Stylish Read: "The Women in Black"

"The Women in Black" is set in the Women's Frocks section of a 1950s Sydney department store where the sales assistants must all wear black dresses. Patty, Fay and Miss Jacobs (whose Christian name we never learn) all work in 'Ladies' Cocktail' while Slovenian emigre Magda rules the exclusive 'Model Gowns' section. Arriving into this refined environment as a summer casual is bright-eyed Lisa (Lesley to her parents) who has just left school and is waiting for the results of her leaving exams."

There you have it, a succinct reader review of "The Women in Black", a first novel by Australian writer Madeleine St.John. Originally published in 1993, it was republished this year as a trade paperback with the eye-catching cover shown above.

So "The Women in Black" was a nostalgia piece from the start, looking back to a time when dresses, at least in the British empire, were still called "frocks", before Australia was considered hip and cool, and (last but not least) when department stores were the places to shop.

I found myself remembering my own days as a part-time roving salesgirl in a Cleveland department store, late '50s-early '60s. Cleveland may not have been Australia, but those 550 miles from New York City were as wide as several oceans as far as style went. I learned little about the full-time staff, other than the watch repairman was both a lunchtime lush and a roué. 

The setting of 1950's Australia was far removed from the rest of civilization in the pre-jet age and felt itself slightly inferior to Europe. Yet there was prejudice against WWII refugee "Continentals", who brought in their sophisticated ways (not to mention salami). 

What else makes "The Women in Black" a stylish read?

> The black dresses staff must wear are not their own clothes but supplied by the department store. Wearing them, the women belong to the store as well. They changed clothes going in and out and even for lunch breaks.

> The youngest character, Lisa, gets a makeover by the sophisticated Magda. Until then her mother sewed all her clothes in an attempt keep her a little girl.

> A black negligee makes for a dramatic turn of events.

> One dress, called Lisette, is practically a character in its own right.

> "Model gowns" are the one-of-kinds lusted after by Sydney society as not one of them wants to be seen in the same dress as another.

No bones about it, this is the equivalent of tulle and sequins as a tale. You can spy the happy endings coming from a long way off, but you've been rooting for them all along. 

The author has carefully crafted her characters so each one "speaks" in her own voice. These private conversations with the reader are the joy of books. I was somewhat disappointed in a film version renamed "The Ladies in Black" that made the rounds on PBS last year.

The book is so loved in Australia that it was turned into a musical (also called "The Ladies in Black") in 2017.

Scene from the musical

 

 

But don't think you can skip the book and get to the heart of "The Women in Black" by watching the movie. The real joy lies between the covers.