Close Knit by Jenny Colgan (Audiobook)

 

Gertie, in her mid-twenties, is still living at home in a remote Scottish town. Life revolves around her job in the local shop and the knitting group. A chance encounter gives Gertie the opportunity to broaden her horizons.

Jenny Colgan can always be relied on to give you a gentle tale of pure escapism. Close Knit, set in a small community on a Scottish island offers it all; self-discovery, romance, friendship and gossip.

Gertie has never left home, the home she shares with her mother and grandmother. In her mid-twenties, she's content with life but that is really down to her low self-esteem. Her mother and grandmother are keen for her to do something more but Gertie is happy to let life drift gently by.

A chance encounter with some people she went to school with is the catalyst that Gertie needs to try something different. Two of the "popular" girls from school visit the shop she works in. Gertie is embarrassed that they will discover she's done nothing with her life. What Gertie doesn't realise is that the two women barely remember her. 

When Gertie deals with a difficult customer in the shop, Morag, one of the women, has the inspiration that Gertie has all the skills required to fill the temporary vacancy they have with the small airline she works for.

A new job widens Gertie's horizons, and these are increased when she also moves out of home into a flat share. One big problem though is that her new landlord is the same boy she had a major crush on at school. This won't be a problem though as he's engaged, besides which, Gertie now has a crush on the aviation magnet who owns the tiny airline.

Thanks to the lovely lilting narration of Eilidh Beaton we are gently transported through Gertie's indecision, memories of school, unrequited love and a near disaster that forces her to overcome her fear.

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan will be published on 15th August 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton Audio for a review copy.

Author Details

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling novels and has won various awards for her writing, including the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award. Her books have sold more than twelve million copies worldwide and in 2015 she was inducted into the Love Stories Hall of Fame. Jenny is married with three children and lives in Scotland.