The Women in Black

by Madeleine St. John

The Women In Black * A lost Australian classic, from the Booker shortlisted author, Madelaine St John.

On the second floor of the famous F. G. Goode department store, in Ladies' Cocktail Frocks, the women in black are girding themselves for the Christmas rush. Among the staff are Patty Williams with her wayward husband Frank, the sweet but unlucky Fay, faithful Mrs Jacob of the measuring tape, and Lisa, the new Sales Assistant (Temporary), who is waiting for the results of her Leaving Certificate. Across the floor and beyond the arch, Lisa will meet the glamorous Continental refugee, Magda, guardian of the rose-pink cave of Model Gowns.

With the lightest touch and the most tender of comic instincts, Madeleine St John conjures a vanished summer of innocence.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Australia, Book Club, Historical, Chick Lit, Classics

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 3 out of 5]

[2.75] I expected Women in Black to be the perfect diversion during a stressful week. It was not. Witty and weightless, there was not enough substance here to anchor me to the pages.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geez, I dunno. What am I missing?

I think this is possibly the first time I have ever been bamboozled and swept off a book's trail by its foreword.

Coming to this book knowing nothing about Madeleine St John, I decided to read the foreword written by the film director, Bruce Beresford, who was Madeleine's class compatriot at Sydney University in the early 1960's.

I became interested in the author herself - who was this difficult woman whose tastes went in all directions - Christianity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and what was it about her and her past which made her so quick to cut off friends and family who did her wrong?

Leaving the forward then I was descended into a pile of fluff, from which I somehow just couldn't find myself being able to muster up the energy to care enough about any of these characters. Reviews by others have left me a little bewildered. While Hilary Mantel found it a "pocket masterpiece," and Lee Tulloch devoured it in one sitting as a "delicious meringue" and Bruce Beresford thought it a "comic masterpiece", I found it a sort of sweet silhouette of the Sydney of that time but ultimately, really didn't care all that much.

Sigh. What am I missing?

Maybe I just need to lighten the hell up :)

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t fully engage with the story, or the characters.

[Sawsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the loveliest novels i've read lately
portray life at Sydney in 1959, through women of different ages and background working as sellers in a department store -where they must wear black dresses-
the writer reveal their lives, relationships, feelings and dreams, depicting the changes in woman life through the new thoughts and perspectives of young generations
beautifully written first novel by the Australian writer Madeleine St John

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Women in Black is set in a the Women's Frock section of a 1950s Sydney department store where the sales assistants must all wear black dresses. Patty, Fay and Miss Jacobs (whose Christian name we never learn) all work in 'Ladies' Cocktail' while Slovenian emigre Magda rules the exclusive 'Model Gowns' section. Arriving into this refined environment as a summer casual is bright-eyed Lisa (Lesley to her parents) who has just left school and is waiting for the results of her leaving exams.

It's amazing that this debut novel was written as recently as 1993 when St John was in her 50s. She would have been a teenager in the 1950s and almost certainly shopped in similar stores herself (in fact it's likely that the store in the novel is modeled on the Australian David Jones department stores).

Despite being a private, reclusive woman and having lived in London for 25y before writing this she has caught the feel and essence of the place and time very well. Women were expected to leave school (although Lisa dreams her exam results will be good enough to win her a scholarship to University), work for a few years until they can marry and then stay home to look after the house, cook meals on time for her husband and raise children. Any woman failing to do so was pitied by her friends as Patty is for being childless and 28 year old Fay for being unmarried.

Magda, as a post war refugee along with her husband Stefan is considered quite exotic and Lisa is thrilled to be taken under her wing both at work and outside. Through Magda a whole new world of possibilities opens up for conservatively brought up Lisa.

This book is quite a delight, full of humour and sharp insight. This kindle version also has an informative foreward by director Bruce Beresford, her contemporary at Sydney University, and an obituary by her publisher Christopher Potter.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume is a sheer delight! And set, coincidentally just before Christmas and the New Year - in 1950s, Sydney, Australia. Everyone lives happily ever after - and I love it. I see nothing wrong with happy endings, in fact the whole book is joie de vivre. Anyone can check my French - it's not my forte.

