Broadway and TV star Sutton Foster swears by crafting--not only as a hobby, but as a way to deal with drama (on and off the stage) and make something beautiful. In Hooked, her breezy, engaging memoir, Foster shares her adventures in cross-stitch, collage, crochet and other forms of crafting, alongside anecdotes from her career and her life.
Foster examines her personal and professional journey--her first national tour, her Broadway debut, her first marriage, her journey to motherhood--through the lens of creative projects. Along the way, she reflects on her Midwestern childhood, her complicated relationship with her agoraphobic mother and her struggle to build friendships as a young woman. Readers will savor behind-the-scenes glimpses of Foster's work on Broadway shows like Anything Goes and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and her later TV projects such as Bunheads and Younger. Foster keeps her tone light and approachable while exploring heavy subjects: her parents' stormy marriage, her insecurities as a young performer, her struggles with infertility.
As Foster and her fans both know, crafting projects (and life) don't always turn out as expected. She shares frankly about her failures: a stained embroidery project, a too-tight cardigan, a batch of inedible muffins. But there are also successes: a blanket for her newborn daughter, collages and drawings she's hung in galleries (and dressing rooms), countless batches of Christmas cookies. Perfect for Foster fans and those who believe in the power of making things, Hooked is as cozy as the afghans Foster loves to stitch backstage. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams