Overview

At the very end of the Ladies’ Frocks Departments, past Cocktail Frocks, there was something very special, something quite, quite wonderful; but it wasn’t for everybody: that was the point. Because there, at the very end, there was a lovely arch, on which was written in curly letters Model Gowns. Written by a superb novelist of contemporary manners, The Women in Black is a fairytale which illuminates the extraordinariness of ordinary lives. The women in black are run off their feet, what with the Christmas rush and the summer sales that follow. But it’s Sydney in the 1950s, and there’s still just enough time left on a hot and frantic day to dream and scheme… By the time the last marked-down frock has been sold, most of the staff of the Ladies’ Cocktail section at F. G. Goode’s have been launched into slightly different careers. With the lightest touch and the most tender of comic instincts, Madeleine St John conjures a vanished summer of innocence. The Women in Black is a great novel, a lost Australian classic.

Full Product Details

9781921922299

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Funny and light...perfect for lovers of chick lit with a dash of romance and historical fiction for good measure.' * 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 Book and The Postmistress * 'Wickedly humorous yet tender...Full of old fashioned elegance and witty humour. I loved every page.' * Style Magazine * 'This glorious, witty snapshot of Australia in the 1950s...it really is a gem in the rough....This is no nostalgia piece for a lost way of life, but a clever, funny argument for why things had to change.' * Sunday Times * 'St. John casts an airy spell with the deftness of her prose, which moves gracefully, swiftly and with perfect manners.' -- Delia Falconer * Australian * 'A major minor masterpiece, a witty and poignant snapshot of Sydney the year before yesterday.' * Barry Humphries * 'Seductive, hilarious, brilliantly observed, this novel shimmers with wit and tenderness.' * Helen Garner * 'A delicious book. Funny and happy, it's like the breath of youth again.' * Jane Gardam * 'Funny, affectionate, moving and written with a light, comic touch.' -- Monica McInerney * Australian Women's Weekly *

'Funny, affectionate, moving and written with a light, comic touch.' -- Monica McInerney Australian Women's Weekly

'Funny, affectionate, moving and written with a light, comic touch.' -- Monica McInerney Australian Women's Weekly 'A delicious book. Funny and happy, it's like the breath of youth again.' Jane Gardam 'Seductive, hilarious, brilliantly observed, this novel shimmers with wit and tenderness.' Helen Garner 'A major minor masterpiece, a witty and poignant snapshot of Sydney the year before yesterday.' Barry Humphries 'St. John casts an airy spell with the deftness of her prose, which moves gracefully, swiftly and with perfect manners.' -- Delia Falconer Australian 'This glorious, witty snapshot of Australia in the 1950s...it really is a gem in the rough...This is no nostalgia piece for a lost way of life, but a clever, funny argument for why things had to change.' Sunday Times 'Wickedly humorous yet tender...Full of old fashioned elegance and witty humour. I loved every page.' Style Magazine

`Wickedly humorous yet tender...Full of old fashioned elegance and witty humour. I loved every page.' * Style Magazine * `This glorious, witty snapshot of Australia in the 1950s...it really is a gem in the rough....This is no nostalgia piece for a lost way of life, but a clever, funny argument for why things had to change.' * Sunday Times * 'St. John casts an airy spell with the deftness of her prose, which moves gracefully, swiftly and with perfect manners.' -- Delia Falconer * Australian * 'A major minor masterpiece, a witty and poignant snapshot of Sydney the year before yesterday.' * Barry Humphries * `Seductive, hilarious, brilliantly observed, this novel shimmers with wit and tenderness.' * Helen Garner * `A delicious book. Funny and happy, it's like the breath of youth again.' * Jane Gardam * 'Funny, affectionate, moving and written with a light, comic touch.' -- Monica McInerney * Australian Women's Weekly *

Author Information

Madeleine St John was born in Sydney in 1941. Her father, Edward, was a barrister and Liberal politician. Her mother, Sylvette, committed suicide in 1954, when Madeleine was twelve. Sylvette’s death, Madeleine later said, ‘obviously changed everything’. St John studied Arts at Sydney University, where her contemporaries included Bruce Beresford, Germaine Greer, Clive James and Robert Hughes. In 1965 she married Chris Tillam, a fellow student, and they moved to the United States where they first attended Stanford and later Cambridge. From Cambridge, St John relocated to London in 1968. The couple did not reunite and the marriage ended. St John settled in Notting Hill. She worked at a series of odd jobs, and then, in 1993, published her first novel, The Women in Black, the only book she set in Australia. When her third novel, The Essence of the Thing (1997), was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, she became the first Australian woman to receive this honour. St John died in 2006.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available