Deborah Moggach
The Black Dress
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
Sharp, poignant and full of surprises, The Black Dress is a beautifully observed portrayal of loneliness and life, rich with flashes of dark humour and infused with both wisdom and joy.
Liz Dennis manages the translation rights for The Black Dress
Film Rights
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She really is the Nora Ephron of North London. Such a deceptively light touch, and so funny about the indignities of getting old and all our little vanities.
A darkly funny novel about betrayal, loneliness and the surprising pleasure of being single again.
Not since Freud has sex been more in bed with death... Moggach gets sharper and more mordant with age and about age. Thank goodness... this page-turner is like the best wakes, it will make you feel hungry and alive.
The Times
Princess of the deliciously dark.
Moggach is always funny, perceptive and very contemporary.
A delightful black comedy full of later-life misadventures.
I love clever books that make me laugh. Deborah Moggach, queen of social comedy, is on top form in The Black Dress. Superb.
