Swords and Crowns and Rings

Ruth Park’s Miles Franklin-winning novel brilliantly evokes Australia in the midst of the Great Depression. Written with warmth and affection, Swords and Crowns and Rings is a powerful story about human nature and the strength of an unlikely love.

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 courage.

In Swords and Crowns and Rings, Ruth Park brilliantly captures the mood of Australia in the first part of the twentieth century.

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 Man’s Orange and Swords and Crowns and Rings, for which she won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award.