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Journal Entry 1 by Feebz from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, January 11, 2010
 The first book of the Harp in the South trilogy. Passing on at bookdrinks in Sydney tonight along with The Harp in the South.
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Journal Entry 2 by tqd at Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Friday, December 31, 2010
Was stuck at the cafe this morning, with nothing to read! The horror! The HORROR! The newsagency had no newspapers I wanted to read, and I hadn't popped my current read in my bag (I wasn't expecting to have reading time), and Miss Boo was playing quietly all by herself, so a decent read was paramount.
Luckily I found this one the shelf, and with the recent death of Ruth Park, the whole trilogy had pretty firmly landed into my "must read (one day)" list, so this was a no brainer.
Quite a way into it already, and it's been a good, easy, amusing (but sometimes awfully sad) read. I'll probably finish it off in the New Year, once I've finished my current read.
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Journal Entry 3 by tqd at Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Was unexpectedly given some reading time one morning over the Christmas break (Miss Boo opted for a cafe outing after a nice rummage around the local junk shop looking for stuff for arts & crafts). And I hadn't put my current read in my bag! And there were no newspapers at the newsagency!! The HORROR!!!
Luckily the cafe has a free books shelf, and they're happy for books to go wandering so long as they get replaced (and they know I'm good for replacing books), so I got stuck into Missus by Ruth Park, a well loved Australian author who died late in 2010. Most of us read her Muddle Headed Wombat books as children, graduated to Playing Beattie Bow as teenagers, and then moved on to The Harp in the South as adults.
Most of us. I failed on that final step, meaning that The Harp in the South (and its sequel, Poor Man's Orange and prequel Missus) has been on my "really must read" for the longest time. So I was very happy to have the first book of the trilogy land in my lap. And it turned out to be an excellent read.
It's a story of Irish families in Australia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of them fled the famine (I assume it's the potato famine), some of them fled unliveable situations and family, some of them just came out looking for a better life. This is a character book, and is less about having a complex multilayered plot, than having believable characters muddle along through their lives like we all do.
It's hard to pick a favourite character out of them all, but the interaction between Josie and her sister Margaret was my favourite. Josie is a clever young woman, forever being mean to her silly romantic older sister, and most of her life is spent trying to best Margaret somehow. Josie's development over the book as she faces her own disappointments is a very interesting read.
For a book without a whole lot of plot (and I'm a sucker for multilayered complex plots), I really enjoyed it and I will be tracking down the full trilogy.
Mum has requested this (she didn't even know there was a prequel, but she remembers loving The Harp in the South), so it'll travel on to her asap, and then I'll pass it back to the bookcrossers. Thanks Feebz!
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Journal Entry 4 by tqd at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Released 9 mos ago (8/9/2011 UTC) at Crown Hotel, Elizabeth St in Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Releasing at BookDrinks tonight!
Happy hunting/reading!
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Missus
