Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

Basic Black With Pearls was first published in 1980 by House of Anansi Press and then, finally in 2018 was published by the New York Review of Books press followed by several translations into other languages.

The novel is often well-known for its take on feminism as it looks at a woman who travels, loves and also must confront an immigrant childhood. It was once called “as dazzlingly splintered and disorienting as a hall of mirrors" - which I can honestly say is correct. Alongside the feminism though, it looks at female exploitation as well, and how women are often the ones to follow, often the ones to hide and often the ones to care. The writer's witty confrontation with this irony is often considered to be part of what makes it a modern classic.

Plot

The novel is about Shirley Kaszenbowski, who often calls herself Lola Montez, waiting in a foreign city for her mysterious lover, Coenraad. He is a secret agent (or so she believes) and they communicate through coded messages in a magazine. Dressed in her elegant “basic black with pearls,” Shirley waits in hotel lobbies and cafés, rehearsing conversations and memories, as she anticipates his arrival.

As Shirley wanders through the city, her perspective blends reality and imagination. The streets, shops, and strangers seem to shift in meaning; she perceives secret signals and hidden codes everywhere. Her journey becomes a mental map of longing and confusion, where Coenraad’s supposed instructions guide her deeper into self-reflection. The urban landscape reflects her fractured identity which part and parcel leads the reader to understand more about her character failings.

We begin to learn about Shirley’s domestic life in Toronto: she is married to Max, a respectable but emotionally distant man. Together, they raised two children in a comfortable yet passionless home. Her suburban existence contrasts starkly with the glamorous, dangerous world of espionage she imagines with Coenraad. The affair, whether real or delusional, represents her rebellion against the stifling constraints of domestic womanhood and middle-class conformity. It is her way of communicating her desires in a world that is trying to shut her up.

Shirley’s “missions” with Coenraad are recounted through fragmented memories. She recalls previous encounters in exotic cities such as: Caracas, Rome, Zurich but the details never quite align. Coenraad’s face and manner seem to change each time, and even his voice is inconsistent. The inconsistencies suggest that Coenraad may not exist as a real person but as a projection of Shirley’s unmet desires.

Returning to Toronto, Shirley experiences profound dislocation. The city that was once home now appears alien and oppressive. The familiar streets feel like stages in a dream, and the people she encounters particularly her own family, seem like actors in a performance she no longer understands. Shirley’s narrative voice moves between lucidity and fantasy. She describes secret rendezvous, elaborate disguises, and messages hidden in mundane details. Yet as her story unfolds, we perceive how she uses these fantasies to impose meaning and control upon an otherwise monotonous and disappointing reality.

We eventually learn about Shirley’s past as a Jewish immigrant child. Her memories of displacement, assimilation, and her family’s silence about their origins begin to surface. This buried history suggests that her fragmented identity stems not only from gendered repression but from cultural and generational trauma.

By the end, Shirley returns to her Toronto apartment, where she encounters her husband and children. The moment is charged with estrangement and recognition: she sees her family as if from the outside, unsure whether she still belongs among them. Her fantasies about Coenraad collapse, leaving her suspended between illusion and truth. We never do find out whether her secret lover is real - leaving us on the edge of what Shirley might do next.

Into the Book

Fragmented Identity:

Shirley Kaszenbowski, the protagonist, adopts the alias "Lola Montez" during her clandestine meetings with her lover, Coenraad. This dual identity depicts her internal desire to escape the confines of her mundane existence.

Her transformation is not just superficial; it represents her yearning for autonomy and a more vibrant life. The act of donning "basic black with pearls" becomes a ritualistic shedding of her everyday persona, allowing her to explore facets of herself that remain dormant in her regular life. However, this "alter ego" also shows the reader the dissonance between her true self and the roles imposed upon her by society.

“Tomorrow is always a proper time.”

- Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

Alienation and Loneliness:

Despite her travels and romantic escapades, Shirley remains very much isolated. Her marriage to Max is depicted as emotional distance, and her interactions with others often feel transactional. This sense of alienation is expanded when she returns to Toronto, a city that once held memories of her immigrant childhood. Now, it appears foreign and unwelcoming, amplifying her feelings of disconnection.

Shirley's internal monologues reveal a deep-seated loneliness, as she grapples with the disparity between her desires and her reality. Her affair with Coenraad, whether real or imagined, symbolises her quest for connection and meaning. However, the strange nature of this relationship only deepens her sense of isolation - it doesn't really solve anything.

“You mustn’t cry in public, I told her. – It’s the only safe place to cry. – You humiliate yourself and embarrass others.”

- Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

Fantasy vs. Reality:

Throughout the novel, the boundaries between Shirley's fantasies and her reality become increasingly more obvious. Her imagined rendezvous with Coenraad in exotic locales are described with such vivid detail that they challenge the reader to question their authenticity. This blurring serves as a technique to explore the psychological complexities of Shirley's character. It questions the reliability of memory and perception, suggesting that personal truths are often constructed rather than objective. I tend to think of it as a narrative quality in which she serves as someone who is not deliberately dishonest, but someone who is accidentally so - in a way of wanting the readers to be impressed by her antics.

“Just think, my dear ones, you will not have to wonder for whom the bell rings: it will ring for you.”

- Basic Black With Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

Why It's a Masterpiece

I often liken this book to Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat in the fact that we have a reasonable level of unreliability which is explored through a woman's want to combat her own mundane life (which is really no fault of her own). But the reason why it's considered a masterpiece is because of its 'lost feminist classic' qualities. The author herself is said to have not started writing until the age of 40 at least and it was, in a way, to combat depression apparently. If this is truly the case then this could be the novel of the writer's own fantasies for herself - a life left unlived, shaded by marriage and domesticity.

Conclusion

I remember reading Basic Black with Pearls and really enjoying it. If I can find my copy I might read it again. Remember, it was published by the New York Review of Books in 2018 so, if you have the money then I would recommend picking up a copy. It isn't too long and yet, it is a brilliant read. This is what I had to say about it the first time, when I read it six years' ago...

***

This book is something I enjoyed way more than I thought I would. It is about a woman in an affair with a man that sends her travelling all over the world. Her husband in reality is an asshole. But, in this affair, the man she is with asks her to come to Toronto to be with him and in Toronto, she meets some really interesting people who each have some really sad stories to tell about love, life and death. It is a really cautious story about living in a world you don't know, looking for a person you can't be sure of. The man she's in an affair with is a spy and an agent and so, she has to be very very careful she doesn't cross the line. But, with alias names herself - she is duplicitous and strange in nature. Faking a limp at one point, she will do anything to get to this man - or would she? It's a very character-orientated book and that's what I love about it. As we go through, we learn more about her horrid childhood and growth. We learn more about her husband and her losses and most importantly, her identities.

- Me, 2019

***

If you enjoyed Basic Black With Pearls then you will love:

• The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
• Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Next Week: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy