Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Women in Black | 1993 | Madeleine St. John | Buy |
| 2 | A Pure Clear Light | 1996 | Madeleine St. John | Buy |
| 3 | The Essence of the Thing | 1997 | Madeleine St. John | Buy |
| 4 | A Stairway to Paradise | 1999 | Madeleine St. John | Buy |
Madeleine St John’s four novels were published between 1993 and 1999. The Women in Black, her debut, is set in a fictional Sydney department store called Goode’s and follows a group of women through the busy Christmas shopping season of 1959. It is the lightest of her books in tone.
A Pure Clear Light (1996) and The Essence of the Thing (1997) are both set in London and deal with relationships under pressure. The Essence of the Thing, in which a woman’s partner abruptly leaves her, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her final novel, A Stairway to Paradise (1999), continues in the same London milieu. All four books are notable for their clean prose and sharp eye for social detail.