Loved this book. Slow to start but glad I persevered with it. Another enjoyable read from Ruth Hogan.

Tackling the subject of grief, there were moments of humour to lighten the mood. The book was an interesting and emotional read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I really enjoyed Ruth Hogans first book, The Keeper of Lost Things, but I loved The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes. It's definitely one of my favourite books this year. It made me laugh at times but it also gave me a lump in my throat. I wondered where Alice fitted in this story and didn't realise until the end when it became clear. The ending was perfect, just what I hoped for.

Ruth Hogan stated she wanted to write a book about hope and living life to the full but also wanted to tackle some more difficult and painful issues - she has certainly done that with ' The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes '. She took me through the spectrum of emotions as I fluctuated between the almost unbearable pain and yet positive love of both the main female characters. I almost felt guilty when laughing so enthusiastically at moments such as the dinner party Masha's friend holds, as I could not forget the profound grief she still experiences following the loss of her son 12 years ago. Although impossible to forgive Alice her atrocious action, Hogan ensures I can at least understand why she performed such an act. I was worried about the ending as I feared it may be too sentimental and unrealistic but my worries were unfounded and I was left with a feeling of satisfaction and great desire to read more of Hogan's work.

Another awesome book. Masterfully builds up to its’ conclusion. Amazing depth of detail with not a trick missed as everything can be seen in the mind’s eye.

People are so very much more than they seem to be and so was the book showing hope in the midst of adversity, enlightening, empowering and inspiring to read with quirky lovable characters. Thank you NetGalley.

I have no doubt that I’ll be in the minority in thinking that ‘The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes’ doesn’t really deliver. The themes are important: what a child’s death does to the parents; the grieving process; the many ways in which families and friends are affected; how support can and can’t help. Ruth Hogan also gives a very moving account of a woman’s struggle with cancer – and she should know; as gleaned from her website, it’s a tale she knows only too well. Hogan also drip feeds information about the Victorians’ ways of mourning and whilst some of this has been brought to life a great deal more effectively in ‘Falling Angels’ by Tracy Chevalier, there are interesting nuggets here.
At the heart of the novel are two women: Masha is in mourning for her son Gabriel who drowned some years back, aged two, whilst Alice is struggling to support her beloved Mattie as he enters adolescence. Quite early on in the novel, it’s easy to work out what connects these very different women and, if Hogan is intent on an element of mystery, then this doesn’t really happen. However, I’m not sure that this is her main goal. It’s clear that she is incredibly interested in what makes people behave in the way that they do – always a good trait for a novelist (!) – and she spends much of the novel focusing on the thoughts, motivation, habits and lifestyles of her characters. My problem with this is that there is not much in the way of light and shade. Most seem to be pretty eccentric and so, as a whole, the effect becomes increasingly cartoonish. I’m all for individualism but I did get to the point of just wanting a little bit of ‘dull’ mixed in with the fey people populating her world.
Whilst it was not difficult to predict the nature of the tying up of all the narrative threads at the end of the novel, I really wish that Hogan had focused more on this section, perhaps at the expense of all of the make-believe portraits that the gravestones inspired. It would have been really interesting to have read how/if forgiveness could be achieved and how much of a struggle it was for all to move on.
My thanks to NetGalley and Two Roads for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Masha has never got over the death of her infant son, who drowned at the age of two - even twelve years later she struggles daily. She finds comfort in the local victorian graveyard, and swims every day at her local lido. She has the most fascinating friends: Kitty Muriel, a woman who is so comfortable in her own skin that Masha clearly admires her greatly; Sally Red Shoes, who is portrayed as a crazy old bag lady, who feeds the crows at the cemetery, sings opera amongst the grave stones, and has great taste in shoes; Edwar, her best friend , who has seen her through so much hardship. There are others, but these characters really stood out for me.
This is a beautiful story about grief, death, and learning to live and love again. It sounds as though it will be 'cheesy', and I was apprehensive to begin with, but it is really such a lovely book. I laughed, I cried, and I enjoyed it enormously.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read this thoroughly lovely book.

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan is a story about loss and mourning.
I found the beginning on the book confusing and slow. There were some good quirky characters but the subject matter was heart breaking.
I would like to thank NetGalley and John Murray Press for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

A book which, with humour along the way, tackles the subject of death. Or as Sally Red Shoes would have it, the joy of life. One too many stereotypical characters take the edge off the storyline for me, but perhaps they are there to protect the reader from too much grief and to add colour. Ruth Hogan has a way of making you at least smile if not laugh out loud (see "The Keeper of Lost Things")and some of her descriptive passages and indeed sentences, are outstanding. Perhaps she does make it easier to talk about death and it's surprising to see the book described as 'Women's Fiction' - no reason why men shouldn't talk about it and read the book.

I absolutely loved this charming book. I enjoyed the Keeper of Lost Things so I was looking forward to reading this second novel by Ruth Hogan. I actually think this second novel is better than the first! I twigged about the relationship between Masha and Mattie around half way through the book and then I really just couldn't put the book down, as I desperately wanted to find out what happened. The brief and sudden epilogue surprised me somewhat, but at least it saved me from a bucket load of tears. A really endearing, delightful novel. Well done Ruth! Thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to settle into this book. In fact, after cracking it open I put it aside and read three others in my queue before diving back in. I guess that my feeling was that this book felt too considered, and for that reason it's all very predictable. Even the slow drip of information is handled by swapping perspectives, which in itself for a book of this type seems much the same. Everything wraps up nicely for our cast of witty and quirky characters, but even when dealing with such serious subject matter I still felt they were a bit one dimensional. I was far more interested in Kitty's story. That's a book I'd happily read.

