The women in black, by Madeleine St John

A charming book first published in 1993.  Set in 1950’s Sydney, Australia, the “women in black” are the employees of Goode’s department store who work in the women’s dress departments.  They are required to wear store-issued black dresses.  Young Lisa takes a temporary job there during the holiday rush while she awaits the results of the exams that will determine if she is admitted to university – something her father doesn’t even know she aspires to and which he is unlikely to support.  She works in the Ladies Cocktail Frocks department along with Patty, married to Frank and longing for a baby – but Frank is always “too tired” -- and Fay, who at 29 longs to marry but keeps dating the wrong men.  A step above them, Magda, a Slovenian post-war émigré, lords over upscale Model Gowns, where one-of-a-kind designer creations are sold.  When Magda takes the young Lisa under her wing, all three of the women’s lives will be changed.  It is a fun and funny look at a bygone time and a delightful read.  The author, who died in 2006, published three other novels, and one was the first by an Australian woman to be shortlisted for the Booker. I would like to seek out and read her others.  209 pp.