Women in Black - by Madeleine St John (Paperback)

About the Book

"The women in black, so named for the black frocks they wear while working at an upscale department store called Goode's, are run off their feet selling ladies' cocktail dresses during the busy season. But in Sydney in the 1950s, there's always time to pursue other goals... Patty, in her mid-thirties, has been working at Goode's for years. She's married to Frank, who eats a steak for dinner every night, watches a few minutes of TV, and then turns in, leaving Patty to her own thoughts. She wants a baby, but Frank is always too tired for that kind of thing. Sweet Fay, wants to settle down with a nice man, but somehow nice men don't see her as marriage material. The glamorous Magda runs the high-end gowns department. A Slovenian âemigrâe who met her Hungarian husband in a refugee camp, Magda is clever and cultured. She finds the Australians to be unfashionable, and dreams of opening her own boutique one day. Lisa, a teenager awaiting the results of her final exams, takes a job at Goode's for the holidays. She wants to go to university and secretly dreams of being a poet, but her father objects to both notions. Magda takes Lisa under her wing, and by the time the last marked-down dress has been sold, all of their lives will be forever changed"--

Book Synopsis

"The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up." --Hilary Mantel

"A deceptively smart comic gem." -The New York Times Book Review

"Witty and delicious." -People

The women in black, so named for the

Review Quotes

"When I need a mental escape from a stressful situation, I often fantasize about wandering around one of the grand department stores of my New York City childhood... Most of those palaces of consumption are gone but, fortunately, Scribner has recently published the first American edition of this tart, beguiling novel." -Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

"A striking debut novel of wit, charm, female friendships and universal dreams... a delightful and uplifting slice-of-life view." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"A witty novel set in a posh department store in 50s Sydney, where four women are at work in Ladies Dresses. The author unpacks their secret yearnings as they wake up to--and resist--the limitations of their lives. Delicious." -People Magazine

"Department store particulars are part of the charm of The Women in Black, a deceptively smart comic gem that tracks four women through the pandemonium of one holiday season in 1950s Sydney. Laced with a fierce intelligence that captures the limited options for women and postwar xenophobia views, it's also a love letter to department stores of yore." --Susan Coll, New York Times Book Review

"There is something special about The Women in Black. St John's tone is a joy: brisk, perfectly managed and, in its disdain for clutter, oddly life-affirming. She casts an airy spell with the deftness of her prose, which moves gracefully, swiftly and with perfect manners... conjures a Sydney on the cusp of modern promise; a place where her characters can meet the future with a bright face and step out of the past like an old dress, where limits can be lightly shaken off."
--Delia Falconer, Australian

"A witty little gem of a tale... instantly transports readers back to a more genteel era." --Kirkus

"Funny and light, this story moves quickly as each character navigates the 1950s-era challenges of being a working
woman in a male-dominated society with limited options for the happily ever after they all strive for." --Booklist

"Like the deceptively simple (but perfectly crafted) little black dress, this delicious and sly masterpiece works its magic from the very first sentence. Once you slip into its folds-- full of hope and new beginnings, of luck and laughter and love-- I dare you not to catch yourself smiling, and wanting to twirl, for days and days and days." -Sarah Blake, author of The Guest House and The Postmistress

"A delicious book. Funny and happy, it's like the breath of youth again."
--Jane Gardam

"A highly sophisticated work, full of funny, sharp and subtle observations...a small masterpiece."
--Sunday Times (UK)

"A little gem... shot through with old-fashioned innocence and sly humour."
--Vogue

"Seductive, hilarious, brilliantly observed, this novel shimmers with wit and tenderness."
--Helen Garner, author of Monkey Grip and The Spare Room