The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs or Why does it always have to be cancer.

SPOILER ALERT:  This review gives away the ending!  Don't read any more if you are currently reading or going to read this book!

 I love chick lit. I look for Sue monk Kidd and Kristin Hannah regularly.  Really, I do but I do have an issue with stories that require the main character to die to move the rest of the characters forward.  In "The Friday Night Knitting Club" Kate Jacobs creates a lovely group of women from all backgrounds, education and ages and weaves them together in a lovely pattern of friendship.

"The Friday Night Knitting Club" was a lovely story.  I looked forward to finding out what Derwin was up to or was Anita going to finally go out with Deli Shop owner.  Was Peri going to get all her purses done for Bloomingdales?  It was pleasant and entertaining.  Their stories made me grin. Then there were conflicts in the story like Derwin's separation from her husband or Cat finding out that there is more to life than shopping at Saks or planning parties. I wondered how Lucy was going to deal with unemployment, being an unwed mother and the fact that she never told her lover she had gotten pregnant.  I cheered for Georgia as she protected her daughter from her ex lover/absentee dad until she knew what his intentions were and I loved it when they first kissed again.  All that was great.
Then Ms. Jacobs kills off the main character and of course it is cancer of the female variety.  Georgia Walker had paid her dues and was turning a corner in her life.  Her knitting business was getting noticed.  Her daughter, Dakota,  was growing strong and smart.  She was rekindling the lost love who was father to her little girl.  Her friends we moving along in their lives too.  Then it was just too good, life was going along just too nicely, people were succeeding so of course the only thing we could do was give Georgia ovarian cancer.  OK, I can deal with that.  It was wonderful how each of the women dealt with her illness and applied it to their own lives and made commitments to be more aware of what made them happy.  Yeah!!!  Very Life affirming.  So why couldn't Ms. Jacobs let Georgia live?  Why is it, to be a great female bonding novel someone must die of some dang cancer?  Why can't we get the lessons and affirm ourselves and the go on and live some more?