The Shoestring Club By Sarah Webb

[amazon_link id=”0230748716″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Shoestring Club’ is by Irish author Sarah Webb.

When the love of her life Ed, announces his surprise engagement to her best friend, Julia Schuster is distraught but determined not to let them see how much she is hurting. She spies a remarkable dress in Shoestring, her sister’s second hand designer shop and know she’ll only be able to stagger through the wedding day showing everyone how over Ed she is, if her body is wrapped in its soft silk chiffon. Unfortunately it costs a lot and she’s barely hanging onto her job as it is. Arietty Pilgrim can’t and won’t attend her fiercely competitive school reunion unless she can arrive wearing the exactly the same dress. But working as an elephant keeper in Dublin Zoo does not make a millionaire. But fate has a funny way of bringing people together. Just as Julia starts to flounder amidst family troubles, problem drinking and a broken heart, she meets Arietty and the two of them set up The Shoestring Club – time sharing one extraordinary dress and beginning a life altering friendship.

As a Sarah Webb fan, it sadly took me a long while to get around to reading ‘The Shoestring Club’ but once I finally got around to it, I realised that this book was definitely worth the wait. The story is in fact a prequel to ‘The Memory Box’ which I had already read last year and it introduces you to the Schuster sisters Pandora, Julia, their family and their vintage clothes shop Shoestring.

The story is seen in the first person through the eyes of Julia, the younger of the two sisters, the wild hare of the family, she relishes in partying but since the recent announcement of her best friend’s engagement to her ex boyfriend, she begins to find a little bit more solace in alcohol than usual and regularly loses control on nights out. Pushing everyone away who is close to her, as she sees their concern as nagging or interfering and the more they worry, the more it seems that Julia is striking out. But unbeknown to those around her, who miss the sweet fun and creative Julia who is the perfect auntie, Julia is harbouring a secret, a secret that gives her terrible nightmares and brings her great sadness and the only way she feels she can escape this sadness is to drink to block out the pain.

As Julia is the star of the book, the accompanying cast is just as interesting. Her older sister Pandora is quite a quirky character with an eye for fashion, she looks out for her baby sister, although they lose the head with each other, there is no doubt that there is a lot of love for one another especially when Julia looks after her adorable and sweetly named niece Iris and their eccentric grandmother Bird.

With the addition of the unique idea of ‘The Shoestring Club’ this brings together a mixture of ladies all looking for the perfect dress. But, sadly are not able to afford it, although with buying into one special dress, the ladies form a bond and a new friendship is forged as they prepare to wear this dress for their significant upcoming events.

The story is wonderfully funny, occasionally romantic with smattering of friendship, and Sarah has highlighted the concerns of binge drinking, the consequences of it and the dark side of losing a parent so young. Delivered in Sarah’s unique, laid back style of writing that the reader can immediately sink into, ‘The ShoeString Club’ is a warm and fun story, with a strong cast of characters including a delicious web designer and a fabulous vintage shop that makes me want to jump on the first train to Monkstown.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0230748716″ target=”_blank” ]The Shoestring Club from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.