In Madeleine St. John’s The Women in Black, the saleswomen of the Women’s Cocktail and Model Gowns departments in Goode’s Department Store in Sydney take their jobs very seriously, yet all are looking for something more. Patty hopes for a baby, but her husband never seems interested. Fay wants to find someone to settle down with but struggles to find someone who views her as marriage material. Glamorous Madga, a Slovenian emigre, dreams of owning her own boutique. And Lisa, a high school student, wants to go to university, even against her father’s wishes. Over the course of a season, these women’s lives intersect and change in surprising ways.
The Women in Black is a very sweet, fun story. The characters are all a bit caricature-ish and two-dimensional but not necessarily in a bad way. Every woman fits a type, but she fits her type well: the exotic, confident European ex-pat who runs Model Gowns; the awkward, naive school girl she takes under her wing, giving her a makeover and helping her blossom into a young college student; the “aging” single woman looking for love; the housewife trying to improve an uncommunicative and unfulfilling marriage, etc. Additionally, the dialogue feels a bit like reading a book version of a movie from the 1940s–a bit stylized and over the top in a fun way. Yet none of it is silly or performative. Each of the women are navigating something real, true, and, often, painful, and while the trappings of the story may be gauzy and light, their experiences are not. It’s a delicate balance that St. John maintains effectively, and it would be a mistake to dismiss the novel as just a light, frothy read.
St. John plays with her writing structure as well, and one of my favorite chapters is a New Year’s Eve party that is written entirely as the stream of conscious responses to conversations that the hostess, Madga (she of Model Gowns), has with her guests as she flits and flirts through the party, refilling glasses, making introductions, and subtly partnering people up. It’s a whirlwind of a chapter that matches Madga’s whirlwind of a personality and provides a complete party experience even while only featuring her dialogue. It demonstrates an incredibly economical use of structure that creates a specific tone and moves the plot along without wasting a ton of pages, and it’s very fun to read.
Over the course of The Women in Black, all of the women find their inner strength and take a big step forward in their lives, leading to happy endings for all. It is a delightful yet nuanced novel about women taking ownership of their lives and dreams, and I recommend it, especially if you’re looking for something that will just make you feel good.