I'm afraid I just couldn't get along with this book. I should have as it was well written and is driven with wonderfully vivid richly described characters. Not all of them likeable and this just added to my struggle to keep reading it. I found it difficult to engage with the writing style.

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. The Emperor of Shoes is a novel that I enjoyed immensely. There is the storyline itself, that of a son of a shoe manufacturer who feels uncomfortable when he realises how bad the conditions are in their factory. There are the problems across China, some of which led to the terrible events that happened in Tiananmen Square. There is the romance between Alex and Ivy where they have to learn and respect each others cultural differences and most of all there is the relationship between Alex and his father. It is this relationship that makes this book so special. Many of their conversations made me smile, especially with his father’s obsessions, but they were also touching because you could see how close they were. Even if they couldn’t.
This is not a quick book to read. There were many moments that had me sat in silence, gazing into space. The empty villages, where everybody of a certain age had left to find work. The cold hearted managers in the factory who showed no compassion to the workers and the horrific conditions in which they worked. The telling of what happened at Tiananmen Square that felt like a first hand account.
It’s a truly wonderful novel that opens your eyes to different cultures but also to the working conditions in certain parts of the world.

If this isn’t on the Not the Booker list then it should be.

It’s hard to say which character should really have been in the spotlight in this book. In this case it is Alex, but I would love to hear the story from Ivy’s perspective and delve deeper into her life. Perhaps even go back to Tiananmen Square, the story of her sister and the massacre.

Ivy shows Alex the reality of living as immigrants and worker bees in and under the oppressive regime of the Chinese government. She opens his eyes to the injustices happening on a daily basis all around them.

Alex struggles with fitting in the way his father expects him to, and he dislikes the hypocrisy his father displays. After experiencing oppression, genocide and hatred because of their faith it seems a paradox that their family be involved in the oppression of other human beings.

Towards the end I think it is fair to say that Alex begins to doubt whether Ivy has pure motives. Did she intentionally target and manipulate the privileged heir? Is the scent of freedom stronger than her conscience or is it her guilty conscience driving her actions and words?

The relationship between Alex and his father is the catalyst that propels the young man forward and helps him to discover his backbone. The old man is one of the dinosaurs, the old boy capitalist brigade who detest change and put money over everything else.

This story encompasses a lot of genres including history, politics, civil and human rights. It’s important to remember the modern era in which this takes place and take note of the injustices. It’s ironic, actually it is ruthless and tragic, that capitalists who profit from democracies in their native countries profit financially from having factories and using workforces in countries run by autocratic regimes and/or oppressive communist regimes.

This is a story of awakening and also about acknowledging the corruption hidden in the guise of employment and development. I look forward to reading more by Wise in the future.

The Emperor of Shoes is a story of exploitation – of Chinese workers by the factory’s owners. Low wages and poor work conditions so that US department stores can be supplied with ‘affordable’ own label footwear.

The Emperor of Shoes examines the business through the eyes of Alex Cohen, the 26 year old Jewish son of the factory’s overbearing owner. Alex gradually, but increasingly, takes the side of the Chinese workers. This process is obviously aided by his falling in love with Ivy, a production line worker in the factory. Ivy has history – her sister was killed in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She is quietly determined to secure a better life for her fellow workers. She introduces Alex to Zhang, the leader of the Democratic Revolutionary Party. And together the three of them plot a day of non-violent protest at the factory. But Zhang is perhaps not all he seems.

The grim realities of Chinese politics kicks in. The local communist party boss (with ambitions way above the role he currently enjoys) cannot let a protest movement start on his patch. He has to intervene.

The Emperor of Shoes is a Jewish family saga of the battle between the father and the son. There is Yiddish humour, and much love – and much love lost – between the two. Their views of how to transform the factory, the lot of its workers, and the product range they produce, are at different ends of the spectrum. The old and traditional against the modern and enlightened. The book also makes one think, not exactly a new theme this, of the utterly down-trodden lives that some workers in far off lands live to bring us the consumer goods we ‘need’ in our shops.

