Poor Man's Orange: Ruth Park

The sequel to Harp in the South - continuing the very real story of the Darcy family of Twelve and a Half Plymouth Street in post-World War II Surry Hills. Mumma and Hughie, still battling through, with Hughie still on the grog; Roie and Charlie, determined to find a better life for themselves and their children; Dolour, desperate to do well at school, get a good job and defeat dirt and poverty - and all the rest of Surry Hill's teeming, vibrant denizens - Delie Stock, the ex-prostitute now running a gang of girls, the S.P bookies and the sly-grog; The Drummys at the ham-and-beef; the Sicilianos with a horde of children but still finding time to run their fruit-and-veg; and Lick Jimmy, getting older but still the kindly soul he's always been. Descriptive Australian writing at its very best. Park and her husband novelist D'arcy Niland lived in the area during the post-war housing crisis and not only saw it all, they lived it.