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The Women in Black

By Madeleine St John
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3.56 goodreads logo

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Women in Black by Madeleine St John is set in Sydney during the 1950s and centres around the lives of four women who work at a high-end department store over a summer. Each woman, dressed in her black dress, contends with personal aspirations and societal expectations in her quest for change and fulfillment, offering a glimpse into their professional and personal worlds. This charming novel beautifully captures their struggles and growth, combining humour and drama against the backdrop of changing cultural norms.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to charming slices of 1950s Sydney life, entwined with the personal growth of its characters. It offers a delightful glimpse into the lives and dreams of women working in a department store, highlighting themes of friendship, aspiration, and change.

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Sydney in the 1950s. On the second floor of the famous F.G. Goode department store, in Ladies' Cocktail Frocks, the women in black are girding themselves for the Christmas rush. Madeleine St John conjures a vanished summer of innocence.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Sydney in the 1950s. On the second floor of the famous F.G. Goode department store, in Ladies' Cocktail Frocks, the women in black are girding themselves for the Christmas rush.

Among the staff—Patty Williams with her wayward husband Frank, the sweet but unlucky Fay, and faithful Mrs Jacob of the measuring tape—is Lisa, the new sales assistant (temporary), who is waiting for the results of her Leaving Certificate.

Across the floor and beyond the arch, Lisa will meet the glamorous Continental refugee, Magda, guardian of the rose-pink cave of model gowns.

With the lightest touch and the most tender of comic instincts, Madeleine St John conjures a vanished summer of innocence in The Women in Black.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Women in Black by Madeleine St John is praised for its wit, tenderness, and keen observations. Critics highlight its sophisticated and humorous portrayal of Sydney on the brink of modern change. The novel is noted for its insightful and warm narrative style, punctuated by subtle, sharp humour.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781921656798

Publisher: Text Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 25 October 2010

Country: Australia

Imprint: The Text Publishing Company

Edition: New edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 256

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Madeleine St John Penguin Books

About the Author

Madeleine St John is the author of A Pure Clear Light, The Essence of the Thing (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), and Stairway to Paradise. She died in 2006.

Also by Madeleine St John

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  • The Women in Black: Gift Edition
    A beautiful hardback gift edition of Madeleine St John's bestselling, much-loved novel—now a major film by Bruce Beresford and a successful stage musical by Tim Finn. 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...
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  • A Pure Clear Light
    Simon and Flora Beaufort have three perfect children and a comfortable, happy life in London. When Flora takes the children for a month-long vacation in France, Simon stays home to work on his latest film project... what could go wrong? A Pure Clear Light examines a marriage at the moment it goes haplessly off-track: Simon succumbs to the temptation of...
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  • A Stairway to Paradise: Text Classics
    From the author of the bestselling Women in Black, an extraordinary novel about ordinary people. Alex and Andrew are friends. And Barbara ... Barbara is a goddess. Here is the eternal triangle, the story of three people in an unhappy tangle of emotions, none able to articulate the precise quality of their longing and dissatisfaction. Are any of them truly...
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  • The Women in Black
    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...
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  • The Essence of the Thing
    'My mother sent you this,' he said. 'Oh?' 'I believe it's some marmalade,' he said. 'From the latest batch.' 'How kind,' said Nicola, opening the bag. 'You haven't told them, then?' 'Told them what?' 'That we're no longer in a shared marmalade situation...' Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this brilliant novel from Madeleine St John, author of The Women in...
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