These reviews were written before the 2008 revision. 

I found The Castle of Heavenly Bliss absolutely riveting. It touches on all the right political and religious issues. I read the whole 752 pages in five days. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy.

GERARD Charles Wilson has written a novel of epic scope set in contrasting locations. First, the Victorian country - town, Binawarra, dominated by a peak known to the locals as Death Rock. Second, Middelburg in the Dutch Province of Zeeland, dominated by the eponymous castle on Walcheren.

The sinister, bitter character linking these locations is Gerda Vrouwendijk who arrives at the Binawarra High School disguised as Edith Bicknell, multi-lingual teacher with specialist qualifications in student counselling.

She is taken at face value by the genial, hardworking headmaster Bill Huckerby and his charming wife Joanne. But Vrouwendijk/Bicknell has more in mind than counselling unruly students. She has a specific target: one of the students, Estella Winterbine, beautiful and of formidable virtue, closely protected by her parents, the local carpenter Charles Winterbine, and his wife, the angelic, blue-eyed Aine (nee O'Riordan).

In these three, the author essays one of the most difficult tasks in literature: the portrayal of goodness, even saintliness. To assist them, he creates the tough-minded, incomer Englishwoman Florence Barker, trailing hints of having worked for the secret service, and the crippled Dutch priest, Father Jos van Engelen, whose work included service in New Guinea with an order not unlike the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. He is also cross-linked to a post-World War II episode with Vrouwendijk in which the defeated Nazi opened fire on civilians.

Ingeniously, Wilson shows how the hidden currents, hostilities and petty snobberies beneath the benign surface of a town like Binawarra can be manipulated by a person of ill-will, especially one like Vrouwendijk/Bicknell, to blackmail the local newspaper editor. She is backed by Boris, a mercenary with Balkan-Muslim connections and the influence of a rich and covert international organisation for whom Estella is a sought-after prize.

Here an intrepid hero is called for; Wilson introduces him in the person of Geoffrey Shawcross, a quiet local farmer who is also an ex-Vietnam veteran of the Special Air Service Regiment. He protects and falls in love with Estella.

With the main plot the author meshes two sub-plots: One, the attempt by some of her fellow students to seduce Estella and, two, Fr van Engelen's conflict with those who take a more extreme view of renewal processes initiated by Vatican II than he does.

As the narrative moves to its climax in The Castle of Heavenly Bliss, Shawcross deploys his SAS skills to rescue Estella and the author reveals the nature of the secret organisation - one readers may find reminiscent of Dan Brown's Priory of Sion in The Da Vinci Code.

Unlike the latter, this is a thriller of reverence for the Catholic faith as well as a scholarly novel of ideas and theology. It runs to 752 pages and is the first in what is scheduled to be a trilogy.
Like Walter Scott and Charles Dickens and any number of more recent authors, Wilson is his own publisher. At not a few points, there are signs he has essayed the more difficult challenge of being his own editor. Paradoxically the ease of computer editing makes this process more difficult. Too often Wilson, the author-editor, slows the drive of his undoubtedly imaginative plot lines with redundant material and above all by blurring and fudging his chapter breaks.

The exemplary work here is Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Waugh was a film buff and wrote his chapters as cinematic cuts. Result: despite an expensive script by John Mortimer, the classic television version of Brideshead Revisited was shot from the book not the script.

Ian MacDonald, reviewed in Annals Australasia

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.

Unlike most books these days dealing with Christianity and the Catholic Church – notably The Da Vinci Code – The Castle of Heavenly Bliss incorporates strong accurate presentations of Church doctrines and practices within its absorbing plot. In effect, it represents a strong counter to the Gnostic, feminist elements promoted in The Da Vinci Code.
 
Despite its rather daunting length, The Castle of Heavenly Bliss is a good read, with an engrossing storyline, vivid descriptive writing and striking scene and character depictions. The scenes are set in a variety of locations, from rural Victoria and urban Melbourne to Paris and the Dutch Province of Zeeland.
 
More traditionally inclined Catholic readers will not only enjoy the plot and how the pieces finally fall into place but no doubt welcome the sympathetic and prominent place given to Church teachings, practices and traditions. Less committed readers may find the somewhat proselytising style of these intrusive or off-putting.
 
The novel takes its cue from certain 19th century novels as well as epics like The Lord of the Rings where the line between good and evil is sharply drawn. As in Dickens’ works, the good seem too good to be true, and the bad too bad to be true. But this serves the present novel’s purpose and will no doubt be a refreshing contrast for many readers to the moral relativism that dominates our secular culture and much of its literature.
 
One hopes the book may win some converts to the Catholic view among less committed readers, but my feeling is that its main attraction will be for the already converted – particularly traditional Catholics.
 
The Castle of Heavenly Bliss is a monumental and commendable effort by one of our local Catholic writers and deserves to be well supported. Gerard Wilson has considerable skills as a novel writer, reminding one at times of Malachi Martin whose books, despite their sprawling length, generally hold the reader’s attention to the end as this one does.