The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

I have just finished reading a truly remarkable book, The knitting circle by Ann Hood. It's a book that more people should read.

I have to warn you that it is extraordinarily sad and that I sobbed my way through the first quarter, if not more.

The book follows a mum in the first year after the death of 5 year old daughter. It is sad, painful and endlessly real.

Unsurprisingly, from the title, the mum joins a knitting circle through which she moves in her grief. There she encounters other people who have experienced loss and learns with and from them.

I am recommending this book to anyone who walks alongside bereaved parents; it has so much truth in it about how life feels when a child dies. I also recommend it to you if you're studying loss or grief or change as part of a psychology or counselling course. It's a reality check on the theory you'll learn.

But please, don't blame me if you decide to start knitting it, it's a known side effect.