Highly recommended - focussing on the lives of four and more women: Magda an emigre from Slovenia, Lisa Miles, our protagonist, Fay, Patty, and Miss Jacobs, - the ladies in black at F.G. Goode's department store. It tackles a number of difficult, big subjects, but so quietly and unobtrusively that one hardly notices.

Sadly Ms. St John wrote only four novels, but I will be checking them all out.

The publisher must also be given a quick note of salutation - "Text Classics" - a small, independent publisher, based in Melbourne; they won "Leading Edge Books Small Publisher of the Year" in 2018. One to look out for I think.

And an introduction by Bruce Beresford (Australian film director of Driving Miss Daisy, Breaker Morant.)

Happy Reading!

[MaryG2E · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Aussie classic from Text Publishing, The Women In Black by Madeleine St. John is a great read. The musical adaptation of the book, Ladies in Black is playing in Melbourne at present to enthusiastic audiences.

This delightful novel is set in the Women’s clothing department of a major Sydney department store in the 1950s. The story is character-driven, rather than having an elaborate action-oriented plot. It starts rather slow and low-key, but gradually builds into a most entertaining tale. At first I was unsure about its tone, but came to realise fairly quickly that it is a gentle satire, which pokes a benign stick at the mores and manners of 1950s Australian society. Although there is no political content at all, this book is set slap bang in the middle of the conservative era of Prime Minister Robert Menzies, when the country was basking in the benefits of The Long Boom, and consumerism was taking off following the austerities of WW2.

The portrayal of the fairly typical Aussie shop assistants from the 1950s is very well done. Similarly the portrayal of the European migrant woman, Magda, and her husband Stefan, and their friend Rudi. The author has a fine ear for the nuanced language of the respectable working class, as exemplified by the women working in Ladies’ Cocktail Frocks, Fay, Patty and Miss Jacobs, and their families. In sharp contrast she unfolds the personality and lifestyle of glamorous immigrant Magda, who is in charge of the most prestigious department at Goodes, the Model Gowns section. Only the wealthiest matrons of Sydney’s smartest suburbs can afford to buy their frocks from this department, and Magda’s charm and European panache ensure that she closes the deals and delivers the profits to her employers. The black-clad women of Cocktail Frocks are not amused…

Into this interesting environment arrives a sweet, naive school-leaver undertaking a holiday job. Lisa has many talents but lacks self-confidence, thanks in part to the influence of her unambitious parents. While she manages to establish a niche with the ladies in their black work outfits, it is Magda who takes Lisa under her wing and introduces her to a world of opportunities. Already struggling to shake off the shackles of suburban Sydney life, Lisa relishes Magda’s assistance and takes many positive steps to move beyond the hidebound world of her childhood.

The other key characters in the Cocktail Frocks section of Goodes, Fay and Patty, both experience metamorphoses of their own, as the author casts a speculative eye over the prevailing attitudes to love, sex, marriage and domestic life. It is interesting to read the reactions of friends and family when the marriage of Patty and Frank experiences a crisis. Similar to Lisa, Fay finds a refreshing change from Australian males when she mixes with Magda’s “Continental” gentlemen. She blossoms in the new environment, as does Lisa, and their futures are full of promise. Nice to have a book with a genuine happy ending.
4★s

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interim book, light-hearted and fun.

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up here all was luxe, calme et volupte, with nine pink lights and pink-tinted mirrors which made you look just lovely, and the thick grey silence underfoot of finest Axminster.

‘Here’ is Goode’s Department Store in central Sydney, a temple of fashion for the colony in 1959. The priestesses serving the pilgrims on the lookout for a bargain frock or for a last minute party dress are all wearing black uniforms. As the store is preparing for the Christmas rush and for the January Sales mayhem, the regular staff is supplemented with temporary employees. One of them is sixteen years old Lesley Miles, who has just finished high school and is expecting the results of her final exams.
Or should I say ‘Lisa’ Miles?

