{"product_id":"the-unsuspected-slums-frank-prem-9781923166486","title":"The Unsuspected Slums: Revisiting the Slums of 1930s Melbourne","description":"\u003cp\u003ethe truth will cost you a shilling \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ejust one shilling \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewill you come along to listen? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiving on the susso. Losing yourself to rotgut and the metho. Living cheek by jowl with neighbours, using a tin tub for bathing and washing your clothes. Confusing flea bites for measles . . . \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the inner-city Melbourne slums of the 1930s. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn The Unsuspected Slums, Frank Prem revisits Carlton, Fitzroy, Collingwood, Port Melbourne and the other slum areas of Melbourne that were later torn down and rebuilt after sustained agitation led by accountant and Methodist lay preacher F. Oswald Barnett and his colleagues. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on Barnett's original photographs, Prem reproduces and poetically interprets these stark records of daily life inside Melbourne's apparently \"unsuspected\" slum pockets scattered throughout the inner city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn contemporary, mid-2020s Melbourne, agitation over housing has returned as a pressing social issue, with the High-Rise estates that once replaced the slums now themselves slated for demolition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe world has changed - and yet, some things remain the same.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eeight shillings and sixpence \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor a house made out of packing case wood \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003estill \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eit's a roof over our heads \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eisn't it?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Frank Prem\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1923166484\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781923166486\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wild Arancini Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/16\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 344\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 8.50w x 0.93d","brand":"Frank Prem","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48520218673407,"sku":"9781923166486","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1384dff3-7339-4e1d-bb94-68b0350aef65.jpg?v=1778741445","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-unsuspected-slums-frank-prem-9781923166486","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}