Things a Woman Should Know About Shoes

Women love shoes. Even women who couldn't care less about fashion can appreciate the line of a finely turned heel. Women whose lifestyles demand nothing but "sensible shoes" have closets full of designer stilettos unworn in their boxes.

Others meticulously dust and polish a favorite pair. The worst offenders pretend not to care and chuck thousands of pounds' worth of cobbling into the dark recesses of their under-stairs cupboard. For every woman who is obsessed with stilettos as her only means to glamour, there is another whose lust is for boots, or for sandals, or the irresistible allure of satin mules, fluffy slippers, sole-studded "driving shoes", even trainersYou name it, there is a woman out there with a serious habit.

This book is for all women - and men - for whom the mere thought of new shoes prompts an involuntary sigh of pleasure. Better than sex? Maybe.

And of course the two are intrinsically linked - or so the advertising men would have us believe. Can the right shoes get you your man? A new job?