and find themselves in various romantic entanglements, all while learning what is acceptable behaviour among the city's elite.

Janet Margaret Todd is a British academic and author. She was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Florida, where she undertook a doctorate on the poet John Clare. Much of her work concerns Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and their circles.

Claire Scovell LaZebnik is an American novelist/author. She is the wife of American television writer Rob LaZebnik, with whom she has four children. She is also the sister of television writer Nell Scovell and of children's book writer Alice Scovell Coleman. She was raised in Newton, Mass and attended Newton South High School. She graduated from Harvard University in 1985.

<i>Same as It Never Was</i> (novel) Book by Claire Scovell LaZebnik

Same as it Never Was is a novel by Claire Scovell LaZebnik which was published in 2003. In 2006, the novel was adapted into the TV movie Hello Sister, Goodbye Life starring Lacey Chabert and Wendie Malick.

<i>Three Loves</i> 1932 novel by Scottish author A. J. Cronin

Three Loves is a 1932 novel by Scottish author A. J. Cronin about the loves of Lucy Moore – her husband, her son, and God. Initially published by Gollancz, the story demonstrates how a virtue can become a vice when misguided in seeking rewards other than those in and of itself. The self-satisfied Lucy loves her husband, yet she yearns to improve him so that she can love him even more. To teach him hospitality she invites Cousin Anna, against his protest, to their home. Anna's free and easy behavior soon makes Lucy forget hospitality, and she thinks only of her husband's possible infidelity, which eventually alienates him. When her husband is driven from the house, Anna goes with him, but he is drowned in the ensuing pursuit. Lucy then turns to her son, Peter, and works extremely hard so that he may become a doctor. She accepts no help and refuses to even marry in order to preserve the purity of her motives. Her motherly love is not so pure as she thinks; when Peter marries, her life is ruined once again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Elliot</span> Fictional character

Anne Elliot is the protagonist of Jane Austen's sixth and last completed novel, Persuasion (1817).

Belinda is an 1801 novel by the Anglo-Irish writer Maria Edgeworth. It was first published in three volumes by Joseph Johnson of London. The novel was Edgeworth's second published, and was considered controversial in its day for its depiction of an interracial marriage. It was reprinted by Pandora Press in 1986.

<i>Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters</i>

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) is a parody novel by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. It is a mashup story containing elements from Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility and common tropes from sea monster stories. It is the thematic sequel to another 2009 novel from the same publisher called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was first published by Quirk Books on September 15, 2009.

<i>Sense and Sensibility</i> (2008 TV series) British drama television series

Sense and Sensibility is a 2008 British television drama adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, who revealed that the aim of the series was to make viewers forget Ang Lee's 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. The series was "more overtly sexual" than previous Austen adaptations, and Davies included scenes featuring a seduction and a duel that were absent from the feature film but are included in Austen's book. Sense and Sensibility was directed by John Alexander and produced by Anne Pivcevic. Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield starred as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters who go on "a voyage of burgeoning sexual and romantic discovery".

References

  1. Spielberg, Lauren. "Knitting Under the Influence". Romantic Times. Retrieved 3 July 2017.