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.