There’s a line early on in The Freudian Slip by Marion von Adlerstein that goes something like “…the packaging doesn’t match the product.” How true. I was totally seduced by the Mad-Men-styled cover of this book – the story promised to be sophisticated, slick and sharp but unfortunately the ‘product’ was disappointing.

The Freudian Slip is set in Sydney in the early sixties. Women wear princess-line dresses and seamed stockings. They are defined by the vital statistics of their bust, waist and hip measurements and if they are over thirty they are over the hill.

The story focuses on three women at advertising agency Bofinger Adams Rawson & Keane, each on different rungs of the social and corporate ladder. There’s divorcee Bea, a talented copy-writer, who goes home to an empty, lonely house. There’s glamorous socialite Desi, a television producer, whose love-life has an impact on her family’s reputation. And then there’s ‘working-class’ Stella, the secretary who manages to secure a promotion only to find that holding her position in the agency is tougher than she anticipated. Continue reading →