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On a Bright Hillside in Paradise
From the winner of the 2022 Penguin Literary Prize.
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.
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.
Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2023
11 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Annette Higgs
1 book13 followers Annette Higgs lives and writes in Sydney, Australia. Her award-winning novel On a Bright Hillside in Paradise was published by Penguin in 2023. A Pushcart nominee, her short work has appeared in journals in AU, US, UK and India.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 19, 2025
4.5*
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise is an enthralling and heart-rending read, following the lives of three generations of the Wise-Hatton family at Paradise (a real place!) in West Kentish, central northern Tasmania. The story opens in 1974, although each character also reflects on previous events and the story takes us a couple of years on from the opening scene.
I read On a Bright Hillside in Paradise via a combination of the Penguin / Vintage Books paperback edition and the Penguin Random House Australia audiobook (via the Libby App) narrated by Ainslie McGlynn. The audiobook was good, although it irritated me throughout that McGlynn pronounced the Tasmanian city of Launceston as "Lawn-ceston", rather than the correct "Lon-ceston".
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise is an enthralling and heart-rending read, following the lives of three generations of the Wise-Hatton family at Paradise (a real place!) in West Kentish, central northern Tasmania. The story opens in 1974, although each character also reflects on previous events and the story takes us a couple of years on from the opening scene.
I read On a Bright Hillside in Paradise via a combination of the Penguin / Vintage Books paperback edition and the Penguin Random House Australia audiobook (via the Libby App) narrated by Ainslie McGlynn. The audiobook was good, although it irritated me throughout that McGlynn pronounced the Tasmanian city of Launceston as "Lawn-ceston", rather than the correct "Lon-ceston".
June 20, 2024
A beautiful story of the joys, tragedies and hardships of family life on the land not long after the convict era, and of the intersection of faith and life. Particularly interesting to me as a person or faith and with ancestors who likely lived similar lives in nearby regions. I love the familiarity of Tasmanian fiction, the beautiful descriptions of the landscape in which I find my roots.
January 29, 2024
Proper splendid
March 13, 2024
Usually Im not a fan of slow paced stories, but there was something about the lives of the Hattons in rural Tasmania that made me enjoy the slow pace and the beautiful writing in this novel
November 8, 2025
If salvation looks like this, I’ll take damnation.
“On a Bright Hillside in Paradise” has all the ingredients for a cracking novel: a white settler family scraping by in the Tasmanian wilderness, hard winters, harder lives, and the arrival of itinerant evangelicals promising salvation. It should be gripping stuff. The bones are solid. But somewhere between the five narrators and the circular storytelling, the life drains out of it.
I’m from the north-west myself, though nearer the coast than these back-blocks, and I can vouch that Higgs gets the mud, hunger and sheer bloody struggle right. The book captures that sense of existence one bad season away from ruin. The poverty, the superstition, the clinging to faith because there’s bugger all else, it all rings true. Echo’s the saving grace, a great character: curious, competent, quietly defiant. She gives the novel something resembling a centre.
The rest? Less so. The narrative keeps jumping about, looping through the same handful of moments from different angles until you feel like you’re trudging through a bog. The idea of multiple perspectives works in theory; it shows how wildly different people experience the same events, but in practice, it’s a slog. I kept thinking, yes, yes, I’ve read this bit, can we move on? The repetition doesn’t deepen anything; it just slows everything down.
Then there’s the dialogue. Too many lines sound like they’ve been lifted from a midwestern church picnic. For 19th-century Tasmania, it’s wildly out of tune. The itinerant preachers should have been fascinating, were they true believers, grifters, or both? But they stay as thin as their own sermons. The religious fervour, though, is handled with rare subtlety when it comes to desire. That’s one place where Higgs shows real restraint, letting longing simmer rather than spelling it out.
As someone raised to steer clear of the Brethren variety of zealots, I couldn’t get past how insufferable the pious Jack was. I’m firmly team Eddie, who at least felt human. By the end, the story’s momentum had evaporated, the moral murk stayed murky, and I was left admiring the intent more than the execution.
Two stars. Not terrible, just dull. Like being stuck in the mud watching the same scene play out, over and over, under a grey Tasmanian sky.
“On a Bright Hillside in Paradise” has all the ingredients for a cracking novel: a white settler family scraping by in the Tasmanian wilderness, hard winters, harder lives, and the arrival of itinerant evangelicals promising salvation. It should be gripping stuff. The bones are solid. But somewhere between the five narrators and the circular storytelling, the life drains out of it.
I’m from the north-west myself, though nearer the coast than these back-blocks, and I can vouch that Higgs gets the mud, hunger and sheer bloody struggle right. The book captures that sense of existence one bad season away from ruin. The poverty, the superstition, the clinging to faith because there’s bugger all else, it all rings true. Echo’s the saving grace, a great character: curious, competent, quietly defiant. She gives the novel something resembling a centre.
The rest? Less so. The narrative keeps jumping about, looping through the same handful of moments from different angles until you feel like you’re trudging through a bog. The idea of multiple perspectives works in theory; it shows how wildly different people experience the same events, but in practice, it’s a slog. I kept thinking, yes, yes, I’ve read this bit, can we move on? The repetition doesn’t deepen anything; it just slows everything down.
Then there’s the dialogue. Too many lines sound like they’ve been lifted from a midwestern church picnic. For 19th-century Tasmania, it’s wildly out of tune. The itinerant preachers should have been fascinating, were they true believers, grifters, or both? But they stay as thin as their own sermons. The religious fervour, though, is handled with rare subtlety when it comes to desire. That’s one place where Higgs shows real restraint, letting longing simmer rather than spelling it out.
As someone raised to steer clear of the Brethren variety of zealots, I couldn’t get past how insufferable the pious Jack was. I’m firmly team Eddie, who at least felt human. By the end, the story’s momentum had evaporated, the moral murk stayed murky, and I was left admiring the intent more than the execution.
Two stars. Not terrible, just dull. Like being stuck in the mud watching the same scene play out, over and over, under a grey Tasmanian sky.
October 15, 2024
3.5 stars rounded down to 3. I enjoyed the exploration of the characters and the exposition of the hardness and harshness of rural settler life in frontier Tasmania. And I appreciated that the Christian faith represented by the itinerant evangelists was not stereotyped or mocked - although there were certainly, rightly, characters who questioned and rejected. There was some endurance and even acceptance, if not contentment, in the frequent sadnesses.
Yet I did not score it higher because in the end the plot line did not really go anywhere, and exploring some of the same events from five different characters’ perspectives, albeit with additions and extra detail gradually uncovered, did become a bit repetitive.
Yet I did not score it higher because in the end the plot line did not really go anywhere, and exploring some of the same events from five different characters’ perspectives, albeit with additions and extra detail gradually uncovered, did become a bit repetitive.
August 19, 2023
Set in an isolated Tasmanian community, this novel focuses on three generations of a rural family as a way to explore the hardscrabble life of the descendants of convicts as they settled on lands commandeered from the island's First Nations people.
The Hatton family story is told from five different angles, each centered on a different family member. While we learn about the past, especially through the grandmother's stories and memories, the principal theme is how the family and the community are changed after the arrival of the evangelical Christian Brethren, who hold a community revival meeting and offer to save and baptize the believers.
This is a character-driven novel that takes place over the course of (I'm guessing) a little over a year. All five perspectives cover similar territory and events, but we learn learn new information and gain a broader understanding through each telling. On one level, this is a quiet book, but we learn a lot about family life, hardships, women's burdens, tragedies, faith, education, and marriage during that time period.
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise is an excellent look at a specific place and time in history. According to the author's note, the story is loosely based on her own family history and accounts of the evangelical movement of the late nineteenth century in Tasmania. She is sensitive to issues involving First Nations people and addresses her word choices in the introduction.
This would make a great book club choice, as many of the themes and events beg for discussion and shared reactions.
The audiobook was performed by Ainslie McGlynn. Her understated performance conveyed the characters' emotions and feelings while allowing listeners to appreciate the author's style. It was a treat to hear McGlynn sing the Christian hymns.
Thanks to the audiobook publishers and Libro.fm for the review copy.
The Hatton family story is told from five different angles, each centered on a different family member. While we learn about the past, especially through the grandmother's stories and memories, the principal theme is how the family and the community are changed after the arrival of the evangelical Christian Brethren, who hold a community revival meeting and offer to save and baptize the believers.
This is a character-driven novel that takes place over the course of (I'm guessing) a little over a year. All five perspectives cover similar territory and events, but we learn learn new information and gain a broader understanding through each telling. On one level, this is a quiet book, but we learn a lot about family life, hardships, women's burdens, tragedies, faith, education, and marriage during that time period.
On a Bright Hillside in Paradise is an excellent look at a specific place and time in history. According to the author's note, the story is loosely based on her own family history and accounts of the evangelical movement of the late nineteenth century in Tasmania. She is sensitive to issues involving First Nations people and addresses her word choices in the introduction.
This would make a great book club choice, as many of the themes and events beg for discussion and shared reactions.
The audiobook was performed by Ainslie McGlynn. Her understated performance conveyed the characters' emotions and feelings while allowing listeners to appreciate the author's style. It was a treat to hear McGlynn sing the Christian hymns.
Thanks to the audiobook publishers and Libro.fm for the review copy.
December 21, 2023
For many years the idea of having convict descendants was something to be ashamed of, but not anymore. 'A convict in the family' is now almost a badge of pride, although as the Founders and Survivors project on Van Diemen's Land convict records has shown, the life histories of people transported to Tasmania were not necessarily the optimistic stories of redemption and upward progress that we might like to imagine. Annette Higgs' book On a Bright Hillside in Paradise, set in 1874 takes a more clear-eyed view of Tasmanian rural life, where 'collisions' with the indigenous people and the 'convict stain' were still within living memory. Based on her own family history, this is the story of three generations of the Hatton family, eking out a precarious living on a small land holding on the west coast of Tasmania, in a place rather ironically called 'Paradise'....
Higgs captured well the sameness and the precariousness of farming life, and the narrowness of vision under the wide expanse of sky, mountain and bush. She has obviously done her research well, and it rings true. I did keep expecting something to happen more suddenly and randomly, but instead this is a slow unspooling of small events into a bigger meaning, with individuals placed against a wider backdrop of 'history'. It is beautifully written, with a slow, even pace but I found myself anticipating a jolt that never came.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2023/12/21/...
November 15, 2023
This is a deeply beautiful novel. I was taken on an intimate journey into the lives of the Hatton family. The writing is smooth, nuanced, moving, and funny. I even laughed out loud a few times.
The story is told from the perspective of five intriguing characters, each with their own unique perspectives and personalities. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic and interactions between the teenage boys, Jack and Eddie. The family undergoes profound turmoil, which is depicted with such depth that I felt a genuine connection with the characters. By the book’s end, I was saddened to part ways with them.
The scenic descriptions are magical, making you feel like you’ve been sent through a time machine into Tasmania in the 19th Century. The history elements surrounding Australia’s convict ancestry are interwoven seamlessly with the story. I love being able to learn about a different period without even realising it!
The book covers so many big issues — religion, grief, trauma, love, purpose… and they are all explored with subtlety, prompting the reader to think for themselves. This would be a wonderful novel for a book club or to discuss in a classroom.
I loved reading this from start to finish!
The story is told from the perspective of five intriguing characters, each with their own unique perspectives and personalities. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic and interactions between the teenage boys, Jack and Eddie. The family undergoes profound turmoil, which is depicted with such depth that I felt a genuine connection with the characters. By the book’s end, I was saddened to part ways with them.
The scenic descriptions are magical, making you feel like you’ve been sent through a time machine into Tasmania in the 19th Century. The history elements surrounding Australia’s convict ancestry are interwoven seamlessly with the story. I love being able to learn about a different period without even realising it!
The book covers so many big issues — religion, grief, trauma, love, purpose… and they are all explored with subtlety, prompting the reader to think for themselves. This would be a wonderful novel for a book club or to discuss in a classroom.
