In order to get more accurate results, our search has the following Google-Type search functionality:
If you use '+' in front of a word, then that word will be present in the search results.
ex: Harry +Potter will return results with the word 'Potter'.
If you use '-' in front of a word, then that word will be absent in the search results.
ex: Harry -Potter will return results without the word 'Potter'.
If you use 'AND' between two words, then both of those words will be present in the search results.
ex: Harry AND Potter will return results with both 'Harry' and 'Potter'.
If you use 'OR' between two words, then bth of those words may or may not be present in the search results.
ex: Harry OR Potter will return results with just 'Harry', results with just 'Potter' and results with both 'Harry' and 'Potter'.
If you use 'NOT' before a word, then that word will be absent in the search results.
ex: Harry NOT Potter will return results without the word 'Potter'.
Placing '""' around words will perform a phrase search. The search results will contain those words in that order.
ex: "Harry Potter" will return any results with 'Harry Potter' in them, but not 'Potter Harry'.
Using '*' in a word will perform a wildcard search. The '*' signifies any number of characters. Searches can not start with a wildcard.
ex: Pot*er will return results with words starting with 'Pot' and ending in 'er'. In this case, 'Potter' will be a match.
Women in Black by Madeleine St. John is a charming traipse through old time 1950s Sydney society. It follows the lives of women working in a department store as they navigate through various things from growing up, finding love, and their friendships with one another. St. John’s decision to set her novel in the 1950s also enables her to write her way through some important moments in Australia’s history. That is, the way Sydney’s societal landscape shifted to accommodate new roles for women and European migrants (particularly from Eastern and Central Europe).
The novel makes a conscious choice to keep things light, painting a version of events that sees relations between women, men, migrants, bosses, and others, through a breezy and humorous lens. It does not seem to be striving to make a serious social commentary, rather, only using its historical setting to add some additional layers of intrigue to the plot. It largely succeeds in this endeavour, St. John strikes often with razor sharp and witty observations of her characters and the world in which they inhabit.
I would recommend Women in Black to anyone who would enjoy a novel that is historical, lively, and entertaining.