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A Fence Around the Cuckoo

Text Classics
Series: Text Classics
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( 328 ratings, 39 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Fence Around the Cuckoo is a compelling autobiography by Ruth Park, detailing her early life in New Zealand and Australia during the 1920s and 1930s. The book captures her experiences growing up in poverty, her struggles with family dynamics, and the dreams that drive her. Park offers insight into the cultural and social environments that shaped her as a writer.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are drawn to rich autobiographies that vividly depict a writer's early life and the challenges they faced. It offers a beautifully detailed exploration of growing up in New Zealand and Australia during the depression era, revealing how personal and family stories interweave with broader historical contexts.

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The first volume of autobiography by celebrated writer Ruth Park, author of The Harp in the South, and winner of the Miles Franklin Award, theย Age Book of the Year and the Colin Roderick Award.

The first volume of autobiography by celebrated writer Ruth Park, author of the The Harp in the South and winner of the Miles Franklin Award, the Age Book of the Year and the Colin Roderick Award.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

This first volume of Ruth Parkโ€™s autobiography is an account of her isolated childhood in the rainforests of New Zealand, her convent education which encouraged her love of words and writing, and the bitter years of the Depression.

She then entered the rough-and-tumble world of journalism and began a reluctant correspondence with a young Australian writer.

In 1942, Park moved to Sydney and married that writer, Dโ€™Arcy Niland. There she would write The Harp in the South, the first of her classic Australian novels. A Fence Around the Cuckoo is the story of one of Australiaโ€™s best storytellers and how she learnt her craft.

Series: Text Classics

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  • A Fence Around the Cuckoo
    This first volume of Ruth Parkโ€™s autobiography is an account of her isolated childhood in the rainforests of New Zealand, her convent education which encouraged her love of words and writing, and the bitter years of the Depression. She then entered the rough-and-tumble world of journalism and began a reluctant correspondence with a young Australian writer. In 1942, Park moved...
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    Neither the kitchen clock nor the figured squares of the calendar could measure our first golden summers at Mulberry Hill. They were the timeless clockless summers of a dream. Joan Lindsayโ€™s charming and evocative autobiography tells the story of her marriage to Sir Daryl Lindsay, of their life in Melbourne in the 1920s and โ€™30s, of their travels, and above...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A Fence Around the Cuckoo by Ruth Park is widely acclaimed for its brilliant narrative style and engaging autobiographical insights. Reviewers highlight Park's sparkling prose, infectious wit, and deep compassion, making it a captivating and joyful read. The book is praised for its illuminating exploration of the author's early life and the formative experiences that led to her career in writing.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781925773385

Publisher: Text Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 March 2019

Country: Australia

Imprint: The Text Publishing Company

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Emily Perkins

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 416

About the Author

Born in New Zealand in 1917, Ruth Park spent most of her adult life in Australia. She was widely read and well-loved for her books, which were as equally successful for adults as for children. She is best known for the novels The Harp in the South, Poor Manโ€™s Orange and Swords and Crowns and Rings, for which she won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award.

Also by Ruth Park

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  • Fishing in the Styx: Text Classics
    Following on from A Fence around the Cuckoo, this is the second volume of autobiography by one of Australia's best storytellers, Ruth Park, author of The Harp in the South and the Miles Franklin-winning Swords and Crowns and Rings. Born in New Zealand, Ruth Park came to Australia to continue her work as a journalist, newly married to D'Arcy Niland....
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  • Playing Beatie Bow
    A thrilling adventure story for children and young adults by Ruth Park, Playing Beatie Bow follows Abigail as she suddenly finds herself in the Sydney of a hundred years ago as the result of a scary game.
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  • The Harp in the South Trilogy PMC
    The gritty realism of family life lived in the poverty-stricken slum of inner Sydney's Surry Hills during the 1940s. Also includes Missus and Poor Man's Orange.
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  • The Muddleheaded Wombat
    The Muddleheaded Wombat combines, in one edition, four of Ruth Park's much-loved classics: The Muddleheaded Wombat (1962), The Muddleheaded Wombat on Holiday (1964), The Muddleheaded Wombat in the Treetops (1965) and The Muddleheaded Wombat at School (1966). Featuring one of Australia's most adored children's book characters of all time, these stories have never been out of print. This paperback edition...
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  • Swords and Crowns and Rings
    Growing up in an Australian country town before World War I, Jackie Hanna and Cushie Moy are carefree and innocent in their love for each other. But Jackie is a dwarf, and his devotion to the beautiful Cushie is condemned by her parents. This is the story of their lifelong odyssey, and of the triumph of a special kind of...
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  • The Harp in the South: Popular Penguins
    Hugh and Margaret Darcy are raising their family in Sydney amid the brothels, grog shops, and rundown boarding houses of Surry Hills, where money is scarce and life is not easy. Filled with beautifully drawn characters that will make you laugh as much as cry, this Australian classic will take you straight back to the colourful slums of Sydney with...
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  • Playing Beatie Bow: Popular Penguins
    The game is called Beatie Bow, and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary, sometimes horrifying, adventure as she finds herself transported to a place that is foreign yet strangely familiar... Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park offers a mesmerising journey that combines...
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  • When the Wind Changed
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  • Playing Beatie Bow
    Pre-order
    Playing Beatie Bow
    The captivating tale of time travel and adventure as a beautiful clothbound hardback, part of the Penguin Modern Australian Classics series. It's Beatie Bow - risen from the dead! The game is called Beatie Bow and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary,...
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