Return to homepage	A review of Red Shoes by Stephanie Dale, Weekend Magazine, The Australian, February 1998
Return to Red Shoes contents	Is anyone doing consistently better fiction than the Aussies these days? I think not. And Carmel Bird's fifth novel reinforces the point. Red Shoes offers readers a glimpse into the world of the charismatic, and so often destructive, women and men who manage to lure the hitherto sane into their madness. Bird centres the story -- which is incredibly well-written -- on Petra Penfold-Knight and the tragic figures of Sylvie and Celeste. Red Shoes is told by Petra's guardian angel, a brilliant move which ensures the story has a tandem tale, and gives Bird an extraordinary range for her writing talent. The book is just long enough and is accompanied by The Footnote, a clever creation of the guardian angel which, if used as suggested, fills out the story considerably. Red Shoes is original, imaginative and thoughtful. It also, at times, cuts very close to our community bone.