Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders met at ante–natal classes and bonded as they learnt the benefits of raspberry leaf tea and relaxation breathing. Neither remedy worked but a friendship was born.
Annie's background is in advertising copywriting and journalism. She cut her teeth on a great little magazine called Southside, and put in the journo donkey work at Essentials, editing knitting patterns, and the late lamented Woman's Journal. Since going freelance in 1990, she has written for several publications including the Evening Standard and Homes and Gardens, as well as editing Inspector Morse for serial in the Sunday People, without giving away whodunnit. She has three boys and has built her own house on a hill in Warwickshire. She is director of the Stratford-upon-Avon Literary Festival.
Meg comes from a book publishing background, though she started out by translating thirteen volumes of robot technology from French to English. Things got more interesting when she edited and wrote a series of activity books telling children how to cover the kitchen table in glitter and PVA glue. This was obviously before she had children of her own. After a diploma in horticulture, she edited and wrote gardening books but still can't work how to prune apple trees. She is married, has twins – a boy and a girl – and lives near Stratford upon Avon.
They started out together with a mission to save the planet from grammatical horrors and badly placed apostrophes by offering their services as website content writers. Luckily they were rescued from catatonia (after a very dull foray with a government quango report) by the commission to write a book. Trade Secrets resulted, a spin off from the cult BBC2 series of the same name, and was followed by Trade Secrets Christmas, How to Beat the System, Trade Secrets Parenting, Fat Club, Celebrity Fit Club, The Property Chain, but they definitely didn't write a Channel 4 book called Am I Good In Bed? (A title that doesn't bear an answer but the research was entertaining.)
A tedious train journey spawned the germ of an idea for a novel and the rest is literary legend...
Izzy and Maddy are both feeling stuck. Izzy’s husband Marcus is out of work and their marriage is in trouble. Maddy doesn’t know what is going on with her husband, but he has been working late quite a bit and seems distant. To make matters worse, both Izzy and Matty have been forced to live in the English countryside, in a community where they both feel out of place.
When they meet each other at a child’s birthday party the two women feel an instant connection and decide to become friends. Then tragedy strikes and they become even closer as they battle adversity. Yet it is when they go into business together, marketing beauty products from decades old French recipes, that Izzy and Maddy form a bond that is as important and more unbreakable than any other relationship in their life.
Goodbye Jimmy Choo celebrates the power and strength of friendship between women. This book also offers a peek into the world of cosmetics, offering both an English and French flair. There are also some interesting supporting characters, including Izzy’s husband Marcus, who is brilliantly flawed but at times sympathetic as well.
However, the story does become a little bogged down in the middle, when it feels like nothing is really happening for chapters at a time. The book could have easily been shorter without detracting from the story. Also, a lot of the plot is told through description when dialogue or character action would have been more effective.
That aside, Goodbye Jimmy Choo is a wonderful book to curl up with on a rainy day. It is definitely a feel-good read, with strong female characters, humor, and a touch of the exotic. After reading this book you’ll feel like you traveled to England with your best friend, and it will have been well worth the trip.
Meh. Remember the Carnival cruise ship, Triumph, that was stranded in the Gulf of Mexico for 4 days? I was on that ship. Four days with no potties, no electricity. I did have Goodbye, Jimmy Choo. I will say that considering the circumstances, this was a somewhat enjoyable distraction. However....if I had been on a cruise that was not stranded, this book would not have kept my attention. There's nothing "wrong" with this book, except that it is VERY predictable. There's a little twist towards the end, but even that you can see coming. This is a middle-of-the-road read. It's not terrible, but it didn't make me want to stay up late to find out what is going to happen next. Nothing to get excited about.
Building a multimillion dollar company with no prior business experience in less than a year? Improbable. Posing for photos in your garden, destined for the British consumer marketplace, and no one notices the cabbages in the plot are from the supermarket, instead of actually growing from the ground? Impossible. Plus, I really despised the ending. Izzy's choice of man to end up with was just plain revolting to me. Please, if I'm going to have to suspend disbelief this much to get through a book, I deserve a truly delicious ending with pink frosting on top.
Goodbye, Jimmy Choo was Annie Sanders’ first novel but the third I’ve read (after Warnings of Gales and Busy Woman Seeks Wife – both of which I loved). It tells the story of Izzie and Maddy, two women who end up in the countryside but yearn for London life. After a tragedy and a surprise discovery, the girls end up in a whole new direction…
While I enjoyed Goodbye, Jimmy Choo, I don’t think it was as good as Warnings of Gales and Busy Woman Seeks Wife. It took me quite a while to get into the novel – it seemed to be slow going until after the tragedy. However the chance discovery and everything that happened after that had me hooked. It seemed to slow again towards the end as well.
I loved Maddy and Izzie’s characters and loved how they complemented one another. I liked how eager Izzie was to help Maddy after her tragedy (which came completely out of left-field even though tragedy is mentioned on the back of the book – I didn’t expect it so quick) even though she’d only known Maddy a few days. It definitely set the foundations of their friendship.
