Reading: THE WOMEN IN BLACK - Madeleine St John

This charming debut novel - originally published in 1993 - is set in 1950's Sydney and centers around four very different women who all work for the fictitious upscale department store Goode's. The book's title comes from the black frocks each of the female employees wear at work (which can vary somewhat in style, though all must represent dignity and elegance befitting Goode's) - in this case the four main characters being: Patty, married to Frank and in her thirties and a mainstay at Goode's for  years, who is unhappy and longs to have a baby; Fay, younger and single and trying to find love in all the wrong places, as the men she tends to date don't see her as wife material; Lisa, the young and petite newbie who's only working at Goode's on a break from school, waiting to see if her examination scores are good enough to enter university even though her father is against her going; and last but not least ... Magda, head of the couture gowns department and an immigrant from Slovenia, who looks down her continental nose at nearly everyone until she decides to take Lisa under her wing. How I loved this book, which evokes completely an innocence and naivete of the 1950's that gives the reading experience the warm fuzzies of nostalgia. In that context, the stories of Patty, Fay, Lisa and Magda don't necessarily come off as feminist or "modern," and yet there is a terrific core of strength in each of these ladies you'll grow to admire, even in the interactions - friendships - they build with one another. The book's narrative flows seamlessly between characters, telling each lady's story as the novel itself gears up toward Goode's Christmas and huge post-Christmas sales rush, and with author Madeleine St John's skills at writing in a style completely evoking the period the book is set in, it doesn't take long for you to laugh, love, and care about these four ladies and their journeys. A truly feel-good novel that, in the end, I'd genuinely grown to love. (Available February 11)  4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.