On a Bright Hillside in Paradise

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

From the winner of the 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. They lead hard-scrabble lives. 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.

Avoiding the myth of the 'frontier pioneer', On a Bright Hillside in Paradise instead 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. Despite injuries, losses, deaths and near-starvation, the family survives.

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Paperback / softback
ISBN13: 9781761049736
Published: July 2023

Number of pages: 320
Width: 152 mm
Height: 233 mm
Depth: 23 mm

Publisher: Random House Australia