Winner
2022 PENGUIN LITERARY PRIZE
‘A jewel of a novel: luminous, vivid, and deftly shaped.’ ~ Fiona McFarlane
Told from five different points of view, each one revealing something different, On a Bright Hillside in Paradise, tells the story of a family of convict descendants in the back-blocks of Tasmania, on a farm in a place called Paradise. The drama begins when strangers arrive, Christian Brethren evangelists who hold big revival meetings in local barns.
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise tackles big questions of faith and family but remains grounded in the dreams and strivings of its beautifully drawn characters. Higgs takes lives that history might have judged as small and imbues them with immense dignity and complex and compelling inner lives. On a Bright Hillside in Paradise shows how these convict descendants wanted nothing more than to retreat to the bush to heal from their trauma, developing a deep love of the landscape in the process.
At its heart the novel is about a close-knit community and home-making in the bush.
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Sensitive, richly imagined historical fiction.
”FICTION OF THE WEEK The reader is taken into the tenuous lives of the Hatton family through the viewpoints of five characters. North-West Tasmania is spectacular and rugged and beautiful, but it is inhospitable too. Sensitive, richly imagined historical fiction.”
Cameron Woodhead ~ The Age
A refreshingly generous, multi-perspectival view on Tasmanian colonial revivalism
“This was refreshing, to have a well-researched and curious portrayal of these remote-Tasmanian settlers and their spirituality on their own terms.”
Michael James ~ via Amazon
From the novel’s magical first line
“Higgs' Bright Hillside, beautiful country with a hard history, is a whole, vividly conjured world. From the novel’s magical first line to its moving conclusion, we come to know and care deeply about a family trying to make a home amid a landscape, and life, of grief and wonder.”
Belinda Castles
On A Bright Hillside in Paradise is a jewel of a novel
“On A Bright Hillside in Paradise is a jewel of a novel: luminous, vivid, and deftly shaped. Annette Higgs has a special capacity for drawing us into the rhythms of the Hatton family’s labours and devotions, so that we care and hope and grieve alongside them. I felt, as I read, that there was ordinary time, and there was Paradise time, and that I could have stayed forever on that bright hillside.”
Fiona McFarlane
Brilliantly told social history of part of Tasmania
”I loved this book. it is beautifully told with every character feeling totally real. It is set in NW Tasmania, the island state of Australia where I have chosen to live…. I could not put this one down.”
Dodie ~ via Amazon
Grabbed hold of my imagination and wouldn’t let go
“The characters live and breathe through grit and hardship and magic. The Hatton family grabbed hold of my imagination and wouldn’t let go”
Anton Enus
What an inspiring and insightful story
“I could not stop reading the book, the Hatton family and their life story mesmerized me and I learnt so much about the most important perspectives of life. Fantastically written.”
Brigitta Best ~ via Amazon
I really really enjoyed this one!
”This is a quiet but tender book. I really really enjoyed this one! Would def recommend if you like character driven, family focused historical fiction.”
Katie Reads Things
A memorable and somewhat melancholy novel
“On a Bright Hillside in Paradise is a memorable and somewhat melancholy novel that will appeal to fans of Kate Grenville.”
Elke Power ~ Readings
