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y separately published work icon The Harp in the South single work   novel  
Is part of The Harp in the South Trilogy Ruth Park , 1948-1985 series - author novel (number 2 in series)
Issue Details: First known date: 1947... 1947 The Harp in the South
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Amid the brothels, grog shops and run-down boarding houses of inner-city Surry Hills, money is scarce and life is not easy. Crammed together within the thin walls of Twelve-and-a-Half Plymouth Street are the Darcy family: Mumma, loving and softhearted; Hughie, her drunken husband; pipe-smoking Grandma; Roie, suffering torments over her bitter-sweet first love; while her younger sister Dolour learns about life the hard way.' (Book description from publisher's website.)

Adaptations

y separately published work icon The Harp in the South Ruth Park , Leslie Rees , 1949 (Manuscript version)x400878 Z286009 1949 single work drama
form y separately published work icon The Harp in the South Bruce Stewart , ( dir. Alan Burke ) United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1964 8144099 1964 single work film/TV

A BBC television adaptation of Ruth Park's novel.

form y separately published work icon The Harp in the South Ruth Park's The Harp in the South Eleanor Witcombe , George Whaley , Ruth Park , ( dir. George Whaley ) 1987 Sydney Australia : Anthony Buckley Productions Network Ten , 1987 Z993016 1987 series - publisher film/TV

Adapted from Ruth Park's novel of the same name, The Harp in the South is a six-part mini-series that follows the lives of an impoverished Irish-Australian family during the late 1940s. The Darcy family have moved from the bush to a housing-commission enclave in inner-city Sydney: a world of sly grog shops, prostitutes, pimps, and boarding houses. The father, Hughie, was a shearer's cook who lost his job through alcoholism. Although he is now able to hold down a job, his pay is often docked because he's recovering from a hangover. The family is held together by Mumma Darcy, a kindly but uneducated woman who still cannot get over the loss of her son, who disappeared as a child many years ago. The Darcys' two remaining children are Dolour (who is still at school) and Rowena (who works in a local factory). In order to make ends meet, the family take in boarders, some of whom are quite strange.

y separately published work icon The Harp in the South Trilogy : The Play : Parts One and Two Kate Mulvany , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2018 11940858 2018 single work drama

'A great Australian novel. A landmark theatre event. A portrait of Sydney as it once was.

'The world premieres of The Harp in the South: Part One and The Harp in the South: Part Two are designed to be enjoyed as one unforgettable, epic theatrical experience.

'This major new work is one of the most ambitious productions STC has ever created. Celebrated playwright Kate Mulvany has adapted novelist Ruth Park’s revered Australian trilogy – Missus, The Harp in the South and Poor Man’s Orange – and spread these beloved stories across two equally ambitious plays.

'The two parts stand alone, but together they offer over five hours of monumental, exuberant theatre. It’s a moving family saga and a celebration of Sydney in all its funny, gritty glory.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Year 11 (Unit 2)

Themes

ageing, Australian humour, coming of age, domestic life, life and death, love, poverty, resilience, romance, the Depression, the past

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Information and communication technology, Literacy, Personal and social

Cross-curriculum Priorities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures

Notes

  • Ranked #4 in ABC1's First Tuesday Book Club '10 Aussie Books to Read Before You Die' 2012 voting ballot.
  • Dedication: To my father who first told me stories and my mother who first encouraged me to write them.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Serialised by: The Sydney Morning Herald 1842 newspaper (8308 issues)
      1947 .
      Note/s:
      • Serialised in the Sydney Morning Herald 4 January 1947 (p.6) - 17 January 1947 (p. 8).
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Michael Joseph ,
      1948 .
      image of person or book cover 6985611158281270339.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 271p.
      Description: illus.
    • Boston, Massachusetts,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Houghton Mifflin ,
      1948 .
      image of person or book cover 8546470040014618607.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 300p.
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Harmondsworth, Middlesex,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Penguin ,
      1951 .
      image of person or book cover 284478846091503936.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 251p.
      ISBN: 0140008535
    • Bath, Somerset,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Cedric Chivers ,
      1971 .
      Extent: 272p.
      Description: illus.
      Reprinted: 1974
      ISBN: 0855946083
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1975 .
      image of person or book cover 2124913336686715065.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 251p.
      Reprinted: 1978 , 1983
      ISBN: 0140008535
    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 1987 .
      image of person or book cover 52945354892771904.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 225p.
      ISBN: 0140103031
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      St. Martin's Press ,
      1987 .
      image of person or book cover 236005791306740325.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 225p.
      ISBN: 0312000537
    • Ryde, Ryde - Gladesville - Hunters Hill area, Northwest Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Angus and Robertson , 1991 .
      image of person or book cover 7658074868976520867.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 252p.
      Description: illus.
      ISBN: 0207170673
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Penguin ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 7750574459050869704.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: xiii, 252p.p.
      ISBN: 0141186143 (pbk.)
      Series: Penguin Classics Penguin Books (publisher), series - publisher
    • Camberwell, Camberwell - Kew area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2009 .
      image of person or book cover 8193737782083177981.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 240p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 29 June 2009.
      ISBN: 9780143202752
      Series: y separately published work icon Popular Penguins Penguin (publisher), Camberwell : Penguin , 2008- Z1605341 2008 series - publisher novel essay short story
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2013 .
      image of person or book cover 1028006900401333798.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 240p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 20/11/2013
      ISBN: 9780143569749

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Surro Fiona McGregor , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , November 2017;

'Head south on Elizabeth Street, turn left after Devonshire. Butt Street is more of an alley, with a slight kink at the beginning. Apartments and warehouses loom either side. You are walking towards Clisdell Street in August 1940, and on the left in the gutter is the corpse of Bill Smillie, gambler, gunman, SP standover. Next to his body is a dead cat.' (Introduction)

12 Books Every Australian Should Read Anna Vallen , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Australian Geographic [Website] , February 2016;
'Take a literary journey to the interior with these 12 must-read Australian books, representing a cross section of Australian literature, meditating on landscape, history and what makes us Australian.'
Walking the Talk: Fans Honour Park’s Work in Surry Hills Stephanie Wood , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17 April 2015; (p. 17)
'On Saturday [18 April 2015], to honour the author and her work, more than 100 people will join the ‘‘walk and talk’’ Harp in the South Day event, supported by the Irish National Association of Australasia.'
Books That Changed Me : Deborah Burrows Deborah Burrows , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 14 March 2015; (p. 84) The Sunday Age , 15 March 2015; (p. 16)
26 Aussie Books You Must Read Blanche Clark , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 24 January 2015; (p. 18-19)
'With Australia Day upons us...26 great Australian Books that have helped shape and define our nation...'
Untitled Kabita Dhara , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , June vol. 83 no. 11 2004; (p. 18)

— Review of The Harp in the South Ruth Park , 1947 single work novel
Ruth Park's Vivid World Veronica Sen , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 March 1992; (p. C8)

— Review of The Harp in the South Ruth Park , 1947 single work novel ; Poor Man's Orange Ruth Park , 1949 single work novel
Formula for Success L. I. Shepard , 1948 single work review
— Appears in: The Australasian Book News and Literary Journal , February vol. 2 no. 8 1948; (p. 404-405. 440)

— Review of The Harp in the South Ruth Park , 1947 single work novel
The Harp in the South 1948 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 3 March vol. 69 no. 3551 1948; (p. 2)

— Review of The Harp in the South Ruth Park , 1947 single work novel
The Harp in the Orchestra Marjorie Barnard , 1948 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 9 no. 3 1948; (p. 182-184)

— Review of The Harp in the South Ruth Park , 1947 single work novel
y separately published work icon The Paradoxical Taboo : White Female Characters and Interracial Relationships in Australian Fiction Carolyn Hughes , Brisbane : 2004 Z1180791 2004 single work thesis The thesis looks at the way white female characters and interracial relationships are represented in Australian fiction by white Australian writers.
100 Most Influential Australians : Ruth Park : Writer 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 4 July vol. 124 no. 6527 2006; (p. 100)
Notes and News 1948 single work column
— Appears in: The Australasian Book News and Literary Journal , February vol. 2 no. 8 1948; (p. 439-440)
Joy McKean : The Books that Changed Me Joy McKean , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 5 February 2012; (p. 8)
Turn Pages of Time for a Great Read 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 13 May 2012; (p. 21)
Last amended 27 Feb 2020 10:51:13
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