I loved reading this from start to finish!
June 2, 2024
I'm afraid I'm the odd one out here - most people seem to think highly of this book but it did nothing for me. I read (and finished) it only because it was a book club choice.
It seemed emotionless. Somehow the prose did not move me at all despite a number of tragic events. Couples would look at each other from a distance then be rolling on the fern fronds with no indication of how their intimacy had progressed.
The religiosity puzzled me. As a thoughtful atheist it seemed to me to that the people converted were simplistically gullible. Everybody bar one accepted without question whatever they were told by the preachers. Was the book promoting a Christian view or was it a caricature of Christianity?
Finally, I know I should let factual goofs slide by but I can't help being bothered by them. Almost every Tasmanian (but not the author) knows that our mountains are dolerite, not dolomite - there's a huge difference. And grandmother was depicted as a doddery old woman barely able to walk, but given the age at which girls were said to have given birth she was unlikely to be past her 40s, conceivably even younger.
But that's just my view and maybe I'm not the target audience. Given that almost everybody else loved it perhaps you will too.
It seemed emotionless. Somehow the prose did not move me at all despite a number of tragic events. Couples would look at each other from a distance then be rolling on the fern fronds with no indication of how their intimacy had progressed.
The religiosity puzzled me. As a thoughtful atheist it seemed to me to that the people converted were simplistically gullible. Everybody bar one accepted without question whatever they were told by the preachers. Was the book promoting a Christian view or was it a caricature of Christianity?
Finally, I know I should let factual goofs slide by but I can't help being bothered by them. Almost every Tasmanian (but not the author) knows that our mountains are dolerite, not dolomite - there's a huge difference. And grandmother was depicted as a doddery old woman barely able to walk, but given the age at which girls were said to have given birth she was unlikely to be past her 40s, conceivably even younger.
But that's just my view and maybe I'm not the target audience. Given that almost everybody else loved it perhaps you will too.
July 27, 2024
Enjoyed the story from five different people in the family. The Hattons are building a farm amongst all the hardship in Tasmania. A very hard life physically challenging emotionally and mentally challenging. Everything is reliant on crops flourishing and their own vegetation plot surviving constantly making ends meet. There are two evangelists that arrive in the area and a change takes very n the community and it becomes much happier friendly and helpful as a community Eddie one son from the Hatton family scoffs at scripture and people being converted I found it interesting how the family changed and were challenged with Christianity birth and death a good book I would’ve liked to have heard what Noah the dad had thought
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December 2, 2025This novel offers a charming portrayal of rural Tasmanian life in the 1870s, told through the shifting perspectives of various family members. At first, I found the story a little mundane, but as it slowly unfolded and different viewpoints revealed contrasting interpretations of the same events, I began to engage more fully. At times, the narrative felt repetitive, although through each character, something new would be revealed.
Much of the plot centres around the family’s response to the evangelical movement spreading across Northern Tasmania. Most adopted the faith, but Eddie remained defiant. Stories of hardship and tragedy sustained my interest and highlighted the resilience of each character.
Much of the plot centres around the family’s response to the evangelical movement spreading across Northern Tasmania. Most adopted the faith, but Eddie remained defiant. Stories of hardship and tragedy sustained my interest and highlighted the resilience of each character.
August 13, 2023
An eloquent and gentle story about a family of early Tasmanian settlers that is a very worthy winner of the Penguin Literary Prize. It deals with themes of family, the hardships of settler life and explores the allure of evangelists in settings of hardship and privation. The characters are beautifully developed and we see them through the perspective of other characters as well as hearing their own voice. I really enjoyed each of the character's stories and their different priorities and reactions to key events. I was particularly moved by the tragedies and confronting realities that they faced in their day to day lives. Highly recommended.
November 5, 2025
2.5 stars. I enjoyed the historical aspects and the style of speech in the dialogue but I read a book by Dervla McTiernan, “what happened to Nina?” concurrently and the difference in skill in using the technique of writing from different characters perspectives was stark. In McTiernan’s book, the different perspectives moved the story along, whereas in Higg’s book it felt like we were a cart bogged in the mud, being told about the same events repetitively, by just looking through different windows. The different perspectives on the events weren’t interesting enough to make up for the fact that we were being told about the same 4 or 5 events over and over again.
