Someone Else's Shoes

Written by British novelist and journalist Jojo Moyes in 2023, Someone Else’s Shoes is a story of loss, solidarity, and growth that interweaves the lives of two middle-aged women from different backgrounds as they try to cope with major life changes. By reinventing the classic trope of having her characters “trade places,” Moyes creates a unique space in which to explore how these two very different women learn to recognize their own unhealthy patterns and ultimately change their own lives for the better.

This study guide refers to the Viking hardcover edition of the text.

Content Warning: This text features discussions of suicidal ideation, sexual harassment, and loss of pregnancy.

Plot Summary

The story begins with a mix-up between two women at a gym in London. Sam is an overworked mother who is struggling with financial problems, a sick best friend, needy parents, a misogynistic boss, and an unstable family unit that relies on her to function. Nisha, on the other hand, has a life that outwardly appears to be perfect, until her wealthy husband, Carl, demands a divorce and cuts off all access to her financial and social assets, leaving her alone in a foreign country. Nisha is left with nothing but her day bag and the change of clothes she brought with her to the gym, but while she is there, Sam accidentally takes Nisha’s bag, and Nisha takes Sam’s.

The mishap forces both women to literally “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes,” as the saying goes. In Sam’s case, the shoes in question are custom-made Christian Louboutin heels, and wearing such an overt status symbol lends her the outward sense of confidence that she previously lacked, making her feel like a better version of herself. With her confident new attitude, she even finds herself enjoying more success at her job as a printing salesperson when she wears them.

Meanwhile, stuck with Sam’s bag and nothing else, Nisha must attempt to regain her assets but finds little success without money, connections, or the status symbol of her expensive footwear. Trying to find a way to sneak into the penthouse of the hotel that she and her husband had been staying in, she is spotted by Jasmine, a hotel housekeeper who mistakes her for a new employee. Upon learning that Nisha has no other place to stay, Jasmine takes her under her wing at the hotel and invites Nisha into her home. With this act of kindness, Nisha begins to learn more about the importance of female solidarity, as Jasmine is one of the few people to treat her well and offer her so much despite having so little to give. Similarly, Nisha bonds with Aleks, a chef at the hotel who keeps her well-fed and lets her reveal what she wants to about herself without expecting their relationship to be transactional. While Nisha’s dire circumstances bring her in contact with these wholesome new relationships, Sam’s marriage continues to crumble as her husband, Phil, becomes inexplicably withdrawn. Sam also struggles at work to navigate encounters with her boss, Simon, who refuses to acknowledge her hard work and dedication.

To complicate matters further, the gym at which the women’s shoes were switched closes suddenly, so Nisha takes it upon herself to track down her Louboutins. She finally calls Carl to arrange a meeting and speaks with him at the hotel, still having no shoes to wear but Sam’s Primark pumps. Their conversation starts off relatively civil, with Carl wanting to offer an equitable settlement, but when he realizes that the Louboutins have been lost, he refuses to give Nisha anything until she finds the shoes and returns them.

Although Sam finds herself acting with more confidence in general, she still has many insecurities about both her marriage and her job. She begins to get closer to her coworker, Joel, with whom she starts boxing lessons. One night, Sam’s daughter, Cat, sees Sam and Joel together and tells Phil about the encounter, showing him the Louboutins as well. Faced with Phil’s resulting coldness upon her return home after a particularly bad day at work, Sam kisses Joel but is interrupted by another coworker. Sam is still reeling from the kiss when Nisha finds her and demands her shoes back. Overhearing Nisha’s accusations that Sam stole the shoes, Simon believes Nisha and fires Sam, creating even more animosity between the two women.

Nisha follows Sam home to retrieve the shoes, and things only get worse when Phil tells Sam that he knows she wore the shoes out to see Joel. The women discover that Cat has taken the shoes to a charity shop. Sam, Nisha, and Sam’s friend Andrea track down the woman who bought the shoes from the charity shop and then bring Jasmine in on their plan to get the shoes back. Faced with this common mission, the women bond with each other along the way. They contrive to steal the shoes back, but at the hotel, Carl’s bodyguard spots Nisha with the shoes and attempts to chase her down. With the help of Aleks, Nisha makes it back to Jasmine’s apartment with the Louboutins but becomes angry at what they represent and tries to smash them. When she does, handfuls of tiny diamonds come falling out of the shoes, revealing Carl’s real reason for wanting them back so badly.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to find the shoes, Carl’s employees have burglarized Sam’s house. Nisha, Jasmine, and Andrea come to help clean up Sam’s house and get her life back in order. Nisha meets with Carl at the hotel again, not revealing that she knows about the diamonds, and agrees to return the shoes if she gets a settlement. In the process of her negotiations, she also blackmails Carl to protect herself and her new friends from any future contact with him. She later gives a police officer a tip about the diamonds, three of which she has secretly taken and replaced with fake ones so that she can give one to each of her friends as a reward. Ultimately, Nisha is able to return home to the US to get her son and bring him back to London, Sam and Phil begin working on their relationship, and Sam begins a new job to which she brings the confidence first given to her by Nisha’s shoes.