In Her Shoes : A Novel

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Summary: Ah, Sisterly Love. . . .
Review: Jennifer Weiner has done it again with In Her Shoes! Since reading Good In Bed, I was eagerly awaiting her next novel. I wasnt disappointed. Jennifers cutting wit and soulful insight into growing up and relationships is awesome.

Two sisters like Maggie and Rose couldnt be more different in personalities yet they share the same love and style in shoes! Now their taste in clothing and accessories would shock Armani. They also share a grandmother they barely know. How they come to get reacquainted with this grandmother is a heart-wrenching, funny, tearful, frustrating, lonely and loving journey back to being family.

For any of us who have sisters, be they older and younger, you will recognize many of the funny, frustrating and often bitter exchanges between siblings. I admit to truly hating Maggie for what she put Rose through; while equally getting ticked off at Rose for LETTING her get away with such shenanigans. Yet, we all know why we put up with our siblings through thick and thin.

As with Good In Bed, I found more characters to really despise (i.e., the evil stepmother, Sydelle, stepsister, My Marcia, and the snake of a boyfriend/ex-co-worker, the Princeton jerk, etc.) I really, really DID want to hate these people but Jennifer creates them (most, anyway) in such a way that finding a nugget of humanity in their frailities makes you sympathize with them. Okay, so I still want slap them silly for what they put Rose and Maggie through most of their childhood and adult years, but one can at least think they are human for a moment.

My surprise allegiance came with their grandmother, Ella, and her own coming to terms with the past and soon to be crashing present and future with her granddaughters. Her own struggles were very much as equally as painful as Rose and Maggies but I found that her quiet, strong and purposeful self-imposed goals to get beyond the sorrows and regrets an inspiration. If only we all could take each day and work past our own demons. Find the simple joys in being together as family. Not many people can even do that today in the most stable and functional families.

Through all of this we travel along with Rose and Maggie meeting interesting people, discovering new places, getting a surprise visit from old friends (I won¡¦t spoil the fun guest appearance!), changing old habits while learning new skills and finding what the true meaning of love and family is really about. Although, personally, I would have loved for some real revenge at Rose¡¦s bridal shower, but one can only hope in the next book the characters get in a few licks and put those pains in the tushes in their place!

Once again, Jennifer Weiner has written a winner. I even had to rush through with this as my friend has circulated my copy of Good In Bed and now everyone is clamoring for this copy! I should just tell them to get their own, but it is so much fun to share such great reads as I have come to expect with anything JW writes! 'º

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Summary: A WITTY AND TOUCHING READING
Review: Popular Broadway actress and Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba gives a witty and touching reading to this story of two sisters.

Jennifer Weiner, whose debut novel "Good In Bed" won legions of readers and soared to the top of bestseller lists proves that she is definitely not a one hit wonder with "In Her Shoes," another sure stand-out.

The two sisters we meet are two years apart in age and worlds apart in life styles and outlooks. Rose is 30-years-old and a successful Philadelphia attorney who has a penchant for
romance novels, hoping that such a scenario might happen in her life.

Younger sister Maggie is a beauty and has gotten this far in life on her looks and winning personality. She dreams of becoming famous (preferably via Hollywood).

Seemingly poles apart the two women find they cannot live together when Maggie needs a roof over her head, and Rose takes her in. On the other hand, with the help of a wise and fiesty grandmother they haven't seen in two decades the sisters learn they cannot spend their lives apart.

Weiner has crafted a poignant and laugh provoking story in which we're reminded of the importance of family and the strengths that lie within us. Listen to it and smile.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: funny, poignant and dramatic family saga
Review: She is twenty-eight years old, never held a job for more than three months, and likes to party on somebody else's dime. Maggie Feller has learning disabilities that make her feel inferior to her older sister Rose who breezed through law school and landed a job as junior partner at a prestigious firm. Rose takes Maggie in when she runs out of money but kicks her out when she discovers her boyfriend in bed with her sister.

Maggie goes to Florida to meet the grandmother she has never known and she gradually makes a place for herself in her elderly relative's heart. Rose quits her job and becomes a dog walker, not caring to caring to learn the whereabouts of her sister. When she finds out that Maggie is in Florida with the grandmother she also never met, Rose flies down for an awkward family reunion. It is up to Maggie to find a way to heal past wounds and old injuries.

IN HER SHOES is a funny, poignant and dramatic family saga starring three very different women with different needs and regrets. It is a story about a dysfunctional family and the love that binds them in spite of themselves. Readers will empathize with Maggie because she has the most to overcome but the audience also will feel for Rose and the betrayal that deeply hurt her. Fans will admire the changes she makes in her life because of it. Jennifer Weiner is a talented storyteller who knows how to describe the human condition.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: painful shoes
Review: I loved Good in Bed. I hate In her Shoes. Can't believe the difference between these two books. The story is choppy and nothing new or fresh is here. In fact, the main characters are downright unlikeable. Rose is not a character that we really get to know or care about, and Maggie is about the most horrid sibling ever. She goes beyond the point of redemption, and walks all over Rose to the point of ridiculousness. The book just veers way off course as it goes on, getting more and more unbelievable and cliched. The storyline with the grandmother does not work...seems like she was trying to appeal to as many demographics as possible and it just falls flat. I skimmed through these pages because they really didn't move the story forward. Overall, a big disappointment. I think this writer is capable of a lot more. Hopefully, her next book will be better, but I won't be buying that one in hardcover! Save your money on this book....not worth the $20!

