How to Knit a Heart Back Home

January 17, 2011
The warm and fuzzy romance in Herron's second Cypress Hollow yarn (after How to Knit a Love Song) centers on Lucy Harrison, fire brigade volunteer, bookseller, and fan of the famous knitting work of Eliza Carpenter, the deceased friend of Lucy's grandmother and Irene Bancroft, the mother of Lucy's high school crush, Owen. So when Owen, a former San Francisco cop, returns after an on-the-job injury forces him into retirement at 35, Lucy is thrilled. With Irene suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's in a home, Owen takes up residence in the parsonage next to the Book Spire, a deconsecrated church turned book store that Lucy owns. Not surprisingly, a romance develops. Then, while helping Owen with his mother's belongings, Lucy discovers a valuable cache of Eliza Carpenter's patterns and papers, prompting her to write a biography of Eliza. Things come to a dramatic and contrived head when Owen's mother flees the home and ends up in an abandoned lighthouse, where Owen's injury forces Lucy into action. Herron's sweet, comforting tale comes with a built-in surprise: the knitted pattern for Ruby's Bookstore Sweater is included in the back.

January 1, 2011

In her engaging sequel to How To Knit a Love Song, Herron revisits the community of Cypress Hollow and its familiar faces as well as new characters who are as entertaining as they are complicated. When Owen Bancroft, a man with an unhappy childhood, a tarnished police career, and a mother suffering from Alzheimer's, returns to town, he isn't expecting to be captivated by bookstore owner and compulsive knitter Lucy Harrison. Quite unexpectedly, the two find themselves working frantically to rescue a car accident victim. It isn't a surprise that the pair quickly discover they are physically attracted to each other, and they rather timidly begin a sweet romantic relationship with more than its share of difficulties. Knitting love and lore play a major part here; each chapter opens with a knitting quote, and the author's love of the craft shines through with an intensity that only adds to the plot. Even nonknitters might be intrigued enough to pick up a pair of needles as they turn pages. VERDICT Herron's second novel will earn her a well-deserved place in the ever-expanding knit-chick lit genre. Patrons who in the past have clamored for the novels of Debbie Macomber, Kate Jacobs, or Gil McNeil will definitely find this a good read.--Margaret Hanes, Civic Ctr. Lib., Warren, MI

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