If The Shoes Fit by Pauline Lawless

The basic premise of the book is pretty standard fare for the genre - disparate group of women brought together by circumstance or location, form a support network with each other and then go on to vastly improve their lots in life.  My initial issue with the book is the nature of the business the women are employed by - direct selling of designer shoes at a bargain price, from the descriptions of the shoes and their truly designer counterparts I am pretty sure they contravene all copyright, intellectual property and trademark laws.  This really did spoil the book for me as I was waiting for them all to be arrested for counterfeit goods.

That aside and you are left with the plot which is a little bit confused as we jump from person to person and it takes you a while to figure out which one is which - Tessa and Amber are particularly bad for this.  This isn't helped by the main cast of 4 - Rosie, Tessa, Amber and Niamh - and then the subcast of 3 - Phoebe, Lesley and Val.  Just as you settle in to which lady we are with we jump on to another one, this is fine when they are all together but it does become a bit wearing; especially as so many of the tales feel the same.  I love that the women are initially super successful in the business as well, mainly because the author goes to great lengths to show that this is achieved through their industry and hardwork rather than anything else.  I am sure sales would be good just before Christmas but it would have been interesting to see how they coped with the January/February slump notorious in retail.

It is testament to the author that I can remember all 7 of the main characters names, shows that she managed to write pretty memorable people.  However, whilst some are multi-faceted (Tessa and Amber) others are two dimensional (Niamh and Rosie) and even worse the 3 sub-characters are completely one dimensional caricatures of women.  The events in their personal lives are relatively believable with relationships beginning and ending, issues with the spouse and children.

An okay book that passed the time in an entertaining manner.  Too many issues with the business side of things (Honestly recruiting 60+ reps to direct sell for one person within a couple of months - what balderdash) for me to really get invested in the people and their situations.  If you like your Chic-Lit with complete fantasy then this will work for you; if not you may just find yourself muttering under your breath from time to time.