The Women in Black

By: Madeleine St. John

Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein

From the Booker-shortlisted-author of The Essence of the Thing comes a great novel, a lost Australian classic. Written by a superb novelist of contemporary manners, The Women in Black is a fairy tale 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.

©1994 Madeleine St.John (P)2009 Bolinda

Critic reviews

A little gem...shot through with old-fashioned innocence and sly humour." ( Vogue)
"A highly sophisticated work, full of funny, sharp and subtle observations...a small masterpiece." ( Sunday Times, London)

Fun !

This was a good escape from the current climate! Thoroughly enjoy this book.
Deidre Rubenstein did a wonderful job.

A light story

The book is a easy and a light story . That’s not a criticism, the book is a look into the diverse lives of the women who work in a department store in the 1950’s. The narration leaves much to be desired.

Delightful

A delightful little book ! The characters are just wonderful, especially Magda. There is an retro quality to the story, with its setting in an exclusive women's clothing department of a fancy store. It was perfect escapism for me in the midst of the COVID shutdown. The narration by Deidre Rubenstein was fantastic, too. She gave each character a distinctive voice, and her reading of Magda was so fun !

Cotton Candy

If you are a lover of books like Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, this must be your next listen. Charming, funny, light, with just the tiniest bit of weight provided by the hint of social issues that women were dealing with in an Australia post WWII but pre-1960s. This will definitely be a book I turn to again in trying times when I need a little pick me up.

A total delight!

Narration was supurbly performed. A heartwarming story that examined our fears, hopes, and humanity. Would definitely recommend

A Slice of Literary Sunshine

When Text Publishing recently re-released Madeleine St John's The Women in Black, I was thrilled. My copy of the original edition, published in the early 1990s, was borrowed by someone who enjoyed it so much she never troubled to return it, and I was always extremely annoyed, because it is a truly marvellous novel that deserves to be recommended to a wide audience as a minor Australian classic.

The story covers six weeks in the lives of a group of women who work in a thinly fictionalised version of Sydney's flagship David Jones store in the 1950s. Each is at a different watershed in her life. Lisa (her name is really Lesley, but Lisa is more romantic) is a schoolgirl waiting for her matriculation results. Faye is a burnt out party girl, always falling for Mr Wrong, and seeing her chances of settling down with Mr Right fading rapidly as she moves into her thirties. Patty is trapped in a boring marriage with a drongo, with whom she shares little but a desperate desire for children who have never come. And in the midst of everything is Magda, the exotic Slovenian 'New Australian', who rules over Model Gowns like a benevolent despot, and who manages to be fairy godmother while scheming like Machiavelli behind the scenes.

It is hard to underestimate the charm of The Women in Black. On the one hand it is an intelligent feel-good novel, but it was written by a uniquely talented stylist, and manages to be far more than that. It is one of those rare books that can be recommended to practically anyone; so elegantly written, so wryly observed, and so beautifully peopled with thoroughly believable characters that it bears repeated re-readings. As an evocation of a particular moment in Australian history, it is hardly to be excelled. The audio performance was thoroughly enjoyable, even by somebody who has read the book as many times as I have. Please, give this slice of literary sunshine a go. It is hard to imagine being disappointed.

Read with a melodius and versatile voice

This is the sort of book that can be described as a 'little gem'. It's about the women in the black clothes that were de rigueur for sales staff in the department stores for the wealthy in the 1950s.

Temporary assistant Lesley ('I want to be called Lisa') nervously awaiting her Leaving results, arrives and becomes part of the dress section. All her workmates have their stories, life styles so far apart from their monied customers. There is an interweaving of support and care among some of the women, while others are detached and present their work-face only.

Some of the lives are pleasingly resolved through moving into paths of what will 'surely be' love and security -- and the author, St John, gently determines that these paths should support their individual hopes and dreams.

The reader, Diedre Rubinstein, has a melodious and versatile voice and delightfully acts out all these endearing characters.

A great beach read

The reader will enjoy following the progress of these women as they pick and stumble their way through one frantic Christmas retail season and are forever changed

Australia in the 1950’s comes to life

Loved the story. Felt I lived in Australia through the character’s lives and dreams. Disappointed in the ending . “Don’t stop now!” Looking for the other books by Madeleine St. John.

Exquisite narration!

A rather lighthearted romp thru the cocktail dress section of a Sydney department store in the 1950s. The characters are voiced beautifully and add to the fun. Not heavy on plot, this small book merely peeks briefly into the lives of these women. If you're looking for something fun and breezy, give this one a try.