The Shoe Queen
Chapter One
The fancy-dress theme was refuse and waste paper. Genevieve Shelby King's kingfisher-blue dress was all patched over with pages from old literary journals. Her blue silk dancing slippers were embroidered with fragments of poems and tipped with bows made from sonnets. She was one big mass of poetry.
Handing her fur to the man by the door, Genevieve entered the marble-floored hall on the arm of her best friend, Lulu. Count Etienne de Frémont's grand house was all dressed up like his guests. High above their heads, suspended on invisible wires from the ceiling, hung a selection of bicycle wheels, empty bottles and ancient boots.
"It's very Dada," said Lulu.
"Dada was over years ago," said Genevieve. "Why didn't someone tell Violet de Frémont?" And they swept through to the party, leaving Genevieve's husband, Robert, back in the hallway, fumbling for change to tip the coat man and muttering under his breath. It was often this way -- the girls whispering and giggling together, scheming and sharing secrets, while Robert followed behind.
In the ballroom, they hovered by an enormous collage of old theat ... read full excerpt from: The Shoe Queen ebook
