On a Bright Hillside in Paradise by Annette Higgs

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On a Bright Hillside in Paradise

Winner of the 2022 Penguin Literary Prize

by Annette Higgs

Narrator Ainslie McGlynn

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Length 9 hours 39 minutes

Language English

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Summary
About the author
About the narrator

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.

Fiction Historical Fiction

Annette Higgs (Author)
Annette Higgs is a writer living in Sydney, Australia. She was born and grew up in Tasmania, leaving on her 18th birthday to study literature and law at the Australian National University in Canberra. She has lived, worked and studied in Sydney, London and Italy, and holds a Doctor of Arts from the University of Sydney. A Pushcart nominee, her short work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies in Australia, the USA, the UK and India. Her novel On a Bright Hillside in Paradise won the 2022 Penguin Literary Prize.

Ainslie McGlynn (Reader)
Ainslie is an Actors Centre Centre graduate whose work spans over film, theatre, television, as well as the Commerical and corporate space.
Most recently Ainslie appeared on Foxtels Mr Inbetween, Channel Nines Amazing Grace and Doctor Doctor. Other television credits include All Saints and Love My Way. In 2018 Ainslie picked up two awards for Best Supporting Actress in a feature film for her work in Zelos at the Nice International Independent film awards and the Southern States IndiFanFilmFest awards in Mississippi. Her recent theatre credits include Trevor for multi award winning theatre company, Out House Theatre Company and You Got Older, for Mad March Hare Theatre Company. Ainslie has also narrated six audio books and voiced hundreds of advertising campaigns for television, radio and online and is a proud member of MEAA.