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Summary: A different side of Weiner
Review: Did you love _Good in Bed_? I did. Does this mean you'll love _In Her Shoes_? Maybe.

It depends on what it was about _Good in Bed_ that grabbed you. Was it the scathingly witty dialogue? If so, there's less of that here, though _In Her Shoes_ has its moments. But if it was the story of how Cannie learned to love herself and the relationships in her life, you'll go for _In Her Shoes_, which focuses more relationships between the characters. There's a lot more pain in _In Her Shoes_ than in _Good in Bed_ -- a grandmother who hasn't seen her granddaughters since they were children, one sister who's successful at work but unsuccessful in love, the other beautiful but branded stupid, a stepmother who always feels like she's second best. The ending is happy, but there are twists and turns galore in between.

Cannie, her daughter, and Nifkin make a brief appearance in the center of the novel, for those who are interested.

_In Her Shoes_ is a richer, but in some ways less fun, read than its predecessor -- where _Good in Bed_ was one of the better beach reads in existence, _In Her Shoes_ is for curling up on a couch with on a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent follow-up
Review: I too enjoyed Good in Bed and eagerly awaited this book. I was not disappointed in the least. I thought it told a funny, touching, true-to life story about the power of sisterhood, family secrets, and personal insecurities and shortcomings. I thought the self-discovery of the characters and the subtle role-reversals were endearing.
As for the reader who though Weiner depicted Maggie with hatred -- I must respectfully disagree. Though Maggie was initially presented as a flakey, loose, irresponsible little wench, Weiner explained the reasons for her behavior quite well, and while her final act of "un-sisterlyness" was horrid, it set the stage for the final portion of the book! In my eyes, she turned out quite likeable, and not too far off from a few of the twenty-somethings I have known in my day!
I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, enjoyable, easy read. No, this is not Virginia Woolf-type literature, if it was, I wouldn't have wanted to read it.

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Summary: can I take theses shoes back? please?!
Review: I hate this book! Such a disappointment! I liked her first book, Good in Bed, so I was looking forward to her second. It is too bad, because I think she is a good writer, but this is a bad story. The characters are not well developed at all....they are cardboard, and actually way too mean to be remotely believable. Maggie, the perfect looking younger sister is borderline psychotic she is so mean to her older sister Rose. I just had a hard time feeling any sympathy for either of them, and the storyline with the grandma is just too out there, seems like it was just plopped in to try and make the book appeal to an older market. I am about 2/3 of the way through and feel like tossing this across the room. I will not be buying her next book in hardcover, that much is certain! Save your money on this one, wait and see how she does with the next...

Rating:
Summary: #2 better than the first!
Review: I couldn't wait to receive this book in the mail...With much anticipation after reading Good in Bed...I am finished. You really feel connected w/the characters Maggie & Rose. They loose their Mother at an early age, have to grow up with a Step-Monster named Sydelle who is addicted to Botox and lead totally different lives. Rose (the not so pretty, smart one) and Maggie (the beautiful, rebellious, say anything/do anyting type). They have a love/hate relationship with each other but learn that the bond that sisters share is a special one despite the problems that they have to deal with.

This book should definetley be on your wish list!!

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Summary: A fantastic, moving book about finally getting things right
Review: I really liked "Good in Bed", so I had high expectations for this book, but I had no idea that I might love it. This is a wonderful book, with characters I feel like I know and a story that is plausible but still brought me to tears. Read this book-you will identify with these women!

Rating:
Summary: Touching and Delightful
Review: I had delighted in Jennifer Weiner's first novel, GOOD IN BED, so I was eager to read her second book, IN HER SHOES. I was not disappointed. Ms. Weiner is gifted.

IN HER SHOES has a more complicated plot than the other story, and the characters in this later work are realized more fully. Part of the charm of GOOD IN BED was its fairytale quality, which is not an element of IN HER SHOES.

Instead, SHOES features two sisters whose mother had died when they were young. At least partly as a consequence of being raised by a wicked stepmother (the only lapse into classic fairytale in this book) the sisters each have serious and distinctive emotional problems which they must surmount. The characters of these two sisters are well-developed, and believable, and altogether touching. In common with GOOD IN BED, IN HER SHOES offers heroines who are strong and pro-active, a nice change from all of the many self-involved Bridget Jones-type protagonists.

Ms. Weiner has conceived a clever plot here, and she reveals it in a slow and deliberate manner, telling a tale that seems altogether plausible. She has a marvelous eye for details of accuracy and a marvelous ear for dialogue. Her storytelling skills are lovely, and I look forward to seeing what next flows from her word processor.