This is essentially a book about death, illness, loss, grief and everything in between. It's a book about ordinary people, like you and I, who have been dealt a tough hand and are learning how to play it.
I found the first half of the book a little slow and although I liked the characters Masha and Alice I couldn't understand how they were related to each other.
The second half of the book was much more pacey. All became clear in the end and I loved the twist even though I wish that it had been a bit more of a happy ending. This book is trying to be real though, and happy endings don't always happen in life.
I would read more by this author, who manages to fit some humour into even the saddest parts of the story. I liked the joke about God not being like Marks and Spencers, where you can return something if you don't like it. You can't return the life you have been given, you must just get on with it.
Thanks for Netgalley for allowing me to read this book for free in return for an honest review.

Grab the tissues for this journey from drowning grief to life-affirming beauty.

Emotive. Didn't see the ending coming. Glad I persevered with the book

I nearly gave up on this book after the first couple of chapters but I battled on and what a read this turned out to be. This is the first book by Ruth Hogan I have read and loved how she could paint pictures in my mind with words - so descriptive. The main character Masha is traumatised with grief and spends her time visiting and talking to those buried in the cemetery. She also holds her breath underwater at the local lido to try and blot out the pain and has found some comfort in her huge dog.
We meet the man they call Elvis with his flamboyant dress sense, Kitty Muriel a lady of 70 plus who loves roller discos and theatre. The kindness and understanding of this larger than life lady helps Masha begin the healing process. Sally Red Shoes is a lady with a past who feeds the crows, has a beautiful singing voice and often has difficulty getting her words in the right order.
This book takes us through so many emotions beautifully expressed and ends with a wrong that needs to be put right.

I have not had the privilege of having read the author's previous book, but having heard rave reviews about it, I was eager to read this book when it became available on NetGalley. 

This is a story of mostly one woman and her flamboyant surroundings and equally colourful people. One of whom (the lady of the title) is represented by the red shoes she wears. Masha is still weighed down by the tragic occurrence of years before and is only now coming out of its hold. She is assisted in this by vivid people and by sheer effort. It is not only Sally of the red shoes though, there are others who contribute to the eccentricity of the surroundings. There is also a parallel life of troubled Alice. The story has heart, but my problem with it was it felt a little disjointed. As independent occurrences, the events could tug the heartstrings but put together it was a little confusing.  There was also a very obvious conclusion which is not openly revealed till the very end. Considering my high hopes for this book, I was a little disappointed but it might be a good read for someone who goes in without the aforementioned hopes. As I mentioned, it is about the resilient human spirit and Masha has enough imagination to  keep us entertained for the duration of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is full of quirky characters who look out for each other. The story is sad and emotional but with hope for moving on after bereavement. It wasn't obvious at all what the connection between Masha and Alice was but one's suspicions were aroused and confirmed as the book progressed. I liked the 'word of the day', it would have been nice to continue and despite my best intentions to remember them - I haven't!

This novel is really sad! I understand the author has had some experience of serious illness and cancer but that’s what made it really hard to read for me. It does have much of the trademark humour and observation that The Keeper of Lost Things had, but is so much darker overall.

The two story structure was nice - with Masha as the main focus and then the story of Alice and her son Mattie.All characters have their obsessions and problems and they feel hurt in different ways. Masha for example lost her son when he was very small and so now she spends time in the graveyard to be close to him. She looks upon the inhabitants of this cemetery as a kind of family and seems to know them all. She even has dreams of becoming a sort of tour guide and bringing them back to life by telling their stories.

That got me right there. It took me ages to read the rest as I couldn’t see through the tears. Anyone who has experienced death of a close family member will get this book and it may even help some. It was just too sad and dark for me to appreciate at the moment.

A heartwarming easy-to-read story. We follow the story of Masha, who is very much formed from the events of her past life; she's trying to move on and facing the possibility of opening up her heart again to others. Aside Masha, there are a number of other interesting (and often eccentric) characters, all with their own stories. Alice is ill with cancer and has a secret; Kitty Muriel is a spirited and dashing woman; and 'Sally Red Shoes' of the title walks the rows of the cemetery feeding the birds. The narrative moves from woman to woman as their stories continue. I enjoyed this read, but I did feel it could have carried on a bit longer - I wanted to know more after the final step of the plot!

Masha (not her real name but borrowed from the Chekov character in The Seagull who is first introduced with the words “I’m in mourning for my life”) is still very much in mourning for the loss of her toddler son, Gabriel, a decade before. Blaming herself for his death she lives her life on the periphery, supported by her good friend Edward. She swims, in all weathers, at the local lido. Gabriel drowned and Masha pacifies herself with holding her breath under the water and the fact that she can, if things get too bad, opt out of her life that way. She walks the local cemetery with her beloved dog Haizum and carries on a dialogue with its occupants and it is whilst there that she meets Sally, an old lady who wears red shoes, feeds the crows and sings opera to the skies.

Running alongside the story of Masha is that of Alice, a single Mum of teenage Mattie. Alice also lives on the periphery and Matthew is her absolute world, particularly after the loss of several babies Alice suffered before he was born. As Alice’s world begins to unravel the separate strands of the novel begin to converge.

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a story of loss, death and impending death. It sounds ultimately depressing but it is anything but. The themes are handled with understanding, but also with humour, eccentricity, hope and joy. This book has a huge heart and I loved it. I cared about the characters and although I guessed the connection early on it didn’t matter, I still wanted to know exactly how the author and her characters would handle things and the book finished in a satisfyingly uplifting way - not too cloying or too contrived - just right.

I haven’t read Ruth Hogan’s “The Keeper of Lost Things” but I certainly will do based on the poignancy and subtlety of this one.