London printing company saleswoman Sam Kemp was given a one-day gift pass to a high-end gym. Since the pass is about to expire, Sam decides to use it one morning before a series of sales calls.
At the facility, there's a mix-up in the locker room, and Sam grabs a lookalike gym bag on her way out, leaving her own gym bag behind.
Riding to to her first meeting with several colleagues, Sam reaches into the gym bag for her shoes, and instead of her sensible black pumps, Sam finds red Louboutin sling-backs with four inch heels. Sam can't go to a sales meeting in flip-flops, so she dons the Louboutins and finds that the sexy shoes fascinate clients and help with sales.
This is important to Sam because she has a new boss, a nasty misogynist named Simon who's ALWAYS on Sam's case.
Simon constantly says Sam can't do anything right and insinuates she's dispensable. Sam can't lose her job because she's currently the family's sole breadwinner. Sam's husband Phil - who recently lost his father and his job - just sits on the sofa and watches television. Phil is clinically depressed, but he refuses to take medication or get help.
Thus Sam has to do EVERYTHING: support herself, Phil, and their teenage daughter; walk and feed the family dog; keep up the house; shop for groceries; prepare meals; pay the bills; and so on.
Sam also has to help her retired parents, who expect her to clean their house; shop for them; and see to all their eccentric whims. On top of all that, Sam's best friend Andrea has been diagnosed with cancer, and is currently undergoing treatment.
Though Sam is overwhelmed with worries and responsibilities, she plans to return the gym bag - and the Louboutins - as soon as she gets a chance
On the morning of the gym bag switch, the owner of the Louboutins, an American woman named Nisha Cantor, is horrified to be stuck with Sam's bag, which Nisha thinks is full of germs; nasty skin cells; bad smells; and the like. And that's just the beginning of Nisha's horrible day.
Nisha has been married to wealthy business executive Carl Cantor for eighteen years, and for the entire time, Nisha has been the 'perfect wife.'
Nisha is beautiful, elegant, cultured, and goes everywhere with Carl, whose business interests require constant travel.
As a result, Nisha and Carl's troubled teenage son is at a boarding school in America, where he's lonely and unhappy. Boarding school was Carl's idea, and Nisha reluctantly agreed, since keeping Carl happy is always her first priority.
While Nisha and Carl are in London, they reside in the penthouse of an elegant hotel.
On the day of the gym bag switch, Nisha returns to the hotel and finds that her life is about to be completely upended. Carl has informed the hotel staff that Nisha is not permitted to enter the penthouse under any circumstances, not even to get her clothes (all designer labels of course). In addition, Carl has cancelled all Nisha's credit cards and completely blocked her access to funds. In short, Nisha has NOTHING. It's clear Carl has decided to divorce Nisha, and has been planning this move for a long time.
As the story unfolds we follow Sam and Nisha's arcs.
Sam struggles along with her awful boss, who makes her feel completely cowed at work. Sam does get support from her co-workers, especially a sympathetic man named Joel, which results in an emotional affair.
As for Sam's home situation, she tries hard to pull her husband Phil out of the doldrums. However Phil doesn't respond to Sam's entreaties, and he can't seem to understand how badly he's damaging the marriage.
In the meanwhile, disenfranchised Nisha accidently gets a cleaning job in the hotel where Carl still resides.
As Nisha goes about her work she makes friends with some fellow hotel employees, especially a maid called Jasmine.....
.....and a hotel chef called Alex. Both Jasmine and Alex help Nisha in her darkest days.
Eventually Sam and Nisha's storylines come together, and all the ladies - Sam, Nisha, cancer patient Andrea, and hotel maid Jasmine - cooperate to rectify some wrongs. 🙂
I enjoyed the novel, which has drama, comedy, and interesting characters.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Daisy Ridley, who does a fine job.
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