Book club notes for Ladies in Black are available at
MADELEINE ST JOHN was born in Sydney in 1941. She moved to the United States as a young woman and then to England, living mostly in London until her death in 2006. Her first novel, The Women in Black (1993), was the only one of her four books she set in Australia. It has now been made into a highly successful musical and critically acclaimed feature film, Ladies in Black. St John also wrote A Pure Clear Light (1996), The Essence of the Thing (1997) and A Stairway to Paradise (1999). When The Essence of the Thing was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, St John became the first Australian woman to receive this honour.
BRUCE BERESFORD is one of Australia’s best known film directors. He directed his first full-length feature, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, in the 1970s. Since then, he has directed more than thirty feature films, including Breaker Morant, The Getting of Wisdom, Don’s Party, The Club, Puberty Blues, Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heart, Driving Miss Daisy, Bride of the Wind, Paradise Road, Black Robe and Mao’s Last Dancer. His most recent film is Ladies in Black.