I thought Maddy was really great and I was so sad for her when the tragedy occured. I felt Izzie seemed a bit too try-hard when it came to her husband Marcus but apart from that I liked her. Izzie and Maddy were the two main characters but there were plenty of background characters – family, friends, children etc. who all added to the story!
The surprise discovery and subsequent events were my favourite part of the book. I hoped so much that Izzie and Maddy could make it work and was so happy for them when it all seemed to come together.
I can’t say what I disliked about the book because the answer would be “not much”. I just found it slow-going and I just didn’t find I could get into it as quickly as the previous two I’ve read.
I also found Izzie’s husband Marcus irritating. I just couldn’t warm to him at all and found him very selfish and very unwelcoming when Izzie and Maddy became friends. I have to admit I was rooting for Izzie to tell him to get lost. Even when he seemed to become nicer I still couldn’t warm to him!
Overall it was an enjoyable enough read, just a bit slow-going for me and I found that it didn’t really hold my attention.
2.5 stars. While I liked that this story was about friendship and perseverance, it was far too long. The middle section could have had 100-150 pages cut without missing anything.
Pros: a fun vibe of hopefulness and quirk of two women finding a new life in the country after living in high society London. The concept was neat--sudden fame and much needed income.
Cons: the characters weren't well developed and sometimes scenes would switch from one paragraph to the next and it wasn't always obvious, so there was re-reading to figure out what had happened. There was a lot of vague transitioning that I think was meant to be clever but instead left a lot of information hanging. And the conclusion was disappointing without much recourse for significant wrongs done.
This is a very good story about two women whose lives take drastic turns for the worse, and about what they discover they can do to turn their lives around.
‘Goodbye Jimmy Choo’ was the first book written by Annie Sanders [Annie Sanders is actually two people, Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders] and I am now a big fan. It’s the story of an unlikely friendship which develops being two women, Maddy and Izzie, both of whom find themselves virtually friendless and living in the country having left their former city lives behind them.
Maddy is a very glamorous mother of three with a beautiful house in the country, loving husband and live-in Nanny. She’s used to the good life and being supported by her husband, so how will she cope when tragedy strikes and she has to cope on her own? Is she capable of fending for herself when the going gets tough?
Izzie hates living in the country and misses her old London life. She’s worried about money and is trying to scrap together what she can whilst juggling her kids and waiting for her husband to get himself a new job. Izzie needs a friend and some excitement and she finds both when she meets Maddy. But how will her husband react to her new success, and will she be tempted by Maddy’s sexy cousin Jean Luc?
I loved both the main characters in this book and revelled in their success when they work together. The personalities of the children were great, and the family inter-play was very well written. The only character that I really didn’t like was Izzie’s husband, Marcus, and the only aspect of Izzie that drove me mad was how she put up with him!
‘Goodbye Jimmy Choo’ has got to be one of the best chick-lit reads that I have come across. I have read it several times, usually in one sitting. I really enjoy Annie Sanders’ style; it’s relaxed and readable whilst still retaining a high standard of writing. The story is excellent and inventive and the characters are lovable. It somehow manages to cover a multitude of emotions seamlessly; you’ll be crying on one page and laughing out loud on the next. Most importantly it has an absolutely perfect ending which leaves the reader thoroughly satisfied and ready to embark on their own Maddy and Izzie adventure!
I liked this book. A tad more substantive than a "beach read" but yet not a book you had to THINK through. Tough topics made a little lighter with the glow of friendship. I will say there were a few pages where it dragged but I still needed to know how things would come a completion so it compelled me to finish. A good overall story --- who doesn't enjoy strong women getting stronger together?!
This book had nothing at ALL to do with Jimmy Choo shoes. The title indicates that it's about women who move from the city to the country, and, as country moms, have to give up their stilettos. In reality, it's about two women who start their own business, bond, see each other through crises, and eventually end on a happy, financially solid note. It's a better book than the title indicates, as chick lit goes.
I liked this book... a bit Pollyanna-ish, but isn't that what we want from chick lit? Actually, this book does deal with some tough subjects, but they are dealt with in a way that is still fun to read.
I feel terrible admitting how much I enjoyed this. A mindless and fun read. I love cosmetics and beauty and this basically dealt with two women creating their own brand and rise and fall of that.
A wonderful story about the power of great friendships.
Moving to the countryside where they don’t know anyone, Maddy and Izzie become fast friends. When tragedy strikes Maddy’s family, Izzie is there for her. Izzie gets Maddie out of her slump and gives her the support she needs.
One day, Maddie is going through a box of items and discovers a journal her grandmother had inherited from a family member. As Maddie goes through the journal, she realizes there are recipes. Maddie and Izzie make one of the recipes to sell at a winter fair. It was a huge hit and ended up starting a business selling this cream.
