The Black Dress - Paperback

by Deborah Moggach (Author)

"A darkly funny novel about betrayal, loneliness and the surprising pleasure of being single again" from the author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Good Housekeeping).

At sixty-nine years old, Pru has found herself alone for the first time in her life. Her grown children are out of the house, and her husband, Greg, has filed for divorce. She attributes Greg's betrayal to a cancer scare and a more-than-midlife crisis, but that doesn't make her feel any better--or less lonely. It seems that nothing--not even her eccentric, free-spirited best friend, Azra--can pull her out of her depression. Until Pru sees a black dress in a thrift store window . . .

Its sleek silhouette calls to mind long-gone days of cocktail parties and sophisticated conversation. And it gives Pru a brilliant idea: where better to wear a black dress--and find age-appropriate single men--than at a funeral? As Pru combs through the obituaries and attends masses and wakes, she finds comfort among the bereaved. After all, they're all grieving someone they have lost. But Pru's about to discover that though her new dating plan may get her out of the house and back on the market, the life she's so desperately trying to leave behind isn't done with her yet . . .

"With dry wit and observation, Moggach tackles the perils of ageing with brutal honesty." --Daily Express

"This page-turner is like the best wakes, it will make you feel hungry and alive." --The Times (London)

"As ever with Moggach, the joy is in her witty observations of middle-class life and bracingly tart portrayal of family relationships." --Daily Mail

Author Biography

Deborah Moggach is an English novelist and screenwriter. She graduated from Bristol University, trained as a teacher, and then worked at Oxford University Press. In the mid-seventies, Moggach moved to Pakistan for two years, where she started composing articles for Pakistani newspapers and her first novel, You Must Be Sisters. Her novels The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever were adapted for film in 2011 and 2017 respectively.

Moggach began writing screenplays in the mid-eighties. Her screenplay for an adaption of Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley received a BAFTA nomination, and she won a Writers Guild Award for her adaptation of Anne Fine's Goggle-Eyes. She has served as Chair of the Management Committee for the Society of Authors and worked for PEN's Executive Committee, as well as being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Moggach currently lives in the Welsh Marches with her husband.