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Back The Shoe Queen Save as PDF
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. “And may I say, those shoes are adorable.”
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. ( I )
  7. ( one )
  8. ( two )
  9. ( three )
  10. ( four )
  11. ( five )
  12. ( six )
  13. ( seven )
  14. ( eight )
  15. ( nine )
  16. ( ten )
  17. ( II )
  18. ( eleven )
  19. ( twelve )
  20. ( thirteen )
  21. ( fourteen )
  22. ( fifteen )
  23. ( III )
  24. ( sixteen )
  25. ( seventeen )
  26. ( eighteen )
  27. ( nineteen )
  28. ( IV )
  29. ( twenty )
  30. ( twenty-one )
  31. ( twenty-two )
  32. ( twenty-three )
  33. ( twenty-four )
  34. ( V )
  35. ( twenty-five )
  36. ( twenty-six )
  37. ( twenty-seven )
  38. ( twenty-eight )
  39. ( twenty-nine )
  40. VI
  41. ( thirty )
  42. ( thirty-one )
  43. ( thirty-two )
  44. ( thirty-three )
  45. ( thirty-four )
  46. ( VII )
  47. ( thirty-five )
  48. ( thirty-six )
  49. ( thirty-seven )
  50. ( thirty-eight )
  51. ( thirty-nine )
  52. ( forty )
  53. ( forty-one )
  54. ( forty-two )
  55. ( VIII )
  56. ( forty-three )
  57. ( forty-four )
  58. ( forty-five )
  59. ( forty-six )
  60. ( forty-seven )
  61. ( forty-eight )
  62. ( forty-nine )
  63. ( fifty )
  64. ( fifty-one )
  65. Acknowledgments
  66. Acknowledgments
  67. Questions for Discussion

“I know. But don’t go throwing anything away, will you? It’s not real until it’s on the page. But maybe some of it is on the page. It’s important.”

“Excuse me.” Marianne smiled politely, but there was a tremor of anger in her cheek. “I should go after her.”

Alone again, Genevieve resumed her pew and sat for a while, thinking about Betterson and his work—about the waste of it all. Time and life and poetry. And suddenly something seized her: She was horribly aware of her own life trickling away, and she didn’t want to sit there any longer.

( thirty-six )

THE PACKAGE WAS DELIVERED in the early afternoon, not long after Genevieve’s return, by a boy with a pale face and dirty knees. Semi-hidden behind her bedroom door, she got a look at him when Céline went searching for a tip. And the boy, gaping at the gold-and-gray hallway, the gleaming ebony and glinting lacquer of the furniture, happened to catch her eye.

The box was wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with a pink silk ribbon. Genevieve carried it into the salon. It was probably a gift from baby-besotted Robert, but for some reason her breath was quickening as she closed the door, sat down in a Bibendum chair and placed it on her lap. Something made her close her eyes when she pulled at the ribbon and let that pink bow slip away.

The box was lined with crushed velvet in deep red. And sitting in the center of the velvet lining were the most staggeringly beautiful evening shoes she’d ever laid eyes on.

The gold satin uppers were covered in intricate bas-relief embroidery in gold thread. A pair of magical creatures faced each other on the slender toe of each shoe. Winged, taloned and fierce, they weren’t eagles, weren’t lions, weren’t unicorns, but were somehow all three. They were almost identical to each other—almost mirror images, but if you looked carefully you could discern subtle differences between them. They were rearing up in such an intense manner that you couldn’t tell whether this was the prelude to fighting or mating.

The monsters were surrounded by spirals and swirls, hearts, flowers and snakes, which spread, burgeoning, all over the gently curving T-straps and the counters at their backs. Genevieve had never seen embroidery like it. The patterning was so densely detailed that from a distance it was a mere golden shimmer. It was only when you got close up that you saw the design in its full glory and perfection.

The four-inch narrow heels were made from what looked like solid gold, and they were embossed with a simple design—some intersecting curves inside a circle. The tiny ball-shaped buttons were also of gold and wore the same embossed design in miniature.