About the Book
A story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances, this is the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You and The Giver of Stars
Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope–she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.
That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag–she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.
Full of Jojo Moyes’ signature humor, brilliant storytelling, and warmth, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.
My Review
One of my favorite parts of this novel was the underlying theme of what women can be do when they work together instead of against one another. Sam and Nisha are entirely different but when a gym bag mix up occurs, they are thrown together in the oddest of circumstances, all revolving around a mysterious pair of Christian Louboutin red crocodile heels. Sam is struggling with her career – working for a sexist male that clearly is try to push her out of the company, a husband dealing with his own grief that has him seeming to forget he has a wife and child, and all around feeling invisible to her family. When she finds Nisha’s shoes in the gym bag mix up, wearing them makes her feel like a different person – confident and in control. Nisha’s husband is refusing to see her, cuts off all contact with her and her bank cards – leaving her essentially stranded and penniless.
When he agrees to meet her only if she brings the misplaced shoes, her search leads her to Sam – and the two women immediately butt heads. Over hotel shenanigans, thrift shop searching, and Sam’s lovely friend that joins their quest, the two women begin to realize they might not be so different – and what they could achieve if they just worked together. Personal growth is another huge theme in this novel, and watching both Sam and Nisha make significant strides in the their lives was a rewarding feeling as a reader. Their storylines felt raw, real and relatable – not a magic snap of the fingers and everything was fixed. I loved that Sam was our “good girl” yet makes a pretty big error. I loved that Nisha got her hands dirty – literally – working as a hotel housekeeper to try to keep her life together. And there is even a little mystery tied in here that truly had me wondering what the heck it was about these shoes – and the ending had me with more than one eyebrow raised. One I would definitely recommend for women’s fiction fans.
4.5 stars
