Knitting Under the Orange Trees: A Historical Novel Rooted in Women’s Lives and Knitting History

Knitting has always traveled with women—across borders, across oceans, and across time.

When I began writing Knitting Through Time, I didn’t yet know how many stories would follow. I only knew that knitting—quiet, practical, and passed from hand to hand—has long been part of women’s daily lives, even when history failed to record their names.

Knitting Under the Orange Trees continues that journey.

Set primarily in sixteenth-century Spain and the early New World, this historical novel follows women whose lives are shaped by migration, faith, loss, and resilience. As empires expand and borders shift, the work of women—often overlooked—becomes essential. Knitting, in this story, is not simply a craft; it is a means of survival, a form of memory, and a way of making home in unfamiliar places.

I recently visited Sevilla, where orange trees still line the streets and courtyards. Standing there, it was easy to imagine the women who once lived and worked in those spaces—women preparing for journeys that would change their lives forever.

Although Knitting Under the Orange Trees can be read on its own, it is part of a larger historical fiction series that begins with Knitting Through Time. Each novel explores how women’s lives, creativity, and faith are woven together across centuries, carrying traditions forward even when everything else is uncertain.

This book is ultimately a story about what women carry with them—skills, beliefs, and quiet strength—and how those things shape new worlds.

✨ Knitting Under the Orange Trees is now available in paperback at this link . The novel is also available in an e-book edition and included in Kindle Unlimited.

I hope you enjoy my new book. I LOVED writing it!

Blessings, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is a novelist, knitter, and spiritual writer whose books explore the power of community, craft, and quiet faith. She’s the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles series and several church resources used in congregations across the country.

She is based in Knoxville, Tennessee and St. Augustine, Florida.

➡️ Explore her books on Amazon: amazon.com/author/cynthiacoe