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Olinda VIC 3788

This is the first of a planned trilogy written in the Catholic/Christian genre. This style of writing generally does not appeal to me. However, I decided to give The Castle of Heavenly Bliss a try.

The story begins in a small country town of north-western Victoria called Binawarra. The narrative then moves to Middelburg in Holland. Having lived in both Australia and Holland myself, I found the scene depictions brilliantly written. Ranging from the harsh Australian summer to riding a bike in the cold ‘Hollandse’ winter, the author’s explanations are rather familiar to me and bring back fond memories. The range of characters in the novel are also cleverly thought up and explained in explicit detail.

The novel employs a deep philosophical aspect, not just about the different beliefs and religions but also delves into topics such as what is beauty and truth, giving a detailed analysis of these. Incorporating these philosophies into a novel is not an easy thing to accomplish. Therefore I congratulate Wilson on doing a marvellous job on the writing of The Castle of Heavenly Bliss.

I found The Castle of Heavenly Bliss slow to get going, perhaps too much detail in some parts, but once the story develops and the various plots begin to take shape, I found myself in situations whereby I could not put the book down and realised then the much given detail is necessary for the reader to get an accurate picture of the complex events which take place. The narrative really comes together in the end, leaving the reader with many things to think about.

NB The few criticisms in this otherwise good review were taken into account in the revision.