Naturally talented author Jennifer Weiner follows up her best-selling debut novel with a modern fairytale, complete with wicked stepmother.
Meet the Feller sisters, a couple of Gen-X chicks who have little in common save for the same shoe size and a mutual hatred for their stepmother. Pleasantly plump Rose is the uptight responsible one with a successful law career. She pays her bills on time, nurtures a secret love for romance novels and leads an orderly, albeit lonely, existence. Her kid sister Maggie is a devil-may-care beauty who works an endless procession of dead-end jobs in her bid to be an actress. She always gets what she wants but seldom knows how to keep it.
Maggie's release from her latest job results in an offer of room and board from Rose. Maggie trashes the house, raids her sister's closet, brings a puppy home to the no-pets-allowed building and finally crosses a most sacred line, prompting Rose to kick her out and nearly terminate their relationship. Humiliated by her sister's latest transgression, Rose takes a sabbatical from the law office, resulting in a complete change of life and attitude. Maggie, in the meantime, runs away to Princeton where, posing as a student, she gradually comes to understand that it takes more than quick comebacks and a size four figure to succeed.
In less capable hands, In Her Shoes would simply be cheesy, but Weiner's obvious affection for her characters makes this novel satisfying on many levels. The sisters' ups and downs as they change their lives and reconnect with the grandmother they haven't seen in 20 years make for humorous and heartbreaking reading. The age-old idea that only knowledge and self-acceptance leads to love and happiness is the foundation for In Her Shoes, and the author puts her own spin on that the me, making her characters unforgettable in the process.
Is Weiner's sophomore novel as good as her debut? Probably not, but it's a damn close second. With In Her Shoes, Weiner has mastered the theme of strong-but-flawed women overcoming their faults. —Kelli K
This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2002.