Their business becomes wildly successful, and it takes a toll on their families. Maddy calls her stepfather, Peter, for advice. He helps them get a plan together. As the company grows, the strain on their families grows. After a year in business, an attractive offer comes from another company to buy them out. Maddy and Izzie talk about the best direction for the company and think they made the right choice but find out it was an underhanded move from the other company.
It was a little slow going in the beginning, but overall a great read.
Maddy and Izzie are an unlikely friendship. But they have more in common with each other than the rest of the mothers in the town. But when tragedy strikes that's what's really brings the two together.
Maddie now a widow, with no money to support her and the children; the two stumble across a small business adventure that soon takes over. Over the next 12 months of their lives the two must band together to live a lie; risking their family relationships. But is it all for the money, when you find out who your real friends are?
This book was unpredictable! Tragedy hits pretty early. The guy does not get the girl. Unrequited love does exist.... but don't give up! Relationships are hard! Family is everything! But the biggest message this book shows us is to be TRUE TO YOURSELF!!
Although this book takes us down a lot of different avenues, it has a lot of unexpected twists; which I didn't always enjoy. There were a lot of times I felt this novel could have ended where it was and it just continued.
Although I wasn't a fan of this novel it hasn't put me off to read this author again.
Started off quite promising, I have to say, I was intrigued and a bit excited at the beginning, the whole setting and premise had potential. But wow, it really lost its sparkle after that. 🤦♀️ The more I read, the more I struggled to get through it. The story just felt SO slow and, honestly, kinda boring. There wasn’t that pull to keep me hooked, and I couldn't help but feel like the characters were a bit meh. 😬
I pushed myself to finish it, because you know, I don’t DNF books (even though I wanted to soooo badly), and it felt like a total slog. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen but nothing ever did. 😴
Izzy and Maddy had some potential, sure, but they didn’t feel real to me, and their friendship and business journey was just not it. Felt like I was reading through mud at times.
The whole vibe just wasn’t for me,the story dragged, and it didn’t give me those AWWW or WOW moments that I need to really connect with a book.
Not one I’d recommend, sadly. Just didn’t hit the mark.
Too long and boring. But I finished it. I liked the ending with Maddy moving to France. Maddy was very likeable. The episode with Tom seemed very out of character for her, and added zilch to the storyline. I did not like Izzy. The book started with her making fun of people who were different from her, and made a big deal of her not fitting in with them. She attached herself to Maddy like a limpet and did neglect her family, so I could see Marcus' point about her obsession with Maddy. Izzy never bothered to ask anyone else for help with Maddy, and was creepily possessive of her. There were plenty of neighbors around willing to help as shown when they were starting the business, Janet especially. It was Maddy who reached out to people for help, Izzy was just along for the ride in the shadow of Maddy's personality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Being successfull was/is not as easy as the protagonists acheived! But nevertheless it was a journey of unlocking inner confidence and giving out an important lesson in empowerment of women! i was intrigued by the title of the book, but the entire book has nothing to do with Jimmy choo! Alas! Overall, if I am going to read too much of make-believe and discard the natural process of a business i DESERVE a good ending! i loathed the end, most of the book was based on a positive and 'i've got this' theme OH! but the ending!!!! Being deceived, cheated and giving up the business was another thing; but saying we are rich now and forgetting why and how the got rich is another! The lack of emotion to losing the business hit me!
I liked reading the book, and I enjoyed the contrast between the two main characters/writers. However, I did not like the way the women were portrayed throughout the book in relation to their decision-making abilities and their personal relationship management and don't even get me started about the ending. The writers should have handled so many aspects of the book differently to make this a truly uplifting story about women and how they're amazing; the writers simply missed their opportunity to do so. As I said, the reading was easy and enjoyable; I kept wishing for changes that unfortunately never came. A lot of people would say these women were dynamic characters, but to me, they stayed pretty static, which again is a shame.
Really cosy, heartwarming read about friendship and overcoming adversity. Boho Izzy meets rich, stylish Maddy at a children's birthday party, where they hit it off and have a casual friendship until tragedy strikes for Maddy. Izzy is there for her every step of the way. Maddy pieces her life back together when she finds focus with an old journal she uncovers, penned by a French relative. The journal contains recipes for beauty treatments which Maddy is determined to make and perfect. With the help of her best friend Izzy and some other trusted locals she begins a journey of discovery. Will the two friends finds success with their new venture and can the two friends fix their lives and succeed?
A funny read about two women - married with children who leave the glamorous charm of the hustle/bustle of London for the country. Neither leave very willingly, not do they fit in in the country. There are some ups and downs, a sudden unexpected death and the chaos of finding their dream and following it.
This is most definitely a beach read/airplane read. It doesn't requite a lot of focus and you know how it will end (happily) after a few chapters.
Unfortunately I found it difficult to get into this book, and I kept waiting for a big plot twist that never came. The character development was solid, but I wasn’t super interested in their stories. It was pretty well written and fine for a chill weekend read! *Will definitely add that chick lit is not my favorite genre by any means*