Blue Shoe - Hardcover

Lamott, Anne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573222267 ISBN 13: 9781573222266

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2002

Synopsis

When she stumbles upon a small rubber blue shoe and other small items left behind in her deceased father's car, Mattie Ryder, a recently divorced mother of two young children, and her brother struggle to uncover the truth about their dysfunctional upbringing, finding in the process the foundation for a new relationship with her mother and the potential for a new life. 125,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

One of the few progressive Christian writers with a national voice, Anne Lamott's work (Bird by Bird, Operating Instructions) ranges from the meditative to the hilarious. Blue Shoe falls somewhere in the middle of that range. A slow, thoughtful novel, rooted in the domestic routines of child-raising, Blue Shoe follows the newly separated Mattie Ryder as she moves back into her childhood home, recently vacated by her elderly mother, and undertakes the renovation of her entire life. Her best friend Angela has left the San Francisco Bay area to move in with her new lover, Julie. Mattie's ex-husband, Nicky, has settled so quickly into a steady relationship with a young woman named Lee that it is clear they were involved during his marriage to Mattie. Nicky and Mattie's two children are displaying signs of emotional disturbance (Lamott is at her best in describing the quietly weird behavior of young children). And to add to the mix, Mattie's mother is falling into a senile dementia characterized by pleading phone calls and wacky assertions of independence. All Mattie wants is a little more money, a decent boyfriend, and for her philandering father to rise from his grave and solve all her problems. Is that so much to ask? Some of the action in this novel could have been compressed, and the major subplot involving Mattie's father fails to excite, but the strengths of Blue Shoe--humor, unflinching characterization, and keen observation--more than compensate for its weaknesses. --Regina Marler

About the Author:

Anne Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Help, Thanks, Wow,Some Assembly Required, Grace (Eventually), Plan B, and several others. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1573222267
• ISBN 13: 9781573222266
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291