Someone Else's Shoes

 

By Jojo Moyes

Nisha has been traveling with her husband and together they are staying at a fancy hotel in London, England. But what Nisha doesn't know is that her spouse has plans that definitely do not include her: cutting her off without a cent or even access to her own clothing or money. So she is stranded in a foreign country wearing only a bathrobe and slippers since her clothes were mistakenly taken at the gym where Nisha was doing her daily workout.

When she is finally able to get in contact with her faithless spouse, he informs her that she will get nothing from him until she returns the expensive shoes she was wearing when she went to the gym. A very strange request, indeed, but one she feels forced to do. But how is she supposed to track down the unknown woman who took her bag with her clothes and the special shoes?

Meanwhile, the woman who took the bag, Sam, has an important sales meeting to attend, one her success at her job may depend on. She opens the bag and instead of her ordinary clothes there are very expensive and glamorous items. Sam doesn't intend to keep the bag but a time crunch has her in a bind and she is forced to wear the expensive shoes to her sales calls. Interestingly, these power shoes give her that extra boost of confidence and the sales calls work out very well.

Sam has more in common with Nisha than either knows. Sam is facing marriage problems too. Her spouse has been depressed after the death of his father and he has been so shut down for months that most of his time is spent on the couch or in bed, accomplishing nothing at home, including failing to find a new job. Sam is getting pretty tired of carrying the full load all on her own and there is a man at her work who has indicated he is attracted to her.

And poor Nisha, accustomed to a life of luxury after years of marriage to her extremely wealthy husband, has been forced to get a job or end up living on the street. The job she finds is as a maid at the very hotel where her horrible husband is staying with her replacement. But even though the work is not what Nisha has been used to, she finds the people she is working become more important to her than just as coworkers.

I did enjoy this story even the plot was a tad ridiculous and not in an amusing way. Parts of it brought tears to my eyes. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.