Changing her name is the young girl’s first step to emancipation, to womanhood and self-reliance. I went through a similar name change when I was 19, so I guess I know a little about the importance of defining one’s independent self.
I know much less about frocks sizes, especially the Australian ones. What the heck is an XXSSW? The novel refers to the 1959 store labels and I wish I had a table of comparison with the current international codes.
So, this is not exactly my usual cup-of-tea, pink walls and hemlines, designers and all that jazz. I was a little apprehensive at the start, but my reservations were put to rest after only a couple of pages or so, mostly by the power of Madeleine St. John’s evocation of her youth in Australia. She was 52, living in London, when she published this, her debut novel. I think she felt she had something important to say, and she does with style, sharpness of observation, wit and, most important of all, compassion.

Lisa Miles is a central figure in the story, but the rest of the ladies in black working in Goode’s department store have stories of their own, just as relevant, as heartbreaking and as inspiring as Lisa’s. Take Mrs. Patty Williams, married to a bastard named Frank, who ignores her and never talks about their failure to have a child. Or Miss Fay Baines, who is getting on in years and is sick and tired of the dating scene: She had travelled this particular road to its bitter and now dusty end and her heart now failed her, but to decline this evening’s engagement had been a thing impossible. Myra would have thought she was mad. Or the secretive Miss Jacobs, who never reveals anything about her life outside the store. They all work in the Ladies Cocktail Frocks department, and they cast critical eyes across the aisle at Model Gowns where the sophisticated Magda ignores them. Lisa, as the new helper, must share her time between the two sections.

The men in these women’s lives are little help, so they have learned to fend for themselves. Lisa’s father thinks girls don’t need an education and has no intention of paying for her to go to university. Patty’s husband Frank is a taciturn moron who doesn’t care about her efforts to conceive. Fay meets only grabby, lecherous bastards on her double dates with her friend Myra. Magda’s Hungarian husband seems to be an exception, but he is a ‘Continental’ with a habit of pretentious discourses, and who even knows what goes on in the heads of these new immigrants?

He was a bastard of the standard issue variety, neither cruel nor violent, merely insensitive and inarticulate. [Frank Williams]

He was a selfish bugger. They all were. But they couldn’t manage by themselves.

What’s a girl, or even a grown up woman, to do in this brutal man’s world?
Buy a new dress, maybe? An injection of self-respect, a daring middle finger to the traditional kitchen and housekeeper role assigned to her. And if the frock comes all the way from a Paris coutourier? A peerless, one-of-a-kind declaration of love that doesn’t need the validation of a man?
Oh-la-la!

Lisa stood, gazing her fill. She was experiencing for the first time that particular species of love-at-first-sight which usually comes to a woman much earlier in her life, but which sooner or later comes to all: the sudden recognition that a particular frock is not merely pretty, would not merely suit one, but answers beyond these necessary attributes to one’s deepest notions of oneself. It had been made, however unwittingly, for her.

Lisa comes to work on a tram, in clothes home sewn by her loving mother. She handles in Magda’s boutique the unique gowns that only the richest matrons in Sydney can afford, the ones that are guaranteed to be unicates that no other lady in town can own. Lisa could never afford such a designer gown. She must save for her plans to go to university and write poetry. But a girl can dream, can’t she?

As the activity at the store becomes more and more frantic with the approach of the Holidays and of the Sales season, as Sydney is broiling under its December summer sun, we get drawn deeper and deeper into the lives of these women who may be dressed in black, but are shining with life, with aspirations.
Some of the details are intriguing, verging on historical trivia from our millennial perspective:

... the Children Shoes Department had an X-ray machine so that you could be sure their foot bones were not pushed out of alignment by their new shoes, and this machine was extremely popular with the better-class mother, until it was discovered that the effect of all those X-rays was somewhat more dangerous than wearing improper fitting shoes, dire as that most surely was.