Spencer Wise clearly knows what he is writing about. He is heir to a shoe-manufacturing dynasty that started five generations ago in New England – and today the family business is about producing goods in China. In 2013 he went to work in the shoe factory in Southern China that his father had contracts with – it was a real apprenticeship. He knows how to make a shoe from scratch… How much of The Emperor of Shoes is based in fact is anyone’s guess. But it is really good and thought-provoking read.

WoW.......The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise was a wonderful find. This book was beautifully written from the very first page right till the end.
Set in 2015, in Guangdong, South China 2015. Alex Cohen is a twenty-six-year-old Jewish expatriate living in southern China. Alex, is a young Jewish man who is being groomed to take over his father's Fedor's family shoe business. Alex is reluctant in taking this role, he starts to explore the plants vast floor's and its assembly line and learns more about his father's business and is shocked on what he finds. Alex finds a grim realisation of his fathers family business, how he treated all his employee's, etc Alex is shocked.

Alex then meets Ivy who is a seamstress whom he forms a relationship with. She is secretly a political organiser and is threatening to speak out about Alex's family business is she can get all the labourers all together.

Will Alex change the way things are run there or remain loyal to his father and his heritage?

The Emperor of Shoes is a breath of fresh air, I found this book an eye opener.

An excellent read and look forward reading more from Spencer Wise etc

Thank you to Spencer Wise, Hanover Square Press, and Edelweiss for the ARC.

Alex Cohen is faced with a huge legacy to uphold when his father passes over the mantle to the family shoe-factory Tiger Step, in China. For decades his father has lived and breathed work, brokering deals and keeping the factory running smoothly, where even an eight minute pause is time wasted and must be rectified. Twenty-six year old Alex is daunted by the future awaiting him, intimidated by the rules and laws he will have to abide by as head of the factory. He is also excited at the possibility of designing new brands and instilling the business with his own passion and vision.







But when Alex begins to explore the floors of the factory, he discovers a different side to the place he thought he knew. Workers are being exploited and used. Laws broken and all evidence swept away and hidden. Faced with a choice, keep the factory going and ignore the terrible chain of events or speak out, Alex must decided which avenue to take.







I really felt for Alex in this book. He’s a kind soul, compassionate and a little bit naive. When he is given the reins to the factory, the weight on his shoulders is immense. Even more so when he discovers things happening without his knowledge. Ivy, a stitcher in the samples room and foot model, grows increasingly close to Alex. It’s clear to see that these two have a strong bond. But Ivy keeps secrets that have the strength to divide them and even ignite a revolution.





Spencer Wise’s writing is just stunning. I read this book within a day, utterly captivated by his evocative descriptions, poignant voice and refreshing insight. Touching on some heavy themes, this book is definitely a thought-provoking read. The author spins fantastic characters and seamlessly draws you into a web of compelling storytelling. The Emperor of Shoes is a gorgeously written book about ambition, change and discovery.





Intriguing. Thought-provoking. Brilliant.

It is 25 years since the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong has been handed over and trade between China and America is flourishing. Among those making money from the transition to a more commercial economy is shoemaker Fedor Cohen and his 26 year old son, Alex. Fedor runs the Tiger Shoe Factory in Guangdong, South China. The shoes are unbranded knock off, cheaply produced and sold to mass market shops that retail them with their own brand on them.

The system works because the kickbacks to party officials and others are in place and because the factory is ruled with a rod of iron by Chinese overseers who will penalise workers for taking too many bathroom breaks, singing while they work or even having mobile phones. These workers live in dormitories on site and without papers saying they work at the factory, held by Fedor and his managers, they would be effectively stateless.

