Penguin Modern Classics: The Harp In The South

Crammed together within the thin walls of Twelve-and-a-Half Plymouth Street in Surry Hills, a Sydney slum, are the Darcy family: Mumma, loving and soft-hearted; 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.

The realism of Ruth Park's novel, with it's depiction of bed-bugs, abortion and violence was originally condemned for being "an outrage against decency". The Darcys, however, are so full of warmth, spirit and joie de vivre that they have found in the hearts of readers making 'The Harp In The South' Ruth Park's most celebrated novel.