PRAISE FOR THE WOMEN IN BLACK

“The writing, pared back to invisible bone, appears artless but is highly sophisticated.… A deceptively simple tale for complicated and possibly deceptive women.”

—Sydney Morning Herald

“Madeleine St John has a wicked eye for the domestic details of suburban life and a delicate ear for dialogue. Sharp, enjoyable and as redolent of the 1950s as a jar of Pond’s cold cream.”

—The Times (London)

“Seductive, hilarious, brilliantly observed, this novel shimmers with wit and tenderness.”

—Helen Garner

“All of Madeleine St John’s novels are masterpieces, but if I had to choose one book that conveyed the essence of her extraordinary gift, this would be it. The reader could start with any page of her brilliantly compressed dialogue and realise straightaway that this is the work of an exceptional writer.”

—Clive James