ComfortComfort

In 2002, Ann Hood’s five-year-old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep throat. Stunned and devastated, the family searched for comfort in a time when none seemed possible. Hood—an accomplished novelist—was unable to read or write. She could only reflect on her lost daughter—“the way she looked splashing in the bathtub ... the way we sang ‘Eight Days a Week.’” One day, a friend suggested she learn to knit. Knitting soothed her and gave her something to do. Eventually, she began to read and write again. A semblance of normalcy returned, but grief, in ever new and different forms, still held the family. What they could not know was that comfort would come, and in surprising ways. Hood traces her descent into grief and reveals how she found comfort and hope again—a journey to recovery that culminates with a newly adopted daughter.
In 2002 novelist Hood's five year old daughter died suddenly from a virulent form of strep throat. For a time Hood was unable to read or write, and could only reflect on her loss. One day a friend suggested she should learn to knit to give her something else to do. As she learned the mechanical motions that lead eventually to an expression of love in yarn form, Hood began to read and write again. She also learned that although a type of normalcy could return, grief still came in new and different forms. She traces her descent into grief fully and reveals the people, animals and places that gave her hope once again, including the coast of Maine, a three-legged horse, water, birds, her knitting circle, hiding, and her newly adopted daughter. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The author of The Knitting Circle documents her family's journey of grief after the sudden death of her five-year-old daughter after a virulent illness, a process during which she learned how to knit and experienced comfort in unexpected ways.
The author of "The Knitting Circle" documents her family's journey of grief after the sudden death of her five-year-old daughter after a virulent illness, a process during which she learned how to knit and experienced comfort in unexpected ways.
A moving and remarkable memoir about the sudden death of a daughter, surviving grief, and learning to love again.