In Her Shoes (novel)

Last updated
In Her Shoes
In Her Shoes (novel) cover.jpg
Author Jennifer Weiner
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fiction
PublisherWashington Square Press
Publication date
2002
Media type Paperback
ISBN 0-7434-1820-4
OCLC 52537940

In Her Shoes (2002) is a work of Jewish American literature by Jennifer Weiner. It tells the story of two sisters and their estranged grandmother. The novel was a New York Times bestseller. [1] The two sisters happen to wear the same size shoes - the only common ground that they have besides a mutual hatred of their step-mother.

Contents

Plot summary

Rose and Maggie Feller are two young sisters who share little in common except their shoe size. Rose is the elder and has been watching after Maggie since they were young children and their mother Caroline died in a car accident. They were raised by their father Michael (perpetually in mourning for Caroline) and stepmother Sydelle (who resents them both and often makes Rose feel bad about her weight).

Rose is a thirty-year-old single, successful lawyer who struggles with her weight and who resents her younger sister's beauty and sexual attractiveness and lack of stability. Ever since she was young, Rose has had the desire to be popular. She also feels responsible for her sister and is frustrated with how each attempt to help Maggie backfires on her. Maggie, a twenty-eight-year-old who uses her beauty and charming nature to hide the obstacles she faces due to dyslexia and related learning difficulties, resents Rose's academic success and consequent wealth. Maggie is resentful of only ever holding a series of minimum wage jobs that leave her dependent on the charity of others especially her father and Rose. After middle school, standardized testing sets them on different paths in high school: Rose's success on the exams leads to Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Maggie is unable to take the exams and is consequently sidelined in high school and due to her inability to cope with school work, she drops out of high school. She is unable to hold on to any job for long and struggles to manage her money so much so that she is evicted from her flat. Rose offers to support Maggie until her life gets sorted out by giving her a place to stay. Both are nearing the age of their mother when she died, Rose and Maggie each feel as if there is a vacuum in their lives which they are unable to fill.

After wearing out her welcome with Rose (by sleeping with Rose's boyfriend in Rose's bed) and being evicted from her father's home by her stepmother, Maggie runs away, choosing to hide in Princeton University, which she had visited when Rose was a student. Finding shelter in a lower level of the library (with a fully equipped bathroom/shower), Maggie fills her free time doing something that she had avoided her entire life: reading. She also accepts a part-time position as a care-taker for a nearby elderly woman. Maggie is surprised to find that when reading in her own way at her own pace, she enjoys the activity and even begins to attend a poetry class. Eventually, however, a boy (whose wallet she had stolen) discovers her belongings in the library. Realizing her charade at Princeton is over, Maggie runs away. She travels to find her long-lost grandmother, whose old letters she had discovered previously in her father's desk. Rose, meanwhile, leaves her career in law in order to avoid the boyfriend who betrayed her. As a result of this break she accidentally discovers what life as a dog-walker would be like. She also begins to date Simon Stein, a colleague at the law firm.

Grandma Ella had been forced out of the lives of the girls by their father. He had blamed her for Caroline's death — she had been mentally ill and not taking her medication at the time of her death. Grandma Ella had previously tried to track the girls via the Internet (only finding information on Rose) is delighted to see Maggie and invites her to stay in her home. Gradually Maggie, Ella, and eventually Rose reconcile with each other, and in the process come to terms with both the life and death of Caroline.

Maggie finds her true calling: being a personal shopper to the old people in the community that Grandma Ella lives in. Eventually she is successful enough to open her own shop. She shows Rose that she has become a better person and proves her love by making Rose's wedding dress for her.

Style

The novel is character-driven and it follows each one closely, giving the reader a view of what exactly is going on in their minds.

Film

In Her Shoes (2005) is a film directed by Curtis Hanson with an adapted screenplay by Susannah Grant. It stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Mill on the Floss</i> 1860 novel by George Eliot

The Mill on the Floss is a novel by English author George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood and Sons. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York.

<i>Ella Enchanted</i> 1997 novel by Gail Carson Levine

Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants.

<i>Along Came a Spider</i> (novel) Novel by James Patterson

Along Came a Spider is a crime thriller novel, and the first novel in James Patterson's series about forensic psychologist Alex Cross. First published in 1993, its success has led to twenty six sequels as of 2021.

<i>The Lovely Bones</i> 2002 novel; basis for 2009 film

The Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by American writer Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. The novel received critical praise and became an instant bestseller. A film adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, who personally purchased the rights, was released in 2009. The novel was also later adapted as a play of the same name, which premiered in England in 2018.

<i>In Her Shoes</i> (film) 2005 American film

In Her Shoes is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Susannah Grant, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Jennifer Weiner. It stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, and Shirley MacLaine. The film focuses on the relationship between two sisters and their grandmother.

<i>Jacob Have I Loved</i> 1980 novel by Katherine Paterson

Jacob Have I Loved is a 1980 coming of age novel for teenagers and young adults by Katherine Paterson. It won the annual Newbery Medal in 1981. The title alludes to the sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau in the Bible, and comes from Romans 9:13.

Norma Klein was a US young adults' book author. She was born, grew up and lived in New York City for most of her life, and studied Russian at Barnard College. She died, after a brief illness, in New York City on April 25, 1989, at the age of 50. She had a husband, Erwin Fleissner, and two daughters.

<i>Just Ella</i> 1999 novel by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Just Ella is a novel written by Margaret Peterson Haddix and published in 1999 by Simon & Schuster. The story is a retelling of Cinderella with a feminist twist and a different version of the happily-ever-after ending. The plot revolves around Ella, a beautiful girl struggling to find the true meaning of happiness. A companion novel, Palace of Mirrors, was released in 2008.

<i>Love Spell</i> Filipino TV series or program

Love Spell is a Philippine fantasy and romance-based program airing on ABS-CBN that tells a different love story each season with a new couple. It was aired from July 9, 2006, to March 23, 2008.

The California Diaries series is a spin-off of Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitters Club. All fifteen novels are written as first-person journals. The premise of the Diaries is that they are a school project; all students at their school must keep a journal, with the contents and method left up to them.

<i>The Magic Riddle</i> 1991 Australian film

The Magic Riddle is a 1991 Australian animated musical feature film written and directed by Yoram Gross. The film tells the story of Cindy, an orphan who lives as an indentured servant to her cruel stepmother, and features elements of famous fairytales including Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio. Robyn Moore provides the voice of Cindy and various other characters. It was panned by critics, and accused of borrowing from several other Disney films.

This is a list of artistic depictions of dyslexia.

<i>Mandy</i> (comics) British comic book for girls

Mandy was a British comic book for girls, published weekly by DC Thomson from 21 January 1967 to 11 May 1991. The majority of the stories were serialized, typically into two or three pages per issue, over eight to twelve issues.

<i>Along for the Ride</i> (novel) 2009 novel by American author Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride is a novel by Sarah Dessen. It was released on June 16, 2009. The novel focuses on Auden West, who never sleeps at night due to her parents' continuous fighting when she was in high school. Before heading off to college, Auden decides to spend her summer before college with her father, his wife and their new baby. Although Auden is at first reluctant, she comes to really like her stepmother and half-sister. Auden also ends up spending her nights making up for her lost childhood with Eli, a loner and insomniac with an intriguing past. She learns that second chances are possible and questions if people can truly change.

<i>The Secrets of Love</i>

The Secrets of Love is an adaptation of Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility. It was written by Rosie Rushton and published by Piccadilly Press Ltd. in 2005. The book had a total of 176 pages and was published as a young adult book. The book is a 21st century adaption of Jane Austen's famous work, Sense and Sensibility.

<i>Case Histories</i> Novel by Kate Atkinson

Case Histories (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unconnected family tragedies – the disappearance of a three-year-old girl from a garden; the murder of a husband by his wife with an axe; and the apparently motiveless murder of a solicitor's daughter. Case Histories has been described as Atkinson's breakthrough, and she has since published four additional novels featuring Brodie: One Good Turn (2006), When Will There Be Good News? (2008), Started Early, Took My Dog (2010) and Big Sky (2019).

"A Tragedy of Two Ambitions" is a short story by Thomas Hardy and was published in his collection Life's Little Ironies in 1894. In this story, Hardy tells the story of two brothers who are so ambitious to get out of their social environment that they ignore moral values and willingly accept their father's death and hide all that from their sister.

References

  1. "PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: October 9, 2005". The New York Times. 9 October 2005.