IT'S a terrible shame that publishers who wish to promote their books to a young female market insist on crappy titles and obligatory fashion references. In My Sister's Shoes is a terrible title for what turned out to be a fabulous book.

The front cover simply rings the author's name and title with pairs of pink and green fashion shoes. I know what they were thinking; no one will buy this book if we say on the cover that its primary storyline is based on breast cancer.

They were probably right. As it was I was sorely put off when in the first few pages I realised what this was going to be about. My mother has survived breast cancer and I didn't relish the idea of my chick lit escapism book tackling this delicate subject.

I have read Moriarty's first book, a humorous narrative about the highs and lows of infertility.

Sister's Shoes is her fourth novel and is much better than her first, combining a fantastic ability to inject her particularly Irish sense of humour into a story that nonetheless deals with a very depressing and serious topic.

Kate, the protagonist, has to give up her presenting career on a dodgy lifestyle channel in London to come home to Dublin and help take care of her sister, Fiona, and more importantly her twin five-year-old boys.

Fiona's husband Mark is a self absorbed mathematician who continues to work long hours away from home as Kate struggles to hold her sister's family together.

Meanwhile their younger brother Derek is still pursuing his dream of becoming a rap star which at the age of 26 is wearing thin on their father Derek's patience and pocket.

"'He's a lively imagination, I'll say that for him, ' said Dad. 'The closest that boy ever got to a drive-by shooting was getting hit by bird shit on his tricycle.'" At times touching and at others genuinely hilarious the novel wends its way through the months of chemotherapy for Fiona as Kate struggles with the loss of her precious career and facing up to the fact that at 30 that's all she has in her life. Ex boyfriend Sam comes into the picture and adds further hesitation to Kate's steadfast determination to get back to her life in London as soon as this nightmare is all over.

There are a couple of great twists towards the end but I was a little disappointed at the final twist, which went for the fairytale . . . something Moriarty commendably refused to do in her first novel. Overall, though, a highly satisfying, funny and thoughtful read.