The Shoestring Club by Sarah Webb

Summary from Goodreads

Four girls, one remarkable dress and an extraordinary friendship. This title comes from the bestselling author of "The Loving Kind". Julia's best friend has always been Ed - they've grown up together. Ed is now engaged to the sophisticated, grown-up Louise. Julia should be happy for them - but she manages to make a complete fool of herself at his engagement dinner. She suddenly realises she doesn't want to lose him, and throws herself at him in front of everyone. When Louise organises a ball with her charity committee, Julia sees this as her last chance to get Ed back. When she spots the most incredible dress in Shoestring, the vintage clothes shop she runs with her sister, she knows she'll only be able to stagger through the evening if she's wrapped in its silky drapes. But the beautiful dress costs an absolute fortune...Arietty Pilgrim can't and won't attend her ghastly ten year school reunion unless she can arrive wearing exactly that same dress 'funked up' with her favourite cropped leather jacket. But looking after elephants in Dublin Zoo does not a millionaire make. After a chance meeting in the shop, Julia and Arietty set up The Shoestring Club to timeshare the dress - and start a life-altering friendship. There's just one problem. In order to buy the dress, they need more partners...

Paperback, 310 pages

Published September 27th 2012 by Pan Macmillan (first published 2012) 

  

 My Review 

The Shoestring Club is a wonderfully warm and welcoming book that is perfect to curl up with and just get lost in! I devoured this book rather quickly and the end came all too soon. The fabulous characters will keep you entertained throughout and you will end up genuinely caring for most of them. Main character Jules is a real foot loose and fancy free kinda girl and I found myself envying her at times and feeling sorry for her at others. Most people I think will enjoy Jules as she is such a down-to-earth character that really did go on such a journey. The storyline is kept simple but it holds a lot of magic and sparkle which sets it apart from other books out there in the genre. Sarah Webb has filled this brilliant novel full of fun, wit, humour and best of all real emotion, not to mention really strong set of likeable characters!

Julia Schuster is going through a bit of a tough time in her life, her ex-boyfriend 'Ed' is getting married to her best-friend, she is struggling in the job department, she still lives in her Grandma's house and she has a bit of a drinking problem that she can't see. She has been invited to the wedding and she decides to go, hold her head up high, look fabulous and show everyone that she has moved on!

She spots the most amazingly beautiful, perfect silk dress in her sisters shop 'Shoestring' and it's well out of her price range but she is determined to wear that dress! So, she sets up The Shoestring Club, searching for 3 other girls to buy a share of the dress. When the girls come together and the dress starts going on outings the fun really does begin....

The ending is so good, unexpected and I promise anyone who reads it will have a little smile on their faces! I adored this emotional roller-coaster ride and I love how the author keeps things light and fun while still tackling tough, darker issues head on. The book really does have the perfect amount of light and shade! There is also a really amazing love story that doesn't overpower the book. 

An all round must read book and I can easily say that I will be keeping an eye out for more works from Sarah Webb in the future!

 *Special thanks to Pan Macmillan for the review copy*

 4/5 Stars

 Carly :)