Is That You Ruthie

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

Now included in UQP's First Nations Classics series with an introduction from Jackie Huggins, Is That You, Ruthie? is a remarkable memoir that recounts, with characteristic humour and honesty, a dormitory girl's life on the Mission.

'Is that you ...?' Matron's voice would ring out across the dormitory. In that pause sixty little girls would stop in their tracks, waiting to hear who was in trouble. All too often the name called out would be that of the high-spirited dormitory girl Ruthie.

In the Depression years Queensland's notorious Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission became home to four-year-old Ruth until her late teens when she was sent out to serve as a domestic on a station homestead. Ruthie is the central character in this lively and candid memoir of institutional life. Her milestones and memories reflect the experiences of many dormitory girls. The strong and lasting bonds that developed between them helped to compensate for family love and support denied them by the government's disruptive removal policy.

An inspiring life story, this remarkable memoir won the David Unaipon Award in 1998.

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN13: 9780702268540
Published: June 2024

Number of pages: 164
Width: 129 mm
Height: 197 mm
Depth: 13 mm

Publisher: University of Queensland Press