By Jojo Moyes
Spoilers! (sorry!)
Compared to her previous offerings, this is a light and entertaining read. Despite my misplaced expectation, I could see Jojo Moyes’ DNA all over this book. When Jojo writes about women, it is either about powerful female friendship or a woman becoming empowered.
Someone else’ shoes a beautiful story of two middle aged women, who pick up the wrong gym bag at the spa. One is a sole breadwinner of her family, keeping her family afloat and the other is a globetrotting trophy wife, living in the lap of luxury. Both women couldn’t be any different.
When Sam finds a pair of Christian Louboutin heels instead of her own work shoes, she has no choice but to wear them to an important meeting. And when the meeting goes well, she credits the shoes for the success.
While Sam is realising her newfound confidence, Nisha’s world comes crashing down when her husband dumps and locks her out of their hotel penthouse. Armed with nothing but Sam’s gym bag, Nisha finds herself homeless and alone. Her so-called friends also dump her the moment they learn that she has been kicked to the kerb. Nisha finds an unlikely friend in a hotel maid called Jasmine and together they work to get her things back. When her husband offers to return her things in exchange for the Louboutin shoes, Nisha is on a hunt to get her shoes back.
Soon, Nisha and Jasmine join forces with Sam and her best friend Andrea. This reluctant alliance soon turns into an unexpected friendship. Cue in wonderful moments of sisterhood, sprinkled with laughter and ingenuity. The bond between four women was my favourite part of the book and I love how Jojo created those moments that left me fiercely rooting for these women.
Even though this book does not have the emotional gut punch found in her previous works, it nevertheless has a strong feel-good factor. I loved the story of women lifting one another up, instead of being pitted against another other. Jojo Moyes has shown that she has range. She can write emotional rollercoasters, to sweeping historical fiction and to easygoing read. And this is why she is easily one of my favourite writers.