The Women in Black… by Madeleine St John
‘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.’
‘An exceptional writer. Those of us who knew her at Sydney University back in the late 1950s are still trying to forgive ourselves that we never guessed what she would become.‘ Clive James.
‘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.
$29.95 Text Publishing. Published: 30 March 2009
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