I loved this book, such a beautiful storyline. I connected fully with the main characters. Highly recommended. Five stars

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is such a beautiful story.
Very hard to read at times but it also made me laugh out loud.
I found it hard to get in to at first but am glad that I persevered.

I was really looking forward to this book as I had loved " The Keeper of Lost things.' It was a book of two parts for me as I loved the second half but found the first half lost me. At 20% I had to go back and start again as I hadn't connected enough to feel I was following. However, I did persevere and it had me by 40%. The main story moved between Masha who was mourning the loss of her son several years ago and Alice who was raising her son alone whilst facing a crisis of her own. I didn't immediately engage with these women; in fact, It was the supplementary characters that I loved, particularly Kitty Muriel who was just so endearing and even Flo at the cafe. I loved their quirky characters and they were definitely needed to balance some of the darkness of the book.

I was already a fan of Ruth Hogan after reading her first book. Her second book does not disappoint, it is a beautifully told story and I read it in one sitting (a long train journey followed by a compulsion to stay up late to finish it!) The characters are so vivid, and when the book explores some dark and emotional topics the characters give you hope about the resilience of the human spirit.

Masha was once spirited, independent woman with a rebellious streak. Her life has been changed by a tragic event twelve years ago. Unable to let go of her grief, she finds solace in the silent company of the souls of her local Victorian cemetery and the towns lido, where she seeks refuge underwater - safe from the noise and the pain.

This is a well written book that deals with death and mourning it does have its lighter moments though. Masha has never got over the death of her son who drowned at the age of two. She still struggles daily , even though twelve years have passed. She has many friends who are all good characters. The first part of this book starts a bit slow, but keep going with it as the second part speeds up. This is a beautifully written book about death and the grief it brings. Also learning to live and love again. Be prepared to,she'd many tears!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Lohn Murray Press and the author Ruth Hogan for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.