Some [most] of the human stories are painful, like watching birds with their wings all clipped by the expectations of society.

“Oh Lesley –“ said her mother, “Lisa. If you only knew what being grown up can be like, you wouldn’t want to do it any faster than you have to.”

And there was something so sad about the picture she made, that lone dumpy, self-contained figure, with her hair in a bun, with her half-empty string bag, posting her mysterious letter – that he almost wanted to run down the colonnade and catch her up, and then – well, it was futile. [Miss Jacobs, Mr. Ryder]

Sometimes books help, especially for a young girl who is searching her path to the future or for a woman who is tired of fending off creeps and would rather stay home in the evening and read Anna Karenina. [Fay]

And sometimes you just need to be around other people and let your hair down. Continentals like Magda and Stefan [and their cousin Rudi] are apparently better at this game than repressed native Australians. They sure know how to throw a party, maybe because they learned in their home countries about real pain and about the true value of time, kindness and companionship.

“A nice noisy dinner party is always a good idea, especially when one has had a shock. We’ll kill a pig!”
“And we’ll order an ice-cream cake,’ said Magda, ‘with all their names on it!’

>>><<<>>><<<

After reading Shakespeare in an icy fishing village in Iceland [ [book:The Sorrow of Angels|18250641]], it feels good to move to the hot summer at the Antipodes, reading Tolstoy in a Sydney park during lunch hour. Being a ‘Continental’ myself, I found it easier to relate to the boisterous, uninhibited and culture-starved Magda and Stefan. That chapter about the dinner party in their crowded apartment is all too familiar, and I can’t wait for my next round of ‘petreceri’ this coming December.
As a side note, I found out in the afterword that the author’s grandparents came from Romania, so the Continental link is not entirely imaginary: Madeleine’s adored mother, Sylvette, was born in Paris. Sylvette’s parents were Romanian Jews – Jean and Feigha Cargher – who arrived in Paris in 1915 and fled for Australia in 1934.

I like to think the novel is autobiographical, even in a heavily fictionalized form. The chapters about the young girl who wanted to be a writer were my favorite in the book, so I think it is fitting to close my review with the most beautiful phrase in the whole book, courtesy of the secretive Miss Jacobs:

“A clever girl is a most wonderful thing in all Creation you know, you must never forget that. People expect men to be clever. They expect girls to be stupid or at least silly, which very few girls really are, but most girls oblige them by acting like it. So you just go away and be as clever as ever you can; put their noses out of joint for them. It’s the best thing you could possibly do, you and all the clever girls in this city and the world.”

>>><<<>>><<<

What next? Apparently, there is a movie adaptation, a project that Bruce Beresford, a former friend of the author from her university days, worked for 25 years to complete. I hope to track it down and order it for the Holiday season. This book truly deserves to reach a wider audience and it seems custom made for the silver screen. It has all the ingredients to be called a ‘classic’.

Now then. Young girl. New frock. Box of chocolates. That’s all as it should be!

[John Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 actually, but upped as it is classic Aussie literature.

It took me a while to get into the flow of Women in Black, but eventually I warmed to the story and the characters, the female ones anyway. Rudy and Stephan were good, but they were 'Continentals'. No Aussie males made the grade. The 60s at an iconic Australian store, obviously DJs I believe. Still around. The women are all 'second class citizens' basically and the women working at Goodes are subserivent mostly, trying to make a go of working and finding a man to marry.

It was an enjoyable journey in the end, if one has any interest in Australia back then, enjoy. It was a long time before I came here, so doubly fascinating for me.

