If a woman has beautiful shoes, does she really need anything more from life? When interviewing Sarah Jessica Parker, Time magazine devoted the entire interview solely to questions of the sole. In step with a woman’s soul-fulfilling need for shoes, Edward Monkton writes in The Shoes of Salvation: “For the first time in her life, the lady felt complete. And the lady knew what she had instinctively known all along. That sometimes, only glorious shoes can save you.

* Monkton, perhaps better known as the U.K.’s top-selling living poet Giles Andreae, pairs a fresh narrative style with simple yet elegant illustrations to create this modern-day fable.