(beginner question) ConfigParser nuances

[Unknown Moss]

Hi - Beginner question here. I'm working with ConfigParser. I'd like
to take a multiline variable and convert it directly to an array.
Seems like a common  problem, but I don't see how I can do it without
doing a little parsing in my own code. Here's what I'm doing ...

>>> import ConfigParser
>>> import io
>>> sample = """
... [Example]
... fruit = apple
...     orange
...     pear
... """
>>> config = ConfigParser.RawConfigParser()
>>> config.readfp(io.BytesIO(sample))
>>> config.get("Example", "fruit")
'apple\norange\npear'
>>> temp = config.get("Example", "fruit")
>>> temp.split()
['apple', 'orange', 'pear']

I'm thinking there's a way to avoid this intermediate temp.split()
step. Is there not a way to move a multiline value straight into an
array using ConfigParser?

Thanks for the help.