by Piyali C.

I attribute partial credit to Jojo Moyes for my job at the library. It was 2012 when I interviewed for Instructor and Research position at Miller Branch. One of the assignments was to present an author to the interview panel for a fictional author visit. I had just finished reading Me Before You by Moyes, and I did not hesitate for a moment to decide which author I would be presenting. I got the job. Since then, I have read almost all of her novels partly because I feel indebted but mostly because I love her style of writing and her stories. When I discovered her latest book, Someone Else’s Shoes was coming out, I put my name on the wait list early. 

I was not sure I would like this book when I first started reading it. It seemed too predictable – a story of two middle-aged women, diametrically opposite in character, social standing, and circumstances. Nisha Cantor is the wife of a billionaire whose husband drops her like hot potato, leaving her penniless, for a younger woman. Nisha is relentless in her anger to get back what she has lost. She has no money, no prospects, and is on the verge of being homeless, yet she has her attitude, her brusqueness, her determination, her optimism, and her resilience. Despite her situation, she does not get my sympathy. I do not believe Moyes wanted the reader’s sympathy for Nisha Cantor. She is almost unlikeable, insensitive. She is forceful and not in a good way. A woman wronged, she will have her revenge. Love her or hate her, you cannot ignore her. 

Samantha, the opposite of Nisha, is beaten down by life. Her husband, Phil, is severely depressed; her boss at work is a pathetic, misogynistic man who constantly disrespects Sam despite her excellent work. Sam, however, needs the job since Phil can hardly get up from the couch due to his mental health. She has arrived at that precarious age when women start becoming invisible. Sam holds up her family single-handedly yet slowly fades as an individual. She is bullied, ignored, taken for granted, and yet she sees no way out. 

One day at the gym, Sam mistakenly takes Nisha’s bag instead of her own, which contains a pair of red Christian Louboutin shoes. Those shoes become a catalyst for many changes in this novel’s characters. The pair of Louboutin shoes not only changes lives, fosters friendships, and brings justice but it also serves as a double entendre to show what it means to step into other people’s shoes and see life through a different lens.  

This book is a lighthearted read that explores various emotions – love, female friendship, empathy, humanity, to name a few. The readers will, perhaps, know that the end carries no surprises, but I did not mind. As I read on, I got deeply invested into the lives of the two protagonists. I started to care. If you are in between heavy books or going through a reading slump and need a light yet engaging read, this may be the book for you. 

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes is available in print, e-book, e-audiobook, and cd audiobook formats. This book is also included in our Adult Summer Reading 2023: Fiction (Relationships) list.  

Piyali is an instructor and research specialist at HCLS Miller Branch, where she facilitates Light But Not Fluffy and co-facilitates Global Reads. She keeps the hope alive that someday she will reach the bottom of her to-read list.

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