Bittersweet Journey Format: Paperback

The long-awaited sequel to the award-winning memoir, ‘Is That You, Ruthie?’.After twenty-two years under Government control as an inmate of Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission, Ruth journeys towards freedom by marrying Joe Hegarty and moving to a nearby settlement. However, the settlement — with its origins as a camp for displaced Aboriginal families, its system of food rations and shortage of housing and jobs — is a difficult start for the young couple. Humour, a supportive circle of family and friends, and Ruth’s own resourcefulness prevail, and eventually the Hegartys achieve the basics of a house for their growing family.The invasive powers of the Native Affairs Department continue to affect their lives even when, years later, they move to the city. Ruth’s determination and irrepressible sense of fairness characterise a life vigorously committed to social justice and community causes.

Ruth Hegarty won the 1998 David Unaipon Award for unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers with her entry “Is That You, Ruthie?”. The sequel, "Bittersweet Journey",was released by UQP in November 2003. Ruth Hegarty has raised a family of eight children and lives in Brisbane, and for more than thirty years has been involved on a volunteer basis in projects for the elderly and youth. A founding member of Koobara Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Family Resource Centre, she is president of the Brisbane respite centre Nalingu, and a trainer with the Home and Community Care Resource Unit. In 1998 she was awarded the Premier’s Award for Queensland Seniors, for outstanding service to the community.