The relationship between Alex and Fedor is not an easy one. They live in the Intercontinental Hotel. Fedor, whose marriage collapsed some time ago, has a Chinese mistress who is concierge at the hotel and Alex is just being inducted into the management side of the business as he becomes part owner of the factory under his father’s tutelage. While Alex knows rather a lot about shoes, he has no real idea of how the factory runs and what he sees once he begins to take a real interest, is quite an eye opener for him.

What Alex discovers is that mass market shoemaking is a cut-throat business with very tight margins, especially when kickbacks are in play. When he tries to discuss this with his father, he is brusquely dismissed as young and naïve (which he is) and told that he will soon learn what it takes to survive in their business.

But Alex has dreams and these are more than fuelled when he meets and falls for the enigmatic Hanjia Liu, a seamstress in the factory, who is called Ivy by the overseers. Ivy opens his eyes to the exploitative conditions that the workers have to endure and Alex himself is appalled at the corruption. Alex is also aware that the Party officials are keeping a close eye on the factory, looking for troublemakers and they try to recruit him into naming those workers that he thinks may be fomenting unrest.

Ivy’s sister died in the violence at Tiananmen Square and that has conditioned her politics ever since; she is now a closet political activist. She introduces Alex to Zhang, a revolutionary leader and they try to persuade him to take the lead in improving conditions in the sweatshop that is the Tiger Shoe factory.

There’s a brilliant juxtaposition inherent in the book between the persecution suffered by the Jewish people and the exploitation of the Chinese workers by Fedor. Alex can see it and does not understand why his father can’t.

As Alex struggles to find his way in the factory and as a man, the paths open to him all feel fraught with danger. It seems that he cannot both achieve what he wants and keep everyone on side. As Tony Blair might say, he is struggling to find a third way.

Tension mounts and the stakes are high for the future of the factory and its workers. Alex is going to have to do something bold if his dreams are to prevail.

The Emperor of Shoes is an incredibly well written book, finely crafted and well nuanced book. It carries a lot of humour and is beautifully argued and grimly authentic. Characterisation is lightly worn, but that does not detract from what is a gripping and compelling story with deep factual roots.

Verdict: A terrific debut novel and a story that needs to be told.

Maybe it's just a case of the book and the reader being incompatible, but I can't get on with this book at all. The entitled main character, the woman who is Not Like Other Women, the writing style. Also, I've been making an effort lately to read more diverse fiction, especially 'own voices', and I think I would prefer this story told from that perspective.

I’m afraid I didn’t get on very well with The Emperor of Shoes. I should have done, really – it’s well written and has a noble aim, but it completely failed to engage me.

Set in China in 2015, Alex is made to take over from his father as controller of the shoe factory he owns. The father is an uncaring, ruthless employer who exploits his workforce and treats them badly, while Alex has a conscience and has also fallen for a beautiful worker in the factory, who is also a fearless campaigner… I’m afraid it just felt like a very corny set-up. This is a serious work of fiction and very well written, but I really was constantly reminded of the Mill-Owner’s Son Falls For Factory Girl cliché. The romance didn’t convince me, I didn’t get much sense of place in China, the message seemed rather heavy-handedly presented and the Jewish Guilt stuff didn’t do a lot for me either.

I’m sorry to be critical of a well-written book with a fine purpose and one which many people have plainly found very good, but I’m afraid I had to struggle to keep going and I can’t recommend it.

I don't really suppose that Alex Cohen had given much thought to how the family wealth had been acquired. I don't suppose you would when you are the third generation in the family shoe business. I am not talking a little high street shop here, I am talking about the production side, the factories that make the shoes for major shoe retailers. So Alex had quite a task on his shoulders because he really wanted his father to be proud of him or at least he did until he saw the real cost of making the shoes.
This is one mighty powerful story where I had to keep turning back the pages to make sure I had got the time period right and that it was taking place in present day. Alex was to learn the family trade which was based in China. Oh my I could have wept as Alex took a tour of the start to finish shoe production line, from carcass to high-class shoe, that had made his family name and fortune in China. When Ivy caught his eye, a young Chinese girl making the shoes, his life took on a new direction.
Oh my this story really opened my eyes to world trade and how the system can be abused. This is a very powerful story with strong characters that are willing to lay down their lives to change conditions for the better. There are the odd wolves in amongst the people who are there for all the wrong reasons. Greed and exploitation comes in many disguises from people who have little regard for life to people much closer to home where they only see the bottom line.
Alex was a changed man by the end of the story. A much wiser man than the gullible one straight from college. An absolutely riveting read.

