This was a great read - totally different to my expectation. It's set in New York with a backstory in Hollywood and also Eastern Europe. The ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz are a big part of what is a magical story which manages also to be down to earth and realistic. The writing is wonderful - sometimes poetic, often witty but full of twists and turns

I was very much entertained by this charming book; at turns whimsical, at turns gritty, sometimes funny, sometimes touching - it touches on themes of morality and the consequences of choices in life in a way that reminded me of of a New York version of The Casual Vacancy. It has a great cast of characters and I applaud the whimsical element of the ruby slippers and their influence on each character - all in all a great read.

Rosa and her dog Barrell walk the streets of New York, never stopping to speak to anyone, never acknowledging anyone, but always making an impact. Rosa stinks, her odour offends and horrifies anyone that goes anywhere near her. Only her great-nephew Michael attempts to interact with her. Rosa visits his shop with a hand-written note that tells him what grocery items she wants, he hands them over and always encourages her to take a bath. It is this sense of family loyalty that pricks at Michael when he hears that Rosa has had a terrible accident during the St Patrick's Day Parade. He and his wife decide that they must go to her apartment, to clear out and to help. Rosa's apartment really comes as no surprise. Years and years of rubbish, everything from decaying food to old underwear - the smell is atrocious. Yet amongst the rubbish and the waste they discover a beautiful pair of ruby slippers - a legacy from the old days of Hollywood, and a mystery. Why does Rosa have these slippers in her apartment? We are introduced to a cast of characters who seem entirely unconnected, but on further reading we realise that it is the ruby slippers and their worth that bring this unlikely collection of people together. Their secrets, their hopes, their desires and their histories are played out from New York and Hollywood and across Europe. One fabulous, iconic item is the link that binds together a story that is terribly clever, a little whimsical, but utterly human at its centre. At times very funny, and sometimes very very sad, Keir Alexander is a gifted author who has created a story full of characters who are realistic in their faults and a plot that is ambitious yet very well woven together.

Honestly, I found this a little slow to start. Alas, this is the case with many books that have many lead characters with interwoven stories. It doesn't stop it from being a great read though, far from it. Once the characters are established, the pace picks up as they all develop around each other and you see that even in one of the most dense cities in the world, such seemingly disparate characters are all connected. A well written and ultimately charming story, I'd recommend this to anybody looking for emotive and thoughtful contemporary fiction.