Goodbye, Jimmy Choo

Annie Sanders
5 Spot (2006)
ISBN 0446697281
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (4/06)

This enjoyable book was written by two awesome women writers under the pseudonym of Annie Sanders. “Goodbye, Jimmy Choo” is a wonderful story about two women who bond with each other after being transplanted from London to a rural area in England. Maddie and Izzie are the main characters in this engaging story. Both women have roles as wives and mothers, however, Maddie lives the high society ritzy lifestyle and Izzie is more of Bohemian type that has to work hard to make ends meet.

When Maddie becomes widowed, Izzie steps in and helps her to pull herself and her family together. Maddie’s financial situation changes as well. When she finds an old family journal that contains healing recipes, she and Izzy unite in a business venture to market a wonderful facial crème. They both discover who their true friends are as they seek help in developing this product. The main ingredient is actually a noxious smelling weed that Maddie’s cousin has to ship from France.

You will laugh out loud as you read about their adventures in creating the crème in Maddie’s kitchen. To further market the product, both women have to change their personas from urban chic to country chick! This is an adventure in itself as they borrow clothing from the local minister’s wife to help them downplay their images and appear more ‘earthy.’ As the women work hard to succeed, they have to deal with issues arising from their families reacting to the changes. Izzie’s husband is not receptive to her success and feels left out. As the company evolves, so do personal relationships in the story.

I highly recommend this book to all women. It is humorous, yet it has depth. The issues that these women have to deal with feel real as you are reading. I think this would be a great book for a women’s reading group. Oprah needs to get her hands on this great story!

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