“The Emperor of Shoes is subtle yet thought-provoking take on revolutionary ideas, with a protagonist who is yet to find his ideal niche, and is as vulnerable as any other human.”

Dream big is something we all have been advised at least once in life. But a tine idea, a small change is also capable of bringing a change in our lives as well as others. The Emperor of Shoes is one such tale. Alex, the son, and inheritor of an established shoemaking company in China is yet to find his purpose. His life takes a toll when he joins the company and discovers the ways his father has been running the company, mainly the underlying bribery and exploitation.

Alex meets a girl whose revolutionary ideologies affect Alex the most. Alex is in love with her and while she has been trying to make the lives of the workers in the factory better, she wants his support. Among all the turmoil, Alex needs to pick a side- his father’s or the workers.

The Emperor of Shoes is mainly about exploitation and the injustice factory workers face in China, while the rich get richer. Alex is the poster boy of the plot, a confused person, without direction or guidance, just expected to take the company to great heights. His mental state has been beautifully described by the author and anyone who doesn’t know what they want from life can easily empathize with him. He wants to do good, but the path is full of risks that can be deadly, literally.

While I found the writing style a bit simple as compared to other literary fictions, the story doesn’t get boring. There are mentions of great revolutionary leaders and the ways people can bring change. The characters are very different from each other, the demarcation maintained throughout. Emotions play an important part in the story as we need to feel the pain in order to know it. There are lighter moments too which makes it easier to follow the plot. The ending has been kept realistic without any over the top drama/climax.

In 'The Emperor of Shoes' set in Guangdong, China, Spencer Wise tells us the story of Alex Cohen, a 26-year-old heir to a thriving shoe business. Of course, the shoe business thrives on the backs of underpaid Chinese workers, which Alex begins to see slowly.

Wise turns the spool unhurriedly, the various threads interleaving beautifully. There is the father-son relationship, which is about the proverbial young son trying to match up to his father's expectations, and go from being constantly controlled and dismissed to being noticed. Laced with wry humour, there is a certain tenderness about Alex's relationship with his father although it looks abrasive, and a bit heartless at times, on the outside.

There is the romance with Ivy, which also brings up the angle of foreigners in China, an American Jew to be specific here, and their perspectives of the country.

"Forced outside, I imagined us all walking aimlessly down the street in a herd, scrutinizing signage we couldn't understand, ignoring the plosive tongue-clack of cabdrivers, a slow barnanimal procession down the highway..."

Well, Alex is not just another white man as he wants to prove to everyone and, above all, to himself. He begins to force himself to come out of his father's shadow, and out of the cocoon of his own mind. This is where things get interesting. And also a little dangerous.

This is also where Wise tells us about the inner machinations of Chinese business politics, and the all-important guanxi that can mean life or death. We already know enough about the lives of Chinese workers, thanks to media bombardment, and Wise talks appropriately to us as informed readers by bringing in aspects of the issue where needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I just wish the ending was a bit more toned down, and not so easily resolved or understood.

I will end this review with the "old lines of Rabbi Hillel, 'If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?'"

Thank you to NetGalley and NoExit Press for giving me this ARC for a review.

Interesting themes as a young man finds his eyes opened to the political realities of doing business in China while also falling in love with a Chinese political activist and coming into conflict with his father. Something about the writing style didn't gel with me: it felt as if the story is submerged behind a screen - I wanted more clarity and directness in the scenes. An unusual version of the coming-of-age story, all the same.