A review by innerweststreetlibrarian
The Harp in the South by Ruth Park

5.0

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! I've read this so many times I can't remember the first time, it was probably in the mid-90's. Certainly it was before I really got to know Sydney. The longer I live here, the more appreciative I am that Ruth Park had the courage to write this story, and the the Sydney Morning Herald actually chose it to win it's writing competition. It is so sad, so beautiful, and such a shocking portrait of the horrible poverty that was entrenched in the inner city Surry Hills slums. Walking around today, you could hardly credit the way people used to live here.