History Literature / TheHarpInTheSouth

''The Harp in the South'' was the first novel of the New Zealand born Australian writer Creator/RuthPark. First published in 1948. It is about the Darcy Family, second generation Irish-Australians who live in the [[WrongSideOfTheTracks slums of Surry Hills]] in Sydney [[TheForties 1940s]] in the years after WorldWarTwo. There's Hughie Darcy, [[TheAlcoholic fond of a quick one at the pub every now and then]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Mumma]] who at times seems [[OnlySaneMan the only one with any sense]], Rowena "Roie" Darcy who is arguable the novel's protagonist, her smart tomboyish sister Dolour Darcy and [[NeverMessWithGranny Grandma]]. They live in 12 1/4 Plymouth Street with two of the rooms let to radical Orangeman Patrick Diamond and Miss Sheilly and her son Johnny. Later joined by Roie's husband Charlie Rothe and their daughter Moira.

''The Harp in the South'' was the first novel of the New Zealand born Australian writer RuthPark. First published in 1948. It is about the Darcy Family, second generation Irish-Australians who live in the [[WrongSideOfTheTracks slums of Surry Hills]] in Sydney [[TheForties 1940's]] in the years after WorldWarTwo. There's Hughie Darcy, [[TheAlcoholic fond of a quick one at the pub every now and then]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Mumma]] who at times seems [[OnlySaneMan the only one with any sense]], Rowena "Roie" Darcy who is arguable the novel's protagonist, her smart tomboyish sister Dolour Darcy and [[NeverMessWithGranny Grandma]]. They live in 12 1/4 Plymouth Street with two of the rooms let to radical Orangeman Patrick Diamond and Miss Sheilly and her son Johnny. Later joined by Roie's husband Charlie Rothe and their daughter Moira.

There is a sequel ''Poor Man's Orange'' that continues the story and a {{Prequel}}, ''Missus'', that was published fairly recently. There was also a television series done by Channel 10 in Australia, but the DVD is somewhat hard to fine.

This work contains examples of the following tropes:

* HeyItsThatGuy: The actors who played Mumma and Father Coolley were in ''TheCastle''.

* ValuesDissonance: A lot of people accuse this novel of being rather racist in terms of its attitude towards Chinese and Australian Aborgines, but this is what it was like at the time.

* TearJerker
** This troper always cries when Roie looses her baby.
*** And then in the sequel when [[spoiler:Roie dies in childbirth]].

* HilariousInHindsight: A lot is said about how horrible Surry Hills is a place to live in and that the people who live there have a repuation and not much chance of getting a good job. Nowadays, Surry Hills is a rather expensive inner city area full of yuppies and art types.
* IrishPriest: Father Cooley, the the point where he stipp unconciously "wipes the bog off his shoes" when he steps inside.

''The Harp In The South'' was the first novel of the New Zealand born Australian writer RuthPark. First published in 1948. It is about the Darcy Family, second generation Irish-Australians who live in the [[WrongSideOfTheTracks slums of Surry Hills]] in Sydney [[TheForties 1940's]] in the years after WorldWarTwo. There's Hughie Darcy, [[TheAlcoholic fond of a quick one at the pub every now and then]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Mumma]] who at times seems [[OnlySaneMan the only one with any sense]], Rowena "Roie" Darcy who is arguable the novel's protagonist, her smart tomboyish sister Dolour Darcy and [[NeverMessWithGranny Grandma]]. They live in 12 1/4 Plymouth Street with two of the rooms let to radical Orangeman Patrick Diamond and Miss Sheilly and her son Johnny. Later joined by Roie's husband Charlie Rothe and their daughter Moira.