Just Give Me a Soft Place to Land

Book excerpt: Just Give Me a Soft Place to LandWhen three women, Beth, Caroline and Sarah agree to meet on Wednesday night to share their passion for knitting, they had no idea their group would grow to number eleven over the years. Nor did they realize as the women knit, they had common concerns despite their varied journeys. Each begins to share her struggles, failures and triumphs creating the core of a deep seeded bond amongst them. Beth will share a teenage pregnancy resulting in guilt and shame which have haunted her for years before culminating in the discovery of the child; now a grown man. The women support her as she meets the father of her child forty years later.Caroline discovers, within months after her marriage, her husband has a problem, diagnosed as alcoholism but which she believes is rooted in psychological trauma. After fearing for her life, the women support Caroline as she lets go of a toxic marriage and experiences the pain of co-dependency. Sarah is devastated when her soul mate dies suddenly and later, after marrying a man who promises to take care of her, smothers her instead with his need to be needed. The women encourage Sarah to find her voice and convince her husband he needs to let her succeed or fail so she can build a sense of self-worth. Cindy's husband is diagnosed with cancer while Kelly's mother sends a letter telling her to 'have a good life'. The book is filled with heartache but humor as the women laugh over commonalities in their marriages. The story is character-driven with strong voices eliciting palpable emotion, drawing the reader into empathizing with the character. Each woman's story creates an arc leaving the reader anxious to return and learn what happens next. The concept of the knitting group provides an ideal backdrop for the setting. Each woman opens topics relative to all women and which become perfect fodder for book club discussion. The women will laugh and cry together, each woman acknowledges their group has become a soft place to land.