Classic.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming novel that gives a picture of Sydney in the 1950s and the salesladies that wore black dresses. I was surprised to find it was written in 1993. I thought it might have been earlier than that. It’s not compelling reading but it is quietly enjoyable. I loved the cast of characters with Patty, Fay, Magda and her husband Stefan and Lesley who changes her name to Lisa. They all work in the frock section (yes they were called frocks not dresses back then) except for Magda who has charge of the Model Gowns section. Lisa is the young one of the group having recently finished her HSC and waiting on results.
It covers a lot including family dynamics and attitudes of the times especially towards marriage and those from European countries. The book has occasions of a wry humour and is basically a feel good read. For anyone interested in how far society has come over the last 50-60 years this gives a pretty good indication, when things like salami are considered exotic and where going to uni was seen as an option for a select group.
Maybe I was just in the mood for something light and nostalgic but I really enjoyed this. I admit I didn’t read the foreword by Bruce Beresford but went straight to the story but I did linger to read more about Madeleine St John’s life at the end. Worth reading if only to see the changes in Australian society since then, but I enjoyed the characters and sharing their lives as well in this pleasant interlude.

[Sherril · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather than saying I finished this book, I’d prefer to say, I am finished with this book.

I am only 24 pages into this book of 224 pages, but I’m afraid it would be agony to make myself read the next 200. I got it because Hilary Mantel, an author I have not had the interest to read, but still appreciated her blurb, “The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up.” I thought I could sure use that and what a promising thing to say about a book. I thought it was going to be charming and “perfect for fans of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, which I most certainly am. Instead it read like an old fashioned book with 1950’s stale, old fashioned ideas without any hint of irony. Maybe it gets better and maybe at some point I will return to it, but for now it goes on my ‘picked up and put down’ and ‘did not finish’ lists.

[Stacey B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just Ok.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet and humorous snapshot of life in Sydney, 1959. Lisa, who has just finished her final exams takes a holiday job at Goode’s, a department store(definitely David Jones!). She is to be shared between the cocktail frock and evening gowns sections on the second floor. The writing is delightful, particularly the dialogue, she really captures the mindset of her characters including the “continentals”! Lots of smiles, an excellent feel good read.

[Amanda - Mrs B's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

*https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com
It’s all about the frocks, the black frocks specifically in The Women in Black, a novel penned by Madeleine St John in 1993. My issue of this novel was published more recently in 2018, to coincide with the feature film production of Madeleine St John’s cult Australian novel. I truly adored this amiable coming of age tale, set against the clear backdrop of Sydney 1959, with the focus being on the private lives of a number of black frocked F.G. Goode’s department store employees.

The Women in Black takes the reader to a renowned department store in Sydney in the 1950s. To assist with the Christmas rush, a teenage girl named Lisa has been employed as a sales assistant to cover the busy summer holiday period. Lisa is assigned to the women’s fashion department, where she is acquainted with another employee, who will change her life forever. Magda is in charge of the cocktail dress section and she takes Lisa under her wing. Together Lisa, Magda and the department store crew negotiate a time of change for women, but also continued suppression. They learn about the value of love, life and friendship in this elegant Australian classic.

I committed the ultimate book sin with this novel. Despite the fact that I purchased and intended to read The Women in Black when the film was released back in September 2018, it sat unread on my shelves until I discovered the feature film on my streaming service. I fell in love with the movie, and then the book. This was a rare case of a novel and the accompanying film being equally charming!

At its heart, The Women in Black is a wonderful coming of age story that I will not forget. Set against an Australian stage, this book represents a timeless reminder of our nostalgic country of yesteryear. We bear witness to the personal growth and metamorphosis of young Lisa, a temporary sales assistant at the department store in which this novel is set. I had a great deal of time and respect for Lisa, she was a special soul that touched my heart! I loved overseeing her journey and when she emerged as a young woman with so much promise I was overjoyed!

Along with Lisa there are a great set of characters who populate this novel. From Magda, the European immigrant who shows Lisa the ropes at work, to dreamy Fay and tolerant Patty, I loved them all! Madeleine St John’s prose is quite cordial at times, but I admired this gracious approach. There are moments of humour and clarity embedded within the pages of this book, that will spark your attention from the start to the close of the novel.

