TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Silver Shoes

About The Silver Shoes

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: She Writes Press (June 19, 2018)

In her second novel, Jill G. Hall, author of The Black Velvet Coat, brings readers another dual tale of two dynamic women from two very different eras searching for fulfillment.

San Francisco artist Anne McFarland has been distracted by a cross-country romance with sexy Sergio and has veered from her creative path. While visiting him in New York, she buys a pair of rhinestone shoes in an antique shop that spark her imagination and lead her on a quest to learn more about the shoes’ original owner.

Almost ninety years earlier, Clair Deveraux, a sheltered 1929 New York debutante, tries to reside within the bounds of polite society and please her father. But when she meets Winnie, a carefree Macy’s shop girl, Clair is lured into the steamy side of Manhattan--a place filled with speakeasies, flappers, and the beat of “that devil music”--and her true desires explode wide open. Secrets and lies heap up until her father loses everything in the stock market crash and Clair becomes entangled in the burlesque world in an effort to save her family and herself.

Ultimately, both Anne and Clair--two very different women living in very different eras--attain true fulfillment . . . with some help from their silver shoes.

Praise

“The crash of 1929, speakeasies and musical reviews, artistic challenges, family secrets, secret desires, romantic complications?these are just a few of the ingredients in Jill G. Hall’s wonderful new novel, The Silver Shoes. Clair and Anne are two compelling characters born decades apart into drastically different circumstances. Each must face her own dilemmas and neither has an easy solution.” —Judy Reeves, author of Wild Women, Wild Voices

“What a delight! Hall captivates and pulls the reader in; the story is as sparkling and fun as the silver shoes that connect the two women together--pure entertainment!” —Michelle Cox, Author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series

"You’ll be cheering for both of these heroines as they insist on finding their own way as artists, no matter what the men in their lives want them to be. Hall's descriptions of Anne's visual art, inspired by the silver shoes, are delicious." —Janice Steinberg, art journalist and author of The Tin Horse

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review:  I was totally taken in by the blurb for this book, because I love Beatriz Williams and this looked like it could be a similar style of book, and in a way it was.

Jill G. Hall writes a very fast paced novel from both sides of the story, both the present and the past. I just wish she would have done a little more research in some of the little details. The Big Bang Theory was referenced and Sheldon became Sherman...and Claire's father in 1929 bought A T & T stock. There was no A T & T until Ma Bell was split up in the 1980's. For me these were some big errors and it was hard to get past them.

Like most of the stories that are written in dueling time periods, I found myself more drawn to the past. Clair was definitely the more likable of the two heroines. She was also easier to relate to, even though I'm hardly a wealthy deb.

She was very spunky and really managed to break away from her controlling father. He was more than a bit much, and it was hard to believe that she didn't try to run away from him to start her own life.

Claire had the more interesting story, especially as the reader is allowed to see what happened to her mother and later with the despicable Farley.

I also loved Winnie and the other girls/women Clair met at the speakeasy and later burlesque house. They really made the story.  The early scenes with Winnie were really great. She was really a fun good time girl. I also got a hankering for nonpareil candies back when Clair visited her at Macy's

Anne is a woman of thirty, but her actions put me in mind of a much younger and definitely less mature woman and from the very minute we were introduced to her boyfriend Sergio, I didn't like him. He was too snotty for me. No matter what he did, even though he wasn't a bad guy, I just couldn't like him.

Its a pair of silver shoes that tie both of the stories together and the contents of the box they came in.

This was an enjoyable read and I definitely will read more by Jill Hall.

Rating: 4 flowers

About the Author

Jill G. Hall is the author of The Black Velvet Coat, an International Book Award Finalist for Best New Fiction. Her poems have appeared in a variety of publications, including A Year in Ink, The Avocet, and Wild Women, Wild Voices. On her blog, Crealivity, she shares personal musings about the art of practicing a creative lifestyle. She is a seasoned presenter at seminars, readings, and community events. In addition to writing, Hall practices yoga, tap dances, and enjoys spending time in nature. Learn more at www.jillghall.com, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.