Poignant narration on grief, friendship, courage

3.5 stars

I haven't read the author before, and intend to read her first shortly, so DID enjoy this enough to read more. There were a few thoughts I had as I listened where things grated on me, but overall, I found this moving, with a few shocking moments.

The majority of the story is Masha's, a woman who lost her child over a decade ago and has not been able to recover from the grief since. In a parallel narrative, Alice is almost smothering her own teenage son with love and going through her own difficulties. Masha meets two older women, the Sally Red Shoes of the title as well as the irrepressible 'free spirit' Kitty Muriel, who both may have some lessons to teach her form their own long lives.

I admit, I burst into noisy, messy tears while out jogging listening to this. Some moments were unbelievably heart-breaking. Listening to the scene in which Masha loses her little boy - very hard to picture and to read.

There are characters I liked as well - I understood Masha's pain, I enjoyed Kitty's open, loving nature.

But there were also aspects that exasperated - it's not usual to have two exemplars, two 'guardian angels' for a character to learn from, and I did feel at times that Sally didn't add that much to the story, that her story and character could have been subsumed into Kitty's or taken out, as Kitty was very much the stronger of the two.

It took me until nearly the end to understand the point of Alice and her story, again, it seemed extraneous, even as a counterpoint to Masha and her son's relationship, despite the moving story happening for Alice and her son Mattie. Though, this does change very suddenly at the end. And the end too, brings us up short, leaving no wind-down or epilogue, it's an unanticipatedly swift conclusion. And one that leaves many questions unanswered, and relies on coincidences.

On the whole, it's a bittersweet and uplifting story of a woman moving through the stages of grief, though the last few chapters psychologically pull some of that apart.

I hear wonderful things about Hogan's debut and I look forward to trying it, and I'll likely be listening to this as well.

This book made a very gratifying audio-read, with two voices provided for Alice and Masha, though I found initially that I wasn't always sure from the voice alone whose story I was listening to, and needed context from the text to clarify who it was that was speaking to me. Both were clear and smooth readers, but not different enough to be instantly recognisable. The story itself was easy enough to follow as an audiobook.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy, for an honest review.

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Ending was a bit of a flop

I was waiting on a better ending to be honest. Took a few chapters to get into it and was confused often but the anticipated ending didn’t happen

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Ruth Hogan weaves words like honey.

This is a beautiful story. kept me engaged all the way through and I did not see the denouement until the very end!

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Well written, but took time to appreciate.

This book is veryunusual, and it takes time to appreciate. I kept listening, and it became very rewarding .if you like lots of action, then this book is not for you.

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Another great story...

I read ‘The Keeper Of Lost Things’ by Ruth Hogan & thought it was a wonderful story, so wanted to listen to this audiobook, because I was sure it would be great. I was not disappointed. It draws on a lot of emotions that create a roller coaster, through out the book. I recommend this book & I will be listening to further audiobooks by this author.

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Emotional

This is my third Ruth Hogan read and perhaps it is not her best one - but I enjoyed it very much. I like her characters and situations. I like that characters from other books pop up too.
Some topics in this book are hard and sad...
Sometimes the situations are a bit far fetched....but that can be forgiven as the story is so good.
The epilogue made me cry...so beautifully written, so real.....beautiful

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Couldn’t put it down.

What a lovely heart warming story. Extremely well read. I enjoyed every page and was sad when it ended. Another beautiful story by Ruth hogan. X

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1 person found this helpful

A Heart-warming read.

Beautifully written and narrated superbly. From beginning to end the story delivers a roller coaster of emotions. As the characters came to life I found myself laughing and crying with each unfolding chapter, the humour and sadness combines well. I personally found this to be a listen I did not want to come to an end as it was such an enjoyable story. Definitely one to remember!

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Great Book

Really enjoyed this book. The slow build of the intertwining stories. Was a little frustrated with the ending though. Definitely worth a listen.

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I wanted more

Beautiful and heartwarming, I didn't want it to finish although I was very happy at how it ended. Perfect summer listen.

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1 person found this helpful