There are some keen eyed observations made on Australia’s society and attitudes of the late 1950s which visibly moved me. St John takes us back to a time when Australia was a new and lucky country. The book is occupied by references to ‘reffos’ European refugees, who were seeking solace in Australia after the war. Through young Lisa’s experience, our eyes are opened to the limitations placed on women to strive for a tertiary education. Lisa’s own father rejects his daughter’s aspirations, which really got under my skin, but I do feel St John accurately captured the feeling of this time. In a number of the other female characters we see women pining for a deeper sense of love, that is more about mutual respect. Change was clearly on the cards for Australian women of this time, but they were still battling against the odds.

The Women in Black presents the reader with a spellbinding journey, filled with reverence. This is a story of personal discovery and self-actualisation, with startling moments of subtle humour, gentle accord and tender friendships. I dearly loved this one and I will ensure that The Women in Black remains firmly on my keeps shelf. I may even indulge in re-read, which is a rare case for me!

If you have a copy of the 2018 feature film tie in, the introduction supplied by Bruce Beresford, the director of the movie, provides an interesting insight into the long process of launching this much loved novel onto the silver screen. Heartfelt, insightful and honest, it was an excellent accompaniment to this exceptional novel.

The Women in Black is book #1 of the 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Sydney in the 1950s, a group of women work in the frocks section of a department store. It is set against the backdrop of the Christmas holiday season when sales are brisk and continues into the New Year. The women wear black dresses at work (hence, the title). We meet each of them and learn about their backgrounds. Most of the plot revolves around their romantic relationships, which is really not my “thing.” My favorite part of it is picturing the Christmas season in Sydney with their warm weather in December. There are also cultural details that I found interesting. It is light and pleasant.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars? I really kind of loved it, but I find I don't have much to say about it. It was charming, quirky, offbeat, and the perfect kind of light holiday read. It was unique and endearing. I really kind of loved it, and it was a lovely first book of December.

[Emma Skapetis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for Uni but I didn't really like it. All of the characters (except for Lisa were snobby and judgemental) and this took ages to engage me. The dress shop was a great setting though. RTC.

[Kylie H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up knowing nothing about it and not having seen the film. It was a charming book, set in the 50's in a Sydney department store. The story follows four ladies who work in the cocktail/evening wear section of the store and their own lives and dreams.
This reminded me of childhood visits to Georges and David Jones in Melbourne where the elevators were staffed. Fortunately the movie was on TV just in this last week and I have recorded it and hope to watch it soon.
A lovely piece of Australian retail history.

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this in one sitting; it was a perfect book to read while on vacation! This is a good book for fans of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” t.v. series, as one reviewer pointed out. Just wish there would have been sequels. Sadly, the author passed away in 2006.

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1950s Sydney, The Women In Black is a charming slice of life in the lives of the women working at the Goode Department Store, famous for its ladies clothing and accessories. Slice of life doesn't often work well with books as it does with films (so many Japanese films wouldn't exist without this genre!) but this is a great exception. St. John knows how to do this.

The book charmingly portrays life in the 1950s without being too harsh. There is an underlying note of despair in these women but they are also standing at the cusp of change, both in their own lives and in society. You can sense the hope for the future. The inflow of European immigrants into the country, diluting its Englishness, is also a much-welcome change. Asian immigrants would follow the in next decade. It's an interesting look at a changing society.

There is no plot - the characters are the plot. There is sixteen year old Lesley Mills, who likes to be called Lisa and wants to go to university. There is Patty Williams, whose relationship with her husband has lain in a rut for years. There is Fay, a woman on the lookout for love and marriage. There is the glamorous Magda, who takes in Lisa and tries to give her confidence. The book revolves mainly around these women, but there are also delightful minor characters, such as Magda's Hungarian friend, Rudi, and Lisa's devoted mother. For a book with basically not much plot to speak of, The Women In Black manages to uphold interest because these characters are so, so real in a very nice way.

