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A review by maplessence
The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
5.0
This is Surry Hills, Sydney now. Epitome of gentility.
But it was a working class slum in the 1940s.
and it was home to the working class Darcys, who live in desperate circumstances. The squalor, lack of privacy & bed bugs - this is as far removed from the romantic poverty of I Captured the Castle [bc:I Capture the Castle|860533|I Capture the Castle|Dodie Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178966399s/860533.jpg|950769]as it possible to be. The family can barely afford to feed & clothe themselves (certainly not made an easier by father Hughie's bluster & heavy drinking. I can promise you there is one scene that will have most people grinding their teeth in rage at Hughie's fecklessness) but this family love each other & when it is important they pull together. These were real people that I came to care about & love.
The book is episodic in style. Another GR reviewer has the book was originally serialised in an Australian newspaper & while this shows, I don't think it detracts from their stories at all.
& Park won an award from the newspaper. This is from the start of my copy. I have a first edition - if only it wasn't in such poor condition!
Ruth Park is fading into obscurity in her country of birth (New Zealand.) I just hope she is better known in Australia where she lived most of her life. This, her first novel, is also supposed to be her best, but I still want to read more of her work.
Best New Zealand book I have read this year.
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By Orestes654 (talk) 08:34, 23 November 2010 (UTC) - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link
But it was a working class slum in the 1940s.
and it was home to the working class Darcys, who live in desperate circumstances. The squalor, lack of privacy & bed bugs - this is as far removed from the romantic poverty of I Captured the Castle [bc:I Capture the Castle|860533|I Capture the Castle|Dodie Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178966399s/860533.jpg|950769]as it possible to be. The family can barely afford to feed & clothe themselves (certainly not made an easier by father Hughie's bluster & heavy drinking. I can promise you there is one scene that will have most people grinding their teeth in rage at Hughie's fecklessness) but this family love each other & when it is important they pull together. These were real people that I came to care about & love.
The book is episodic in style. Another GR reviewer has the book was originally serialised in an Australian newspaper & while this shows, I don't think it detracts from their stories at all.
& Park won an award from the newspaper. This is from the start of my copy. I have a first edition - if only it wasn't in such poor condition!
Ruth Park is fading into obscurity in her country of birth (New Zealand.) I just hope she is better known in Australia where she lived most of her life. This, her first novel, is also supposed to be her best, but I still want to read more of her work.
Best New Zealand book I have read this year.