Ruby Slippers

by Sophie Nicholls

From the author of the Amazon UK Top 5 Bestselling Novel The Dress...
Ever wondered what would happen if you were to just step out of your life for a while? What do you do when your life just doesn't feel like the right fit anymore?

Elena has a career, a husband and a house in London. Everything that you're supposed to want. So why doesn't it feel like enough?

Meanwhile, the ruby slippers are waiting - and they fit her perfectly.

Where might they take her? And will she follow her yellow brick road?

This haunting urban fairy tale traces one woman's journey through a mysterious London landscape and a cast of strange characters, each with something to show her about herself. Is Elena dreaming or is this really happening?

At around 16,000 words, Ruby Slippers can be read in one sitting... or savoured slowly.

'Once I put it down I couldn't stop thinking about it...'

'If you like stories that have a deep, dream-like quality to them then you'll love this one...'

Recommended for wearers of red shoes everywhere.
Also by Sophie Nicholls - The Dress, the Amazon UK No 4 Bestseller

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2011

About the author

Sophie Nicholls is a best-selling author and an award-winning poet based in York in the North of England.

She teaches Creative Writing at Teesside University and is Programme Leader of the MA Creative Writing by Online/Distance Learning.

Reviews

[Rachel Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Downloaded and gobbled up within two hours. I didn't mean to read it in one sitting but Sophie's prose is addictive, dragging you down into Elena's world as she desperately tries to escape the mundanity, the entrapment of her ordinary life - career, husband, mortgage.

Will stir the belly of anyone who has asked "is this it?" and has taken a step down the yellow brick road to seeking something else.

Thank you Sophie, it's beautiful.

[Laura Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all have dark times. And what Sophie Nicholls does so well is to capture the way so many people feel and yet don't act upon. Take this unexpected journey with Elena, who one day buys a pair of Ruby Slippers, and you will discover that when you know what you want and you act on it, you might not end up where you expected, but at least you aren't a stranger to yourself when you get there. Sophie's prose is fluid, forthright and poetic. Sometimes riveting, sometimes raw and always thought-provoking. The best 99 cents I've ever spent! This story will keep you guessing until the end and will have you wanting more. Ruby Slippers also examines in several different POVs the role of people who can, and so seldom do, reach out to those living on the thin line of silent desperation.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is most unusual. There is lots about it I really like. The style is different and therefore captivating. The story is gripping. Similar to Before I Go To Sleep.

Its only a novella. Won't take long to finish.

I have now finished. I enjoyed it. I didn't give it 5 stars because I found the style a bit too confusing in places, but overall it's very worth reading. I have this authors latest work which I will.have to read soon to see how it measures up.

[Sue Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've given this 5 stars even though I'm somewhat confused by this book, to the point where I don't even really know how to write a review for it, so instead here are my thoughts...
It starts clearly, it ends clearly, but the middle is so confusing. Maybe it was me, I'm pretty sure it was Elena, but maybe I'm supposed to feel confused by it. I think that may be the point of the book, and I think I'm supposed to feel a little how Elena does. If that is the case then Sophie Nicholls did a superb job.
Either way I really need to reread this in the near future, I want to try to get my head around it all, and in my opinion any book that makes a person feel that way deserves all 5 stars.

[Maki ⌒☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruby Slippers reminded me very much of a story in lines of The Yellow Wallpaper, or The Awakening - it's not so much a story as it is a study of a psychological disorder. In the case of Ruby Slippers, that would be a dissociative fugue. In a fugue state, a person will forget their previous life, developing a form of amnesia. They'll create an entirely new persona, and occasionally wander off and create a new life for themselves. Fugues can last weeks or years depending on the case. This story is interesting, in the way it compares the fugue state to what Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz experiences.

They story itself was a bit difficult to follow at times. It was gorgeously written, don't get me wrong - but there would be frequent characters shifts with no warning. While it wasn't impossible to figure out who the new narrator was, it was a bit disconcerting, and took a few minutes to put everything together.

As I'm coming to expect from Sophie Nicholls, the word choice was wonderful. The book read like a very long poem, almost.

I enjoyed the parallels to The Wizard of Oz. Some of the most descriptive scenes in the story where the ones where Elena broke away from what she was doing to picture a scene from the 1930's film. Nicholl's word choice and way of description brought a whole new level to Dorothy's reactions.

Between The Dress and Ruby Slippers, The Dress is definitely the stronger story. But Ruby Slippers was published before The Dress was. It feels almost like an experiment of Nicholl's writing style. And I've got to give Ruby Slippers credit for leading to the awesomeness that was The Dress.

[Eleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very unusual read. Intriguing. Difficult to follow, but beautifully written in parts. I wonder whether reader confusion is intentional as Elena's confusion is evident. I found I enjoyed the last few pages most as it all becomes clear, almost want to read it again actually - and may do.

[Gayle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up following the review of a friend of a friend. It was ok but it jumped around a bit and I do like my books to be easy to follow! It's very short though so read in a very short space of time.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good at all. Think it was a waste of money.

[Maggie White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story. Sometimes feel like Ruby did and want to start a new life. Once I got used to the style and worked out which character was talking I found it so easy to read.

[Samantha Panther · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short novella. Read in 45 minutes.