October 21, 2023
I found the events described from different people's perspective quite interesting. Some of the events barely rated a mention in some character's section, while others were given in quite detail. It really showed how difficult life was for some of the early settlers in the area. You get the feeling some were allowed to start up farms not because it was productive land, but so the area was inhabited by whites rather than the Indigenous people who originally lived there. Large families made making a living very difficult.
November 11, 2023
This is a beautifully written novel set in Tasmania, which we definitely need to see more of in Aussie lit fiction. I love when an author is clearly passionate about their work and does thorough research. It comes through vividly here in the details of the time period and the wonderful character development. I sympathized with the whole family in the story, and the girl Echo was my absolute favourite. I was hooked the whole way, wanting to know how their lives turned out. I'm not at all surprised this won the Penguin prize. This is a comforting and intimate read. Highly recommend.
July 24, 2023
I enjoyed reading this 2022 Penguin Literary Prize winner. It was such an engaging story and I loved how the stories of the five central characters were each given their own space and perspective.
The arrival of the two Christian Brethren evangelists creates changes in some, but strengthens bonds in others.
Facing crop failures, deaths, lack of food, clothing and adequate shelter, we learn how communities and families come together to heal and continue to follow their dreams.
The arrival of the two Christian Brethren evangelists creates changes in some, but strengthens bonds in others.
Facing crop failures, deaths, lack of food, clothing and adequate shelter, we learn how communities and families come together to heal and continue to follow their dreams.
January 28, 2024
Likely to be amongst my favourite books of 2024, this book tells the story of a farming family on the NW coast of Tasmania in the late 1800s. Told from five perspectives, each offering a different insight into significant events in the family’s life with most related to the arrival of the Christian Brethren preachers to the area. The book details the hardships and joys of life in these remote rural communities through the beautiful and descriptive writing.
December 18, 2025
Set in Northern Tasmania a family in 1874 settle into the area at a town called Paradise. The story takes you through their settling in the area and an event like no other at the time, a religious revival meeting. which you then get to view through the eyes of different members of the family. Gradually learning a little more about each character and propelling forward just a few years at a time as the family grows up.
January 9, 2024
I really wanted to enjoy this - I love Tassie and this book had won awards... but I just couldn't feel for the characters... I'm unsure if it need to be longer to get more of a feel for them.... but it's a no from me
February 14, 2024
A beautifully tragic novel. There's lots of irony in the title - without plot spoiling. Besides the vivid attention given to the environment (often beautiful - often life changing and destructive) the characters potray such heartache, but yet such love. Brilliant.
July 13, 2024
Well structured and written but lacking vitality. I read it because of the location. It seems like a writing exercise, for the sake of writing rather than because there is a story burning to be told.
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August 20, 202419th century regional Tasmania, with Scottish brogue delivery of biblical fear, the smell of unwashed bodies in close quarters, the lure of gold and tin mining, bullocks, population circa 105,000
Ugh do dry, dnf
Ugh do dry, dnf
September 30, 2023
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it either. A bit bland.
December 25, 2023
It was interesting to me because I live in the area the book is set.
January 19, 2024
😭😭😭
Great book. Go read it.
Especially if you like books about colonial settler times in Australia. But be prepared to cry.
Great book. Go read it.
Especially if you like books about colonial settler times in Australia. But be prepared to cry.
February 1, 2024
A wonderful evocation of early brethren preachers and how one poor family responded. Different takes on the story by different family members perhaps a little repetitive.
February 27, 2024
Very well written and researched. The multiple view points made it really interesting.
November 29, 2024
Don’t usually enjoy period drama, but an enhancing insight into the tough life as an early settler in Tasmania. Very depressing, I clenched waiting for the ending but was left pretty satisfied.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2025
Interesting story about the hardships encountered by individuals who settled in Tasmania. Hope the author writes a sequel to advise as to what occurred with Echo and Henry and Eddie and Jack.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews