Book Review/Knit Together
Knit Together
By Debbie Macomber
Hachette Book Group
Hardcover $22.99
Paperback $13.99
A non-fiction memoir-style book
By BILL DUNCAN
The News-Review
I am the token male member of the Sunday Afternoon Book Club, therefore I have read many chick books selected by the membership. Not all, by any means, have been romance novels, but I will have to lay my macho reading habits aside for the stories we’ve shared written by the Port Orchard, Wash. author Debbie Macomber. She is a prolific writer, but a good, solid novelist who has stories to tell.
“Knit Together,” is her first non-fiction book, one that is somewhat a memoir, but also a deeply spiritual book subtitled, “Discover God’s Pattern for Your Life.” The memoir part was of greater interest to me than the scripture quoting, simply because she told of her struggles to become the best selling author she is now. Since I teach writing, much of her story about those struggles will work well in my lectures.
She said in the opening paragraphs of the book that she writes fiction and never had serious thoughts of writing a non-fiction book, but her agent insisted she already had the book written in the speeches she had made at conferences and the non-fiction articles she had written for magazines.
“The book was there all along,” she said, “and that was how ‘Knit Together’ came into being.” The title actually came from many of her novels that feature knitting and characters that knit. She uses it as a metaphor for a creative, visionary spiritual journey.
Her writing career was far from an instant success. She recounts the arduous road to success, interspersing the difficulties with her dreams, risks, work, laughter, gratitude and blessings. All through the book, she credits the support she got from her husband, Wayne, that inspired her to succeed.
“After I had written for about two years with only rejections to show for all that effort, my husband came to me one day … and said ‘I need you to find a job.’” He said the family was financially strapped. She wrestled with the thought of giving up her dream with one sleepless night when her husband, encouraged her to continue writing saying that the family would make the sacrifices necessary to see it through.
Another two and a half years of financial struggles came before the sale of her first novel, “Heartsong,” and that even after one editor told her “to throw it away.” That first novel became the first romance novel ever to be reviewed by Publisher’s Weekly. That success led to her publishing more than 150 novels and put her on the best selling author list. In May, her newest novel, “Summer on Blossom Street” will be published, following a January release of her novel “Wednesdays at Four.”
“My goal as a writer is to give my readers more than just a story. Any writer can do that. I want my stories to have layers to them, meaning depth, so I work to provoke reader’s thoughts,” she said. “All my stories have to have some relevance to the readers. Readers need to identify with the characters.”
There is more to “Knit Together,” than just how she succeeded by being persistent. In today’s troubled economic times, it is a book that offers hope. She plainly says a person must make success happen. Macomber’s writing style is conversational, written in a manner as if she is just sitting with her readers chatting. In this nonfiction work, she is practical as well as inspirational and spins a yarn in which she debunks common misconceptions that stand in the way of dreams.
The one point so poignantly stressed is that she overcame impossible odds as a dyslexic
who used a kitchen table for a desk and wrote out her dreams on a rented typewriter.
“Knit Together,” is definitely not a chick book, but it is a guide to overcoming all obstacles.
(Bill Duncan can be reached at bduncan@nrtoday.com or by writing to P.O. Box 812, Roseburg, OR 97470)