The Women In Black is ultimately fluff, but it's wonderful fluff.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Women in Black is first of only four published novels by Madeleine St John. This edition includes a perceptive introduction by her contemporary, Bruce Beresford, and an obituary by Christopher Potter. Under the guise of a story about the staff of the Ladies’ Cocktail section at F.G. Goode’s (the Women in Black), St John takes us back to Sydney in the late 1950’s.

St John manages, with very few words, to bring back the feel of those times, the ideas and attitudes, in full living colour. Nostalgia overtakes the reader at the mention of prices in guineas, frocks (as opposed to dresses), men and women in hats, shops closing at 5.30, local calls for four pennies, the school Intermediate and Leaving certificate results posted at the newspaper offices………the list goes on.

With mention of “reffos” and “continentals”, and salami as a novel food, Sydney of the late 50’s is perfectly depicted. The dialogue is so authentic, it has the reader alternately laughing out loud and cringing (“……don’t say anythink……”). St John’s characters are convincing and easy to love. It was such fun to be a fly on the wall at F.G.Goode’s (which was fairly obviously David Jones) and how lovely to realise that those formidable Women in Black were real people with the same insecurities as the rest of us!

The Women in Black has been aptly described as an Australian Classic. It truly was a delight to read!

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully amusing tale, & pretty close to the bone I would imagine. The author avoided the fate in store for all these black-clad women - there were few avenues for women in the 1950s, & even fewer in Australia. How incredibly exotic Magda & Stefan would seem to Lisa, & what a lucky girl to have met them. A fun & surprisingly sweet read from St. John.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Women in Black (later titled Ladies in Black) is first of only four published novels by Madeleine St John. This edition includes a perceptive introduction by her contemporary, Bruce Beresford, and an obituary by Christopher Potter. The audio version is read by Deidre Rubenstein. Under the guise of a story about the staff of the Ladies’ Cocktail section at F.G. Goode’s (the Women in Black), St John takes us back to Sydney in the late 1950’s.

St John manages, with very few words, to bring back the feel of those times, the ideas and attitudes, in full living colour. Nostalgia overtakes the reader at the mention of prices in guineas, frocks (as opposed to dresses), men and women in hats, shops closing at 5.30, local calls for four pennies, the school Intermediate and Leaving certificate results posted at the newspaper offices………the list goes on.

With mention of “reffos” and “continentals”, and salami as a novel food, Sydney of the late 50’s is perfectly depicted. The dialogue is so authentic, it has the reader alternately laughing out loud and cringing (“……don’t say anythink……”). St John’s characters are convincing and easy to love. It was such fun to be a fly on the wall at F.G.Goode’s (which was fairly obviously David Jones) and how lovely to realise that those formidable Women in Black were real people with the same insecurities as the rest of us!

The Women in Black has been aptly described as an Australian Classic. It truly was a delight to read!

[CanadianReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book revolves around a small group of women employed in the “cocktail frocks” section of a high-end 1950s Sydney department store. The women have little in common beyond their employment and the fairly limited gender roles available to them. “Little, thin, [and] straw-coloured” with a “worn-out face and stiff-looking perm,” Mrs. Patty Williams is in her early thirties and married to the disappointing Frank, “a bastard of the standard issue.” People wonder why it is that at her age she hasn’t yet produced children. Her GP feels sorry for her: “a woman well into her child-bearing years with no baby to nurse: it was unnatural.” The innocent-eyed, copiously made-up, Miss Fay Baines, 28, had dreams of being a show girl. Before coming to Goode’s Department Store, she worked as a cocktail waitress. Never seeming to meet the sort of man she longs for—one who would desire her as well as respect her—she’s had a string of short-term relationships which come to nothing. She’s wonderful with children, and really wants to marry. Miss Jacobs, who does the dress alterations at Goode’s, is a gray-haired, steel-spectacled spinster, stout, swarthy-faced, and seemingly in her fifties. She is a complete mystery; no one knows a thing about her, not even her Christian name. The floor manager, Mr. Ryder finds her as an object of pity, which is strange in a way, as she is kind, brisk, efficient, and seems far less discontent than either Patty or Fay.

