The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach

 

The Black Dress by Deborah Moggach.

Published 22nd July 2021 by Headline Review.

From the cover of the book:

Pru's husband has walked out, leaving her alone to contemplate her future. She's missing not so much him, but the life they once had - picnicking on the beach with small children, laughing together, nestling up like spoons in the cutlery drawer as they sleep. Now there's just a dip on one side of the bed and no-one to fill it.

In a daze, Pru goes off to a friend's funeral. Usual old hymns, words of praise and a eulogy but...it doesn't sound like the friend Pru knew. And it isn't. She's gone to the wrong service. Everyone was very welcoming, it was - oddly - a laugh, and more excitement than she's had for ages. So she buys a little black dress in a charity shop and thinks, now I'm all set, why not go to another? I mean, people don't want to make a scene at a funeral, do they? No-one will challenge her - and what harm can it do?

***********************

Retired teacher Pru is suddenly all alone in her imposing 5-bedroom Muswell Hill house, after her husband Greg decides to take himself off to their cottage in Dorset for a new life without her. Facing seventy on her own, feeling abandoned and lonely, despising the smug couples and families that surround her, Pru is desperate for a man to come into her life and take charge.

Living in a daze, trying to cling to some semblance of normality, with pep talks from her longstanding friend Azra, Pru heads off to an old friend's funeral, but is bemused to find that she has attended the wrong service. However, everyone there is so kind and welcoming that she actually finds her self having an enjoyable day - the first one she has had in a very long time.

So, when Pru finds the perfect little black dress in a charity shop that makes her feel something like the wild, heady youth she once was, she decides to buy it and try her luck at a few more funerals - especially ones where the grieving widower sounds just the ticket to fill the gap left by her beloved Greg. What harm can it do?

The way this story plays out is absolute genius, especially in terms of the deliciously dark character development of our central player Pru. The woman we first meet is rather needy and pathetic, lamenting the loss of a husband she has placed on a pedestal, although as we gradually learn more about what when on between them and their children it becomes clear that their marriage was far from healthy. But it is the transformation of Pru into someone very different once she becomes the owner of the little black dress that makes this story so utterly delicious. The dress becomes a key to allow Pru to be free to be someone else, and unlock the reckless side of herself that has been hidden deep inside for the duration of her marriage to Greg. It takes her off in the direction of a farcical, funeral-centred caper that leads her to very unexpected people and places. 

This is really a story about deception in its many forms - the way others can deceive us, the way we deceive others in turn, and intriguingly, how we deceive ourselves. I am loath to say too much here, as the surprises laid out by our highly skilled literary doyenne Moggach are a joy to consume, but Pru's compelling narrative turns out to be quite a confessional, and the things she both admits to on her own part, and on the part of those she trusted, serve to turn the whole piece on its head by the time you reach the end of the tale. Pru has strayed rather far from the straight and narrow it seems, but she eventually finds herself in a place where she is able to leave her little black dress days behind her. Quite how much she has changed is left for the reader to decide though - has she turned over new leaf, or will she fall prey to her devilish side again in the future?

The Black Dress is my favourite Moggach yet - full of deep and humorous insight into the human condition, with razor sharp observations on marriage, friendship - and the weirdness of funerals!

The Black Dress is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Headline for ending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Deborah Moggach, OBE, is a British novelist and an award-winning screenwriter. She has written twenty novels, including Tulip Fever, These Foolish Things (which became the bestselling novel and film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and The Carer. She lives in London.