Possibly I came to the book with too-high expectations, as several friends had raved about it, but Madeleine St John’s opus never really captured my imagination. The novel has a forward by Bruce Beresford, who studied with St John, and his contribution seems apt – the novel reads like a film treatment, and he is adapting it for the screen sometime in the near future. As a novel, it has a curious weightlessness, with characters only lightly sketched, their narrative arcs predictable and almost completely devoid of tension.There’s aspiring poet Lesley, who changes her name to Lisa and yearns to go to University; ex-showgirl-with-a-heart-of-gold Fay, whose only wish is to marry; childless Patty, withering under the force of her husband’s inattention; and “Continental snake-woman” Magda, whose elegance and savoir faire will play a transformative role in all the women’s lives. For, as befits any novel set in the Cockail Frock department of a thinly-veiled David Jones, The Women in Black is all about transformation. Patty’s prospects are improved by the purchase of a black “improved nylon” nightie; Fay’s by the discovery of Anna Karenina, and by Magda’s introducing her to art, theatre, and handsome Magyar playboy Rudi.Mousy and studious Lisa, of course, blossoms into a confident, slender young woman via one of Magda’s miraculous couture pieces. St John is at her best when describing the peculiar magic of the right piece of clothing; “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.” The frock in question is a white flouncy number named – what a coincidence! – ‘Lisette’, which perfectly articulates Lesley/Lisa’s nascent sense of self and fits her like a glove.Plots points are knocked over as clunkily as dominoes, with St John breezily assuring us that everything will work out for the best. Frustratingly, other than a few token references to vintage dress sizes, the 50s milieu is pretty well ignored. Rather than evoke mid-century Sydney in all its cinematic detail, St John’s setting plays second banana to the retrograde language and opinions her characters espouse – as though, having indulged in creating some rather sexist and xenophobic characters, she cast around frantically for a backdrop to make their behaviour acceptable. I read The Women in Black thirsty for detail, for a distinct sense of the characters and their environment, which St John never really provides. Magda, the glamorous immigrant who is given the task of making her Australian counterparts’ lives more fabulous, is given little characterisation beyond a few cutely mangled idioms and the glib assertion that she had “been through hell”. St John doesn’t seem to be a lazy writer, or an incompetent one, so it pains me that she’s assembled all the components of a fascinating and poignant look at women’s lives half a century ago and forgone it in favour of a frothy, empty beach read.
The Women in Black was a book I’d had on my ‘must buy’ list for some time. Fortunately, the release of Text Classics meant that I simply had to buy it! In my hazy recollection, I thought that this book might be something like the television programme Are You Being Served? but with a bit more weight to it.I was wrong. In no way should this book be compared to that TV show – this book is SO MUCH MORE. (Yes, I’m shouting. Delete those thoughts of Mrs Slocombe’s hair immediately). This is a book about Sydney (Australia) of the 1950s, of growing up, of relationships, friendships and a culture slowly changing to accept the influx of immigration post WWII. It’s a lovely book and stands beautifully on its own. Well done Text Publishing for reprinting this one and adding it as an Australian classic!The women in black that the title refers to are the women who work at a central Sydney department store (I had David Jones, Elizabeth St in my head). They all work in Ladies’ Wear in F.G Goode’s. There’s the somewhat unhappily married Patty, whose life seems in a bit of a rut. The new Christmas casual is Lisa, who has just finished her Leaving Certificate and wants to go on to university against her father’s wishes. Fay needs a man. Magda seems exotically foreign to the others (she eats salami!) but her growing friendship with Lisa will bring these women together.This book celebrates a different time when nothing happened and nothing was open on a Sunday, when only the bravest tried those new foreign foods like salami and girls left school, got married and had children. But characters like Magda (who is Hungarian) and Lisa challenge the status quo to change Australia into what we see today. Coming from a blended heritage of English-Australian and European immigrant-Australian, I found this fascinating. A world where people were scared to eat salami, olives and rollmops? Where boiled potatoes were as good as vegetables got? It seems so different to today, when Australians eat anything and everything – and are more accepting of the unknown.This book is delightful. Light, pleasing and enjoyable, it should take a proud place in our history.http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
What do You think about The Women In Black (1994)?
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!
—Marianne
The Women in Black by Madeleine St John has been called a ‘neglected Australian classic’ that all Aussies should have read but probably haven’t.First published in Great Britain in 1993, it was re-released in 2009 by Text Publishing, Melbourne and was the first of four novels that St John wrote before passing away in England in 2006.If you are familiar with the large and luxurious Australian chain store David Jones, then you will recognise it as one of the main players in The Women in Black where it is disguised as FG Goode’s Department Store.The book is set in Sydney in the 1960s and focuses on a number of women who all work in the Ladies’ Frock Department of Goode’s, and who all must change into and out of their unflattering black frocks at the start of each working day and before leaving at night.As we follow each woman through the stifling summer leading up to the Christmas rush and the new year sales, St John focuses on their ordinary lives but with an extraordinary insight. We are allowed into the homes, families, relationships and thoughts of each woman and the result is a real treat.For a full review see http://www.slyonbooks.com/2013/07/the...
—Vicki
It took me a long time to stop misreading this title as The Woman in Black. I think its because my tbr also contains Wilkie CollinsThe Woman in White (Distressingly neither of my versions of these books has an appropriately coloured cover in relation to their title). The missing plural in my understanding of the title meant that the introduction of a swathe of woman in black in the early chapters of the book left me a little bewildered but I quickly became so immersed in this quirky little tale that this disconnect didn't matter. There is alot packed into this novel given its slim size as we establish a connection with each of the characters, St. John uses a smooth sparse writing style with short chapters to create characters whose past, present and future emerge from the pages of this book. And these characters, the women in black, are individual and independent, living their lives, at least by the end of the book, for themselves and by their own choices. Sadly St John only wrote four novels and this is her only novel set in Australia as I would have loved to read the ongoing stories of these women especially Lisa/Lesley and Fay. And I also loved the setting as even though I grew up several decades later and in Melbourne there was still a sense of cultural deja vu (except for the Melbourne bashing, though they did get one thing right we do have the best cake).
—Brianna
