Women in Black by Madeleine St John

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 level of enthusiasm for Women in Black turned out to be understandable when we discovered how much personal knowledge of 1950s Sydney, and in particular David Jones, there was amongst our group. Most found this book a nostalgic trip into a past world where things seemed less complicated and there was much more goodwill around. The whole group felt St John captured the era perfectly and her focus on the characters rather than the plot helped to make it the enjoyable read it was.


There were plenty of laughs around the table as memories of fashion shopping and joining the work force were discussed and although we agreed the past is more often than not looked back on through rose-coloured glasses, it was still fun to relive this innocent time through the security of, dare I say it, mature wisdom!

All this praise is not to say there were no negatives. Joan felt the whole story was some what superficial and that the writing style lacked creativity. There were also a few who did not really consider this a 'novel' but more a nostalgic commentary.

Either way, it was an enjoyable read for our group after the heavier content of our last book, and the agreed 3 stars is a good indication that we found it worthwhile.