One woman gets a little more attention than the others: Magda, a stylish, cultured Slovenian immigrant in her forties, who presides over the magically lit and tastefully furnished model gowns department. Model gowns are one-of-a kind fancy dresses for special occasions. You have to be well-to-do to purchase one of these pricy items. Given her status running this department, Magda gets to wear her own black dresses with artful accessories, unlike the other female employees who are supplied with black crepe 1930s-style frock-uniforms. Needless to say, she is resented by the other women.

“Svelte and full-bosomed” Magda is the most lively of St. John’s characters, and the one who most moves the limited plot of this character-driven novel forward. She and her Hungarian husband, Stefan, introduce Fay to a suave thirty-something Hungarian man who is part of their wide “Continental” (i.e., European) social network. She also takes “Lisa”, the gawky, bespectacled temporary girl (who’s been hired to help with the Christmas rush) under her wing. Eventually, Magda transforms her. Lisa is not really “Lisa” but “Lesley” Miles, a clever but odd duck, who has just written her end-of-high-school exams and stands an excellent chance of winning a university scholarship. (She doesn’t like her unfeminine name and chances a new one when hired at Goode’s). Always disappointed that he wasn’t given a son, Lisa’s father disapproves of her educational aspirations. University is utterly wasted on girls, he thinks.

St. John provides a slice of 1950s urban Australian life in her social comedy. While some of the novel does, of course, unfold in the work place, much of it highlights the women’s lives outside of work. In fact, the ladies actually know very little about each other’s personal and interior lives. Their conversation at work is largely of the grousing variety. With its short chapters and light, brisk style, this is a modest, but entertaining novel.

Thanks to my Good Reads friend Laura for alerting me to this charming book and to a Booker-shortlisted Australian author I’d never before heard of.

[Jennifer Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ladies With An Attitude and Fellas That Were in the Mood

I enjoyed this light and amusing book club selection.

In 1950's Australia, a group of cocktail dress saleswomen wear black frocks and smile at their customers. Behind their smiles, they wrestle with quandaries like refugees assimilating into Aussie culture, fathers prohibiting daughters from attending university, and married women facing infertility. The drama occurs in a time of inflexible gender roles and sexual morays.

My favorite character was Magda, a "reffo" from Slovenia who lords over the model gowns section of Goode's like a meddling mother--but one who is hip, fun, and sassy. She's eager to bring her cosmopolitan flair to hapless young Aussies like Lisa.

Through it all, the women support each other. I love stories about women lifting up other women. And I'm a sucker for happy endings!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book tie-in with the movie! I saw the movie, Ladies in Black first a few weeks ago before Christmas and absolutely loved it. Australian drama at its best. There are a few different intricacies in the novel compared to the movie. This is a pocket-masterpiece that goes well with the movie.

Don't miss the introduction by Bruce Beresford, the director of Ladies in Black.

I'm definitely going to get the movie soon now I've heard it's out on dvd. Beautifully filmed and acted.

The book and the movie go well together. See the movie and read the book.

Light-hearted, down to earth and very Australian with just a touch of European.

[Chiara Santamaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto carino, leggero, frizzante.
Mi ha dato l’idea di una commedia femminile su carta, dove ognuno delle protagoniste ha la sua storia da risolvere e un diverso nodo da sciogliere.
Femminismo delicato degli anni 50, atmosfere eleganti e sognanti.
#gifted

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheer delight.
Years ago a well- read friend told me I would enjoy this, but I’ve only just read it.

Set in a Frock department in an upmarket Sydney store in the late 1950s, in the pre-Christmas rush period, it’s an apparently simple, light tale of the women who sell the Cocktail Frocks and designer gowns to the more affluent women of Sydney.
St John has a perfect ear for dialogue, and a gentle comic touch
The story zips along, the endings are as happy as they’re likely to be with this cast of characters.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The synopsis in the description is accurate.

I loved it and fully agree with this excellent review.