Rachel’s suddenly animated.
‘If you’re into blogs, I’ve another that you must try: Shoe-Princess.com. Now, I know what you’re thinking: every upmarket prostitute worth her salt’s doing a blog these days – it’s all so dotcom passé. But I assure you, she’s divine. Oh, and she’s not a prostitute – well, who cares anyway? Just go see.’
Needless to say, I cannot wait to meet the Shoe Princess when Millie is asleep tomorrow.
Jane is a self-confessed shoe princess. Nothing in her life is more important than beautiful shoes. Well, nothing except her husband, Tim, and their new baby Millie. But Millie’s arrival has changed Jane’s world. Suddenly everything is different – her relationship with Tim, her sense of self, and even her need for good shoes.
As Jane struggles to connect with the outside world, she spends time online following the Shoe Princess blog, and trying not to worry that her work-obsessed husband is never home anymore. She also learns to make shoes herself, and wonders if perhaps a career making mummy-shoes is on the cards. But will her sanity – and her marriage –survive?
The Shoe Princess is a funny, insightful look at the transition from fashion-conscious career girl to first time mother, and the impact it can have on friendships, relationships and self-image. Whilst not every new mother is a shoe princess, all mothers will be able to relate to many of the challenges faced by Jane in the early months of first time motherhood.
The Shoe Princess’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Emma Bowd
Bloomsbury, 2009