Ann Hood had been writing for 25 years when her 5-year-old daughter suddenly died in 2002. Unable to read or write for grief, she took up knitting. The gentle rhythm of the needles helped lead her back to writing.

Hood is editor of the anthologies Knitting Yarns and Knitting Pearls, and author of many novels, including The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, An Italian Wife, and The Obituary Writer.

She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. 

What People Are Saying About Ann Hood

 "Is there anyone who can write about the connections of ordinary people better than Ann Hood?" 
—Jodi Picoult, author

"You don't so much read about Hood's characters as you inhabit